Four TCU Swimmers Compete at 2003 ConocoPhillips National Swimming Championships

This past weekend, four TCU swimmers participated in the 2003 United States ConocoPhillips National Swimming Championships at College Park, Maryland. Craig Chapman, Erin Irons, Aimee Moreau, and Tiffany Strawn each swam in one or more events during the five-day competition held August 5-9, 2003.

Chapman fared the best, swimming a 57.75-second 100-meter backstroke in the preliminaries. The time qualifies him for the 2004 Olympic Trials, to be held next July in Long Beach, Calif. In the finals, he swam the event in 58.23 seconds, ranking 24th. This time qualifies him for the Long Course National Championships this February in Orlando, Fla.; Chapman had already qualified for the Short Course Nationals. The winning time came in at 54.63 seconds; the world record is 53.60 seconds.

In the 200-meter backstroke, Chapman finished 50th with a 2:08.07 in the preliminaries and 2:08:26 in the finals. The first-place time was clocked at 1:56.1, while the world record stands at 1:55.1. Chapman, the best returning Horned Frogs backstroker, will be a junior this year. He represented his home summer club, Cypress Fairbank Fleet Swimming of Houston, Texas.

Irons represented Fort Worth Area Swim Club of Fort Worth, Texas, in the 50-meter freestyle, coming in 85th with a time of 23.25 seconds in the preliminaries and 27.71 in the finals. The best time was 25.18 seconds, while the world record is 24.13. Irons enters her senior year as one of the fastest women in TCU swimming history, holding school records in five individual events and one relay event.

Swimming for her home club, Crescent City Swim Club of New Orleans, La., Moreau finished 80th in the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 2:01.67 in the preliminaries and 2:26.10 in the finals. At TCU, Moreau holds two freestyle relay records and will be a junior this year.

Strawn swam with her home club Katy Aquatic Team of Katy, Texas, for a 47th place finish in the 400-meter medley relay. They finished with a time of 4:29.20, while the winning time finished in 4:12.11 and the world record stands at 3:58.3. At TCU, the junior holds two medley relay records.

This year saw the largest number of TCU swimmers ever entered in the Summer Nationals. Five swimmers in all qualified, including Scott McCure, who did not attend.