As Kellan O’Connor bent to receive his seventh-place medal at the NCAA men’s swimming championships, the senior couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed.
Although he closed out his collegiate career last weekend at the meet in Austin, Texas, with a pair of All-America honors, O’Connor was hoping to garner more accolades for himself and Northwestern.
“I was satisfied to have been a repeat All-American, but I am really competitive and I wanted to be closer to the top,” he said. “Just getting to that meet is an impressive feat, but it becomes important to do things once you get there. You just need to keep setting more and more goals.”
O’Connor and junior teammates Mark Hamming and Tony Swanson posted 19.5 points for a 26th place team finish. The Wildcats were coming off a Big Ten meet where they placed fourth — finishing in front of three other Big Ten teams ranked in the Top 25.
But only three swimmers met the time qualifications for the NCAA meet, which put the trio at a disadvantage in team competition.
“Overall, we were expecting to do a little bit better,” NU coach Bob Groseth said. “When you prepare for the big events, it’s a hit or miss preparation. But sometimes what worked before won’t be successful the next year.”
NU found success in the 200 butterfly where both O’Connor and Hamming advanced to the finals, placing seventh and eleventh, respectively.
“I was really satisfied with my 200 fly, it was my best time ever,” Hamming said. “It was a great way to finish up the meet and score some points for my team.”
Hamming collected his first individual All-America honor and O’Connor reached finals in the 200 fly for the third consecutive year.
“When you look at the fact that (O’Connor) is the only guy in his class that made finals three years in a row, which is very difficult to do, the consistency of his performance is remarkable,” Groseth said.
Swanson was the lone Cat who didn’t add to his collection of six All-American awards. The junior placed third in the 200 IM in the Big Ten meet on Feb. 27, and was seeded 11th at the NCAA meet, but placed 30th overall.
“(Swanson) had a pretty good Big Ten meet and was looking pretty good right after that, but it’s one of those things where he didn’t hit his taper and wasn’t swimming very well,” Groseth said.
Although the Cats failed to surpass their 19th place finish at the 2002 NCAA meet, they finished the season with two All-Americans and one All-Big Ten selection.
“All in all, each meet is a learning experience,” Hamming said. “Tony obviously wasn’t happy because he has had a lot better times, and Kellan had some good swims and had some that he is disappointed about, but if you do your best, regardless of what happens in one swim, you improve yourself as a swimmer.”
