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Lennox Leads Super Six To NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving Championships
March 23, 2009 | General, Men's Swimming and Diving
Senior Doug Lennox has experienced almost everything throughout his four years of swimming at Princeton, but he has yet to win an NCAA championship. He will spend his final weekend of collegiate swimming in pursuit of that title as he leads a cast of six Tigers to the upcoming Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, which will be held in College Station, Texas.
Joining Lennox as part of Princeton's 2009 NCAA team are senior Mike Carter, freshman Colin Cordes, senior Dan Eckel, junior Jon Hartmann and senior Will Schaffer.
Both Lennox and Eckel qualified with A-cuts in individual events, and both were in fly events. Lennox, a 2008 NCAA finalist and All-America honoree in the 200 fly, recorded A-cut times to win both the 100 and 200 fly titles at the Ivy League Championships. His winning time in the 100 was 45.12, which is the the third-fastest time for any collegiate swimmer heading into NCAAs. Lennox, who swam both fly events for the Puerto Rican national team at the 2008 Olympics, His 200 time of 1:42.78 is currently the 11th-fastest in the NCAAs, and that came at the end of the Ivy League championship weekend.
Lennox was nearly chased down by Eckel at the end of the 200, and both swimmers put forth a competition that would send them each to NCAAs. Eckel finished second in the event with a time of 1:42.87, which is just behind Lennox as the 12th-fastest time in the country. Because Eckel also has a B-cut time in the 100, he will also swim that event in NCAAs.
Strong relays will allow the remainder of the Princeton squad to compete in both team and individual events this weekend. The 800 free relay squad of Hartmann, Schaffer, Cordes and Lennox produced an A-cut time of 6:24.75 that currently ranks 12th nationally. That allowed Hartmann, Schaffer and Cordes to all compete in individual events that they had produced B-cut times in: Hartmann will swim the 200 IM, 100 free and 200 free; Schaffer will swim the 200 and 400 IM and Cordes will swim the 200 free.
Carter joined his teammates as qualifiers in the 400 free relay, and he will swim the 50 free and 100 fly. As a team, Princeton will also swim the 200 free and 400 medley relays, both of which it produced B-cut times in.
While simply qualifying for nationals is quite the honor, Lennox is heading to College Station with the goal of winning an NCAA title. He finished fourth in the 200 last year and is coming off a brilliant competition at the Ivy League Championships. He shared a few of his thoughts with GoPrincetonTigers.com as he readied for his final collegiate competition.
1) Which experience from last year do you think will help you most at NCAAs: being in the 2008 NCAA final or swimming at the Olympics?
Being in the 2008 NCAA final, for sure. While competing in Beijing gave me an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience, I would say that I was mentally much less prepared for the meet than the NCAA meet. Going into the Olympics I was not ranked particularly well in my events, and I felt a lot more pressure to perform my best because it such an exclusive meet. The NCAA meet, on the other hand, has much more concrete qualifying standards and I felt little to no pressure because virtually nobody knew who I was. I am sure nobody expected any Ivy League swimmer to be competitive, except for [Yale's] Alex Righi, either. Needless to say, I
went to NCAAs with a clear mind and a hungry heart. In order to be successful this year, I think I need to be as intensely focused as I was last year, with that go-out-and-prove-myself-to-the-world attitude, but maintain a measure of relaxation and tranquility. I will definitely look to my NCAA experience for this meet more than my Olympic experience this weekend.
2) Although you earned All-America in the 200 fly last year, your best current seeding is in the 100. Which event do you think will be your strongest chance at a title?
This season I have competed at a much higher level in the 100 fly than the 200 fly. In fact, all of my 'off' events have seen much greater improvement than my 200 fly this year, most probably because I compete in those races much more frequently during the dual meet season. When appraising the title chances of my races next week, though, I don't really give too much weight to any one event. It does not matter how I am ranked on paper, it just matters how I stack up against the best swimmers in the country for this one weekend. My goal is not specifically to win a national title, but for our squad of six Tigers to score higher than the 27th place finish we mustered last year. It would be something truly special were I to win any event along the way, especially because I am positive it will take an American Record to do so.
3) How has/will your preparation differ before NCAAs as compared to before the Ivy Championships?
My preparation for NCAAs is the same, in both theory and practice, except that I have much more pressure to get my Senior Thesis finished. Hopefully all the furious typing I have done in the library every day won't come back to haunt me, and ruin my taper...
4) How gratifying is it for you that so many of your teammates will join you in Texas, and how do you think swimming in the relays will affect your weekend?
Honestly, whatever happens in Texas is just icing on the cake for me. After my mediocre performances in Beijing I re-dedicated myself to the team goals because nothing is harder than swimming selfishly. Thus, my season goals were consistent with C. Rob Orr's, and any personal achievements were accomplished in the sincere effort to help the team go undefeated, win conference, and to send a *group* of guys to NCAAs. With a lot of determination, dedication, and motivation, the entire team accomplished these goals, and as a result six guys earned the privilege to represent PUCSDT on the national stage. Although there are at least a
handful more guys who were on the verge of earning an invitation to Nationals, I am extremely excited to share such an honor with some of my closest friends and teammates. It really goes without saying that the adding a few more swims to my meet repertoire is not just a welcome challenge, it is a dream come true.