Three Relays and Four Individuals Earn Placement to Compete at NCAA Championships

Three Relays and Four Individuals Earn Placement to Compete at NCAA Championships

(INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's swimming and diving team will have three relays and four individuals competing at the 2019 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. The championships will be hosted by the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina, on March 20-23.

Sophomore Justin Britton (Falls Church, Va. / George Mason) and freshman Richard Dauksher (Fort Collins, Colo. / Fossil Ridge) both qualified as individuals and will be making their first appearance at the national meet. Britton set three school records this year and will be swimming in those three events at the NCAA Championships. The sophomore earned entry to the meet for his time of 48.63 in the 100-yard backstroke and time of 1:47.64 in the 200-yard backstroke. He'll also compete in the 50-yard freestyle after a school best time of 20.67 pits him 41st.

Dauksher earned his spot in the meet in both the 1,650-yard freestyle and 400-yard IM. His time of 15:38.78 in the distance freestyle is 11th best in the nation while his time of 3:56.58 is 16th in the 400-yard IM. Dauksher will also swim the 500-yard freestyle with his best time of 4:30.53 coming at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships and is 18th out of 33 swimmers.

Joining Britton and Dauksher at the championship meet will be senior Winston Chu (Warren, N.J. / Saint Peter's Prep), sophomore Max Gonzalez (Allison Park, Pa. / North Allegheny), junior Sam Hawke (Malvern, Pa. / Episcopal Academy), and freshman Daniel Ng (Buffalo Grove, Ill. / Adlai E. Stevenson). Britton, Chu, Gonzalez, and Hawke set a new school record in the 400-yard medley relay in 3:19.14 and are seeded 14th for the meet. The 800-yard freestyle relay of Dauksher, Gonzalez, Ng, and Hawke are seeded 14th with a time of 6:43.52, while the 400-yard freestyle relay of Britton, Gonzalez, Ng, and Hawke are seeded 15th with a school record time of 3:01.77.

This year marks the fourth time a men's relay has qualified for the meet under head coach Matt Kinney. The last time was in 2015 when the 200-yard medley relay finished 13th to earn Honorable Mention All-America honors.

Freshman Judson Kyle (Austin, Texas / St. Stephen's Episcopal School) and senior Gabe Bamforth (Cambridge, Mass. / CRLS) will join the swimmers at the championship meet after qualifying with top scores at the NCAA Regional Diving Championships this past weekend. Kyle finished second on the 3-meter board while Bamforth, who will be making his fourth appearance on the national stage, finished fourth on the 1-meter and fifth on the 3-meter.