Union swimmer Elliot Seguin provided his own version of March Madness.
While many people in East Lansing, Michigan were charged up with their Michigan State men's basketball team heading to the “Sweet 16,” others in that community were charged up with a Michigan native who won a national title in swimming in his own backyard, for a school in upstate New York.
Seguin became the fourth men's swimming and diving competitor from Union College to win a national championship on Saturday, March 19, when he won the 100 freestyle at the 2005 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships at Hope College's Holland Aquatic Center in Holland, Michigan.
“He had many family and friends come to the meet,” commented Union Head Coach Scott Felix. “Holland is only an hour and a half away from East Lansing, so this worked out perfectly for him.”
Seguin won the 100 free with a time of :42.32 in the finals of the event. He bested the second place finisher, Brad Test of Johns Hopkins, by .42. Seguin came in at the 50 yard mark at :21.86 to pace the field.
“He won a half a body length,” said Felix. “He was very excited when he touched for the title.”
Seguin qualified for the finals with a preliminary finish of sixth in the event, at :45.83. He also became the program's 32nd All-American. Earlier in the meet, he qualified for the finals in the 200, finishing 14th in that event with a time of 1:42.44 against the nation's best. In the first day of competition at Hope College, Seguin finished 12th in the consolations of the 50 free at :21.26.
Thanks to Seguin's performance, as well as the showing of his teammate, junior DJ Hogenkamp (E. Aurora/E. Aurora), the Dutchmen finished in 25th in team scoring with 28 points to outscore 21 other schools.
Seguin's season was truly remarkable. He won state titles in 100 and 200 freestyle events while taking third in the 50 free. His 200 time of 1:40.54 qualified him for the NCAA meet and his 45.17 in the 100 shattered the previous championship (45.61) and association (45.55) standards. The association record had been set by Union's Jeff Hoerle in 1997, which was also a Union College standard. Sequin previously shared the championship record with Union's Kevin Makarowski.
“We talked about the nationals in September,” commented Felix. “The 100 free is his best event, and he was the fastest guy in the pool in the prelims.”
He turned out to be the fastest guy in the finals, too. And thus, he turned out to be a national champion.