National Championship
2014 NCAA Women's Swimming – 200-yard Butterfly (2:01.35)
March 21, 2014
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Freshman Abby Erdmann won a national title in the 200-yard butterfly to lead the University of Chicago swimming and diving teams at day three of the NCAA Division III Championships on Friday.
Erdmann's victory marked the 15th individual national championship in UChicago history. The school's previous swimming title came in 1989 when Kris Alden won the 100-yard breaststroke.
Erdmann was third in the prelims of the 200-yard butterfly and then posted a winning time of 2:01.35 in the finals. She topped the runner-up by 0.81 seconds and set a new school record in the process.
"Abby's swim was unexpected, exciting and an awesome experience for her and the team," said Head Coach Jason Weber. "I think her performance really pumped up the team and was a big reason why our men's 800 free relay broke the school record by six seconds and finished sixth overall."
"All year, Abby has had trouble finishing that race, including during prelims that morning," Weber continued. "So when she went out over a second faster the first 100 than she did in prelims, I was thinking that the end of the race wouldn't be pretty. However, after maintaining her lead with the strongest third 50 I've seen her swim in that event, I knew this could be a special moment. After she touched that wall and looked at her time and place in disbelief, I couldn't have been more happy for her and proud of what she had accomplished."
