GoPack.com article
State's strong tradition of swimmers continues on in Cullen Jones, who's earned his spot on the U.S. Olympic swimming team with a strong performance in the 4x100m relay.
His 50m preliminary time in Omaha set a new American record, but in the finals he failed to make the 50m free roster, finishing third by 16/100s of a second. Nevertheless, he's on his way to Beijing.
Not bad for a guy who nearly drowned at a waterpark at age 5.
There's some history at stake for Jones, as well. If he were to win gold, he would be the first black American swimmer to do so.
Jones is State's second swimming Olympian in 12 years. David Fox won gold in Atlanta in 1996 as part of the 4x100m relay sqaud. It can be argued that men's swimming has been the strongest men's sport at State, historically. The Wolfpack has won 24 ACC titles in its history, seven more than UNC's 17. It was Carolina grad Willis Casey, somewhat ironically, that led the Pack to 12 straight titles from 1966 to 1982. Casey, of course, went on to become one of the most prominent athletic directors in State's history.
“Why Not Us?”
8 months ago
Valid argument regarding swimming. Best of luck to Cullen. He is very marketable, so look for some sweet endorsement deals to come his way if he earns some success.
ReplyDelete"that led the Pack to 12 straight titles from 1966 to 1982."
ReplyDeleteisn't this longer than 12 years?
^ Well, I pulled it straight from the ACC media guide. The only thing I can figure is that the championships weren't held, for some reason, for four of those years.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine why...there wasn't a world war going on or anything.
If it's wrong, I blame Annabelle (Vaughn) Myers.