LINKOPING, Sweden - University of New Orleans head swimming and diving
coach
Randy Horner's list of national champions on the roster grew to
five on Thursday night in Sweden as
Jonas Grundstrom claimed the 1500
free at the Swedish Nationals.
Grundstrom touched the wall in a time of 16:25.94. The redshirt freshman's result was nearly nine seconds faster than silver medalist Gabriel Bertrand (16:34.57) and just under 18 seconds before third-place finisher Victor Westerlund (16:43.92).
Seeded sixth heading into the event with a time of 16:41.47, Grundstrom automatically moved past the Thursday morning heats to the evening's timed finals. Trailing Bertrand for the first 500 meters, Grundstrom took the lead for good at the 600 meter mark.
Grundstrom added a second-place finish to his tally on Saturday in the 200 fly. Seeded third heading into the finals with a time of 2:05.82 in the morning prelims, the redshirt freshman lowered his time to 2:04.83 to finish second behind Christoffer Wallin, who set the Swedish junior record when he hit the wall in 2:00.94.
On Wednesday, Grundstrom placed 12th in the 200 free prelims with a time of 1:57.47, missing the cut for the finals that night. He wrapped up competition on Sunday, getting disqualified in the 800 free.
Half a world away in Barquisimeto, Venezuela,
Jarryd Gregoire made the most of his competition in the bi-annual Caribbean Age Group Aquatic Championships (CCCAN), where he competed in the 50 fly and 100, after winning three events at the Trinidad National Championships in early June.
The rising sophomore finished third in the 50 fly with a time of 25.46 while placing fifth in the 100 free (52.36). In addition to his swimming responsibilities, Gregoire also served as captain of the Trinidad national swim team.
Other UNO national champions this year include a duo of rising sophomores from Iceland in
Birkir Mar Jonsson and
Eva Hannesdottir.
Jonsson won three events at the Iceland National Championships in March while Hannesdottir added a first place of her own, qualifying both for the Small Nation Games, held in Cyprus last month.
Incoming freshman Phillip Graeter rounds out the group of UNO national champions, after winning the 400 IM at the German junior nationals on June 29th.
Grundstrom, Gregoire, Jonsson, Hannesdottir and Graeter will report to the Lakefront in the next few weeks ahead of the 2009-10 season.
2009 UNO National Champions
Germany
Phillip Graeter (2009 signee) - 400 IM (junior nationals)
Iceland
Birkir Mar Jonsson - 100 free, 200 free, 50 fly, 100 fly
Eva Hannesdottir - 100 fly
Sweden
Jonas Grundstrom - 1500 free
Trinidad
Jarryd Gregoire - 100 back, 100 free, 200 free
