Stingray Alumni Matthew Swanston helps Stanford Win

March 11th, 2011 | Dan Kershaw | Alumni, Stingray News

Newmarket Stingray Alumni Matthew Swanston helped Stanford University Men’s Swimming and Diving to win it’s 30^th consecutive Pac 10 Conference Championship.

Swanston set to make splash in NCAA pool

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Stanford with their Championship banner.

Matthew Swanston front row centre with the suit on

 

Matthew Swanston of Newmarket earned a berth in the upcoming NCAA swimming and diving championships with a second-place finish in the men’s 200-yard backstroke at the PAC-10 conference championships  which were held in Long Beach California last weekend.
Swanston, a sophomore for Stanford University, finished 28/100ths of a second behind winner Cory Chitwood of the University of Arizona and enters the final March 24 to 26 in Minneapolis with the fourth fastest time in the event this season.
He also finished fifth in the 100 backstroke to qualify for the NCAA finals.

The Newmarket Stingrays member also swam the backstroke to help Stanford’s 4×50 and 4×100 medley relay teams to silver medals.
Stanford won the conference title for a record 30th straight season.The Pac 10 Conference is the fastest conference in U.S. college swimming.  30 years of consecutive wins is unprecedented in any sport in the history of US collegiate sports.  Finishing 2^nd at the meet was the University of Calfornia at Berkeley Golden Bears, ranked as the number 1 team in the nation.

In addition to the backstroke events, Swanston will compete in the 200 individual medley and for Stanford’s 200 and 400 medley relay teams.
Stingrays teammate Michael Zoldos, a junior at Stanford, finished third in the 1,650-yard freestyle at PAC-10s. He will also compete in the 500 yards final.

Next stop for Matthew- the NCAA Championships which will be held in Minneapolis from March 24-26^th. Matthew will be entering the NCAA Championships with the 4^th fastest time in the 200 backstroke in the NCAA this season, and the 14^th fastest time in the 100 back.  He will be swimming the backstroke leg on both the 400 and 200 medley relays which are ranked 4^th and 5^th respectively, as well as the 200 IM.