June 30, 2008

OMAHA, NEB. - Six current and future University of North Carolina swimmers posted career bests times Monday afternoon as the 2008 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials continued at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb. Megan Steeves, Layne Brodie, Tommy Wyher, Jeff James, Zach Swartz and Katura Harvey were the swimmers who all swam personal best times at the Trials.

Rising junior Megan Steeves led off the day with a career best time of 1:03.67 in the 100-meter backstroke, finishing 58th. She improved 11 spots on her seeding of 69th and lowered her previous personal best which stood at 1:03.92.

Rising sophomore Chip Peterson and rising junior Hank Browning, both 2007-08 redshirts, swam in the 200-meter freestyle. Peterson took 66th place in 1:53.02 while Browning notched 77th place in 1:53.97.

In the women's 100-meter breaststroke, incoming freshman Layne Brodie clocked a career best 1:11.65, knocking .33 of a seconds off her previous top time. Brodie was the No. 72 seed but moved up to 48th in the final standings. Rising junior Alison Clemens finished 70th (was 71st seed) in 1:12.50 and incoming freshman Laura Moriarty went 1:13.50 to place 89th after going in as the No. 105 seed.

Three Carolina swimmers posted career bests in the 100-meter backstroke. Rising sophomore Tommy Wyher went 57.07 to place 39th. He went in as the No. 52 seed with a time of 57.46. Rising junior Jeff James had a career best 57.61, bettering his mark of 57.99 as he finished 61st (was No. 86 seed). 2008 UNC alumnus Zach Swartz swam a career best 57.77 in the 100-meter backstroke to place 69th (was No. 79 seed). His previous personal best was 57.82. Another 2008 alum, Keith Laabs, was 79th in 59.05.

Rising senior Whitney Sprague was 31st in the women's 400-meter freestyle at 4:16.12, her second best career time. Rising sophomore Katura Harvey knocked an amazing 47 spots off her seed position of 90th to finish 43rd in 4:17.96, taking 1.15 seconds off her previous best time of 4:19.11.