Lake Forest College swimmer Sam Freedberg finished his season on Friday at the NCAA Division III Championship Meet in Indianapolis. The Freshman placed 22nd in the preliminaries of the 200-butterfly with a school and Midwest Conference record time of 1:51.33.
Freedberg had not competed in the event since January 25 and his seed time of 2:00.15 was recorded in December. He was one of just three swimmers in the first of five heats, which he won by nearly three seconds. Just one competitor from the next heat posted a faster time but the top 24 seeds in the event were spread over the final three heats and Freedberg's time slipped to 22nd overall.
The team record is Freedberg's third of the season and 1.69 seconds faaster than the previous mark set by senior Garr Punnett at the MWC Championships on February 16. Freedberg's other program records are in both individual medleys and were set at the conference meet. He also competed in both events at the national meet, placing 43rd in the 200-IM on Wednesday and 21st in the 400-IM on Thursday.
Freedberg is the first Forester male since Rob Edgell in 2000 to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
Lake Forest's final competitor will be junior Christina Pekar in the 3-meter diving competition on Saturday. She finished 12th in the event at last year's NCAA Championships to earn Honorable Mention All-American honors from the College Swim Coaches Association of America.
