FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams wrapped up their third season of competition at the NCAA Division II National Championships, and the Sharks made their presence known. Together, the teams captured 18 All-America honors and 29 honorable mention All-America accolades.
To be selected as All-America, a swimmer must finish the championships with one of the eight fastest times, while swimmers who have times ranked ninth through 16th receive honorable mention All-America honors.
For the women,
Erin Black (Sr., Fort Myers, Fla.) garnered three All-America and three honorable mention All-America awards. Black, who was the national champion in the 500-yard freestyle, also was bestowed All-America honors in the 800-yard free relay, 1,000-yard free and the 200-yard freestyle. The senior added honorable mention All-American accolades in the 1,000-yard freestyle, 400-yard free relay, and the 400-yard medley relay.
Lauren Chapple (So., London, England) garnered four All-America and two honorable mentions. Chapple secured All-American status in the 800-yard freestyle relay, 200-yard individual medley, 400-yard individual medley and the 200-yard butterfly. She received All-American honorable mention in the 400-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard medley relay. Chapple was named the Sunshine State Conference Women’s Swimmer of the Meet for her performance in these events in the SSC championships. Chapple earned the award by breaking both the SSC meet record and overall conference record in two events: the 400-yard individual medley and the 200-yard butterfly.
On the men’s side,
Oskar Nordstrand (Sr., Stockholm, Sweden) was the most decorated swimmer for NSU, as he receives All American honors in four events, including becoming the first male in program history ever to be crowned an NCAA DII champion in the 500-yard freestyle. He received All-American status in the 1,000-yard freestyle, 1,650-yard freestyle and the 800-yard freestyle as well. He also received honorable mention All-American honors in the 200-yard freestyle, 400-yard medley relay, and the 400-yard freestyle relay. Nordstrand was named the SSC Co-Swimmer of the Year based on his performances in the SSC championships in these events. He had also won gold in the same event at the SSC Championship with a mark of 4:24.71. Nordstrand earned the swimmer of the year honor by taking first place in both the 1,000 and 1,650-yard freestyle events at the 2013 SSC Championship with meet and overall record performances.
Florian Mehlan (Jr., Moors, Germany) garnered All-American honors in the 200-yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle and the 800-yard freestyle relay. He received honorable mention All-American in the 1000-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay.
The other All-Americans and honorable mention All-Americans were:
Esau Simpson: Honorable mention All-American in the 50-yard freestyle, 200-freestyle relay, 200-yard medley relay, 400-yard medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relay
Kristen Ann Zielinski: All-American in the 800-yard freestyle relay; Honorable mention All-American in the 200-yard freestyle, 400-yard medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relay
Ashley Bransford: All-American in the 800-yard freestyle relay; Honorable mention All-American in the 400-yard medley relay
Jessica Rocheleau: Honorable mention All-American in the 400-yard freestyle relay
Oscar Aldabe: Honorable mention All-American in the 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard medley relay
John Michael Hayes: All-American in the 800-yard freestyle relay; Honorable mention All-American in the 400-yard medley relay, 200-yard freestyle relay and the 200-yard medley relay
Michael Zislin: All-American in the 800-yard freestyle relay; Honorable mention All-American in the 200-yard medley relay, 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard freestyle relay
Cameron Chambers: Honorable mention All-American in the 1,650-yard freestyle
The men finished in 10th place overall at the NCAA Championships with 151 points, while the women ended the meet in 15th with 128 points. For the men, it tied the program's best finish at DII's premier event of the season. On the women's side, the Sharks reached a program-best mark for points accumulated. The event, in which the Sharks took a program-best two national titles, marked another step forward for one of the fastest growing programs in DII swimming and diving.
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