National Championship
2015 NCAA Men's Swimming – 400-yard Freestyle Relay (2:57.85)
March 21, 2015
SHENANDOAH, Texas – The University of Chicago men's 400-yard freestyle relay team won a national championship in dramatic fashion to lead the Maroon swimming and diving teams at the final day of the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday.
The women's team championship was claimed by Emory University (603 points), and the Maroons took 13th with 82 points. Kenyon College won the men's team title with 468 points and UChicago placed 14th with 94 points scored.
The big highlight of the night came in the final race of the four-day meet – the men's 400-yard freestyle relay. After the morning prelims, the UChicago quartet of sophomore Mantim Lee, junior Thomas Meek, sophomore Jeremy Estes and junior Matthew Veldman was seeded fourth and in position to challenge for the top spot. All four swimmers came out fast in the final and once the intense race ended, UChicago was tied for first with The College of New Jersey with matching times of 2:57.85. Both schools were awarded national championships in the event. The Maroons broke the school record in the process.
"I was really nervous going into the event, mainly because I didn't want them to disqualify another relay, especially since we had disqualified a couple relays earlier in the meet," said Head Coach Jason Weber. "After we had some great swims on the morning relay and were seeded fourth, just a couple tenths behind second, I thought we could have a shot if we did well at night. I even told the guys before the relay that with some good swims anything could happen, knowing they would rise to the occasion in the moment.
"Every guy on that relay went the fastest they had ever gone," Weber continued, "and after Jeremy pulled us even after the third leg, everyone started going crazy because Matt always has great anchor legs under pressure. When he touched the wall and we saw the No. 1 by Chicago, it was pandemonium. Just amazing."
