Princeton University Athletics
Men's Swimming Places 19th At 2003 NCAA Championship Meet
March 29, 2003 | Men's Swimming and Diving
March 29, 2003
Austin, Texas - For Jesse Gage, Jamie Leahy and Carl Hessler, the 400-yard freestyle relay on Saturday night was not only the final event of the 2003 NCAA Championships, it was the final collegiate event the three Tiger seniors would ever compete in.
Junior Mike Salerno joined Gage, Leahy and Hessler and capped a brilliant year for Princeton's men's swimming team with a consolation final finish. The Tiger foursome tapped in at 2:58.10 and placed 14th in the only relay of the night. California won the race with an NCAA record time of 2:48.99.
Junior Steve Fleming earned Princeton's top individual finish of the night with a 22nd-place showing the 200-yard backstroke, swimming a 1:46.31 in the event. Hessler was 24th in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:46.97 and senior Garth Fealey finished 29th in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:00.50) for Princeton.
Both Gage and Salerno competed in the 100-yard freestyle. Gage finished 40th overall with a 44.58 while Salerno turned in a time of 45.43 and finished 53rd.
The Tigers ended the three-day championship meet with 43 points and placed 19th as a team. Auburn won the team title with Texas and Stanford rounding out the top-3. Harvard placed 31st and Columbia rounded out the Ivy scoring with a 38th-place team finish.
The 2003 Men's Swimming and Diving NCAA Championship Meet can be seen on ESPN2 on Wednesday, April 2 at 4:00 p.m. and again on ESPN on April 11 at 3:30 p.m. For complete results, click on Championship Results