Martin Repeats Fifth-Place NCAA Finish

Harvard history was made last week at the NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships in Indianapolis.

Junior Tim Martin, who is also a Crimson editor, broke Bobby Hackett '79's 21-year-old Harvard record in the 1650-meter freestyle with a time of 14:58.38. Hackett posted a time of 14:59.98 in 1979 for the previous record. Heading into the NCAAs, Martin's career best was a 15:00.75 set at last year's championships.

Martin's performance--in addition to setting the school mark--also earned him a fifth-place finish at national championship and All-America honors for the third consecutive season.

Martin came into NCAAS on a roll, fresh off of two convincing wins in the 1000 and 1650-meter events at the 1999 EISL Championships two weeks earlier, and was primed to make some noise at the championships.

Martin's fifth-place finish was his second in as many years.

His record-breaking performance, however, was one for the ages. In addition to breaking one of the Crimson's oldest marks, besting Hackett was especially impressive.

In 1976 Hackett captured the silver medal in the 1500-meter freestyle at the Summer Olympics in Montreal.

Martin's time in the 1650-meter freestyle left him 24 seconds behind champion Ryk Neethling of Arizona, who posted a time of 14:35.57. Michigan swimmers Chris Thompson and Tim Siciliano, as well as Arizona's Nat Lewis all came in just ahead of Martin to take the two through four slots in the event.

In addition to his record-setting performance in the 1650, Martin also competed in the 500-meter freestyle. The junior placed 11th in the event with a time of 4:21.73, earning him Honorable Mention All-America honors. Martin's time in the event was also good for fourth-best all time in Harvard history.

Martin wasn't the only Crimson swimmer in action at the NCAAs. Captain Greg Wriede also qualified for nationals. Wriede earned 13th place in the 400-meter individual medley with a time of 3:52.09.

Wriede coasted into the competition, delivering first-place performances in the 200 and 400-meter individual medleys, as well as a second-place finish in the 200-meter backstroke at the EISL Championships.

In overall team scoring Harvard finished in a tied with UC Santa-Barbara for 24th place in the nation. Last year the Crimson placed 11th overall in team scoring at NCAAs.