Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving 2003-04 Season Recap Three Tiger swimmers compete at 2004 NCAA Championships to conclude season.
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Mark Henly finished 15th in the 200m free, scoring two points at the 2004 NCAA Championships. It was the first time since the 1988-89 season that the Clemson men have scored at the national meet

Mark Henly finished 15th in the 200m free, scoring two points at the 2004 NCAA Championships. It was the first time since the 1988-89 season that the Clemson men have scored at the national meet

April 2, 2004

The Clemson men's and women's swimming and diving teams concluded the 2003-04 season with success at the 2004 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships. Two Tiger women's swimmers and one men's swimmer represented Clemson at the 2004 NCAA Championships, which were conducted in short course meters rather than yards as it is an Olympic year. Head Coach Chris Ip's men's team finished in a tie for 35th-place, while the women finished in a tie for 39th nationally. It was the first time since the 1988-89 season that the Clemson men have scored at the national meet.

  • Mark Henly scored two points for the Tiger men's team with a 15th-place finish (1:56.68) in the 200-meter back at the 2004 NCAA Men's Championships held at the Goodwill Games Aquatic Center in East Meadow, NY on March 25-27. The senior from Denver, PA also competed in the preliminary rounds of the 100m back and the 200m IM for Clemson. The Tigers finished the meet in a tie for 35th-place with two points. It was the first time since the 1988-89 season that a Clemson men's team has scored at the NCAA Championships. That season, the Tigers, led by head coach Bob Boettner, placed 31st nationally, scoring 13 points at the meet. Henly was named an Honorable Mention All-American for his performance in the 200m back.

  • Kim Routh and Kim Cober represented Clemson at the 2004 NCAA Women's Championships on March 18-20 in College Station, TX at the Student Rec Center Natatorium on the campus of Texas A&M. Routh led the way for the Tigers, placing 15th overall in the 1500m free (16:15.19) and scoring two points for the team, while earning Honorable Mention All-America honors. The sophomore from Sandusky, OH competed in the preliminary rounds of the 200m and 400m free. Cober, a senior from Greensboro, NC, placed 37th overall in the 1500m free (16:48.28) and also swam in the preliminary round of the 400m free. The Tiger women's team finished the meet in a tie for 39th nationally.

  • Two divers competed for Clemson at the 2004 NCAA Zone B Diving Regional in Athens, GA on March 11-13. Eric Shulick took 15th place in the men's one-meter diving competition, recording 580.40 points for the event. The junior from Naugatuck, CT, scored 291.60 points in the preliminary round of the three-meter, finishing 23rd overall. Jessica Watcke, a sophomore from Cheshire, CT, posted 195.55 points in the preliminary round of the women's one-meter diving competition to finish 41st overall.

  • The Clemson men's and women's swimming and diving teams were named Academic All-American teams by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. Both Tiger teams earned the honor for their academic performances during the fall semester of 2003. The Clemson women's team posted a team grade point average of 3.200 for the semester, ranking them in a tie for 43rd among NCAA Division I women's swimming and diving teams. The Tiger men's team recorded a 3.100 team GPA for the fall 2003 semester, which puts them in a tie for 17th among Division I men's swimming and diving programs.

  • Three members of the Tiger men's swimming and diving team set new Clemson records during the 2003-04 season. Mark Henly broke his own previous records in the 100 and 200 back set during the 2002-03 season. Henly posted a time of 48.82 in the 100 back in the lead-off leg of the Tigers' 200 medley relay team at the 2004 ACC Championships. He finished the 200 back in a Clemson record time of 1:43.78 to become the ACC Champion in the event for the second consecutive season. Ryan Cassella set a new Clemson record in the 100 breast with a time of 55.18 recorded at the Nike Cup. Eric Shulick broke his own record in the one-meter (six dives) diving competition, scoring 323.03 points against N.C. State. Shulick also set a Tiger record in the one-meter (11 dives), posting 580.40 points at the NCAA Zone B Diving Regional.

  • The Clemson men's team set new school records in two relay events this season. The Tigers' 200 medley relay team of Tommy Rappold, Ryan Cassella, Rob Kummer and Drew Scheerhorn posted a Clemson-record time of 1:29.19 in the event at the 2004 ACC Championships. The previous record of 1:30.88 was set by a Tiger team during the 1997-98 season. Clemson's 400 medley relay team of Mark Henly, Cassella, Kummer and Scheerhorn recorded a time of 3:16.17 at the conference championships, breaking their own previous record of 3:17.12 set last season.

  • Kim Routh's winning time of 16:23.84 in the 1650 free at the Nike Cup set a new Clemson record in the event. The previous record of 16:29.97 was set in 1992 by former Tiger All-American Michele Richardson. Richardson was the Olympic silver medallist in the 800 free at the 1984 Olympic Games and was a member of the ACC 50th Anniversary Team. If converted times were used, Routh's short-course-meter time of 16:15.19 in the 1500-meter free at the 2004 NCAA Championships, which converts to a time of 16:18.11 in the 1650-yard free, would have broken her own previous record set earlier this season. Tiger diver Jessica Watcke set a new Clemson record in the one-meter (six dives) diving competition, posting a score of 258.15 points in the event against South Carolina.

  • The Clemson men's swimming and diving team finished the 2003-04 regular season with a 13-2-1 overall record and a 4-1-1 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The 13 dual victories are the most wins ever recorded by a Clemson men's swimming and diving team, dating back to the program's inception in 1953. The team finished in fourth place at the 2004 ACC Championships with 436 points overall. Mark Henly, Rob Kummer and Eric Shulick were named to the All-ACC team for their performances at the meet. Henly won his second consecutive ACC title in the 200 back and finished third in the 100 back and the 200 IM for the Tigers. Shulick was the ACC Champion in the one-meter diving competition, while Kummer finished third in the 200 fly.

  • The Clemson women's swimming and diving team finished the regular season with a 10-5 overall record and a 1-4 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The 10 wins are the most recorded by a Tiger team since the 1988 season, when Clemson finished the season with 12 dual meet victories. The team placed fifth overall and the 2004 ACC Championships, scoring 294.50 points for the meet.
     

     

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