The final chapter in the women's swimming and diving season finally drew to a close this weekend as junior Chloe Young-Hyman returned from the Div. III National Championships at Carleton College in Minneapolis, Minn.
The lone Tufts representative at the Championships, Young-Hyman finished 17th in the 100-yard breaststroke, barely missing the finals. She also competed in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle.
"When I first got there and practiced I was really intimidated, but then my nerves settled in," Young-Hyman said. "It was really surreal the whole time."
Indeed, Young-Hyman's performance surpassed any pre-race expectations. Her 1:07.52 showing in the 100-yard breaststroke put her a mere 0.01 seconds out of 16th place and pushed her into the consolation finals.
"She did a wonderful time," coach Nancy Bigelow said. "It's really hard to come [out to Nationals] by herself."
Young-Hyman's most surprising swim of the weekend came on Saturday in the 100-yard freestyle, one of her elective events. She swam a new season best by 0.12 seconds and finished 23rd, placing her only seven places and 0.59 seconds out of a finals berth. Young-Hyman's finish was twelve places better than her seed and was a great symbolic ending to what has been a breakthrough season for the junior.
"I was extremely happy and really excited," said Young-Hyman, "I definitely placed higher than I expected to in my 100 free."
She also finished 39th in the 50-yard freestyle in 25.03 seconds, improving her season best by 0.09 seconds and bettering her original seeding.
Emory University won the meet for the second year in a row over perennial rival Kenyon College by 10 points, 428-418, the closest margin of victory in the meet's 25-year history. Kenyon's second-place 800 meter relay team was disqualified for an early start, leaving 0.01 seconds before the gun. The second-place finish would have earned the team 34 points, more than enough for Kenyon to have edged out Emory and won the meet.
NESCAC member Williams finished third, largely behind the unbelievable run of senior Lindsay Payne. After turning heads all season and turning in a jaw-dropping performance at the NESCAC Championships on Feb. 17-19, Payne won the Swimmer of the Meet Award for the second consecutive year this weekend. She won all three individual events in which she swam and set three new individual records in the process, two of which she had already held. She was also a part of the winning Williams 400-yard relay team. Payne won the 100-yard breaststroke for the fourth straight year, a feat which has only been accomplished five times in any event.
Young-Hyman's success caps off a season in which the junior headlined the Jumbo points earners at nearly every meet. She finished third in the 50 yard breaststroke and fifth in the 100 yard breaststroke at the NESCAC Championships, earning key points that helped give the Jumbos a No. 4 finish.
