three people standing together with two holding trophies
Posted: Mar 16, 2023

Kyle Twins Finish 3rd & 6th, Two Relays Rise to All-America Status

(GREENSBORO, N.C.) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's swimming and diving team excelled during the second day of competition at the 2023 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships on Thursday, March 16. Graduate students James Kyle and Jud Kyle earned top eight finishes on the 1-meter diving board and two relays swam in the finals with one earning a top eight finish. The Tartans now have 83 points and are in eighth place with two days left to go.

The 200-yard freestyle relay started the night with an eighth-place finish in a time of 1:21.24. Senior Erik Feldmann led off the relay with a 20.64 split with senior Matthew Nagler going 20.34 over his 50 yards. Freshman Arnav Deshpande had a split time of 19.95 with freshman DJ Lloyd closing the race with a split of 20.31.

The Kyle twins returned to the NCAA Championships for the second time, this time together as each experienced a championship meet separately, and went toe-to-toe in the preliminaries to reach the finals with Jud finishing fourth and James finishing fifth.

Jud finished the finals with a point total of 497.20 to place third and record the program's highest diving finish while James recorded 476.00 points to place sixth. The All-America finishes on the 1-meter board are the first for each brother as James earned a fourth-place finish on the 3-meter last year and Jud an 11th-place finish on the 3-meter in 2019.

The 400-yard medley relay of Deshpande, freshman Max Kulbida, senior Aleksander Tarczynski, and senior Erik Feldmann closed the evening by smoking the school record and winning the consolation final to place ninth in 3:15.80. The quartet also earned a top 16 finish on day one in the 200-yard medley relay with a school record.

Notes

  • The eighth-place finish for the 200-yard freestyle relay is the first top eight finish for a relay at the NCAA Championships under 16-year head coach Matthew Kinney.
  • The last time the 200-yard freestyle relay made the top eight they placed third in 2004.
  • The double All-America honors for the Kyle twins marks the first time two male divers have finished in the finals of the same event.
  • With the Kyle twins finishing as All-Americans this evening, it marks the second time two divers have finished in the top eight under 18-year head diving coach Alicia Gorman as the women had a pair of All-America finishes on day one on the 3-meter board.

Friday's events

  • 200-yard butterfly - Tarczynski
  • 100-yard backstroke – Deshpande
  • 100-yard breaststroke – Nick Schmid, Kulbida
  • 800-yard freestyle relay