Otten Wins 200 Backstroke to Highlight Final Day of NIC

CLEVELAND, Ohio– South Carolina sophomore Emma Otten finished atop the podium in a backstroke event for a second-consecutive night, winning the women’s 200 back to highlight the final night of the National Invitational Championship.

Otten was the only swimmer in the field to qualify under the 1:58.00 mark in the 200 backstroke to qualify in first position.  She was pushed in the evening session, touching the wall at 1:56.56, just in front of Ohio State’s Devin Landstra (1:56.59) and Ellery Parish (1:56.61) from Rice. 

Mari Kraus finished in a tie for fifth-place in the women’s 200 back at 1:57.32.  The win for Otten came just one night after finishing first in the women’s 100 backstroke. 

Carolina had three A-finalists on the men’s which began with Ben Fenwick qualifying for his second A-final of the week as he finished fifth at 50.83 in the men’s 100 IM.  Will Riggs swam a 1:46.06 in the men’s 200 fly to finish fourth and Phil Costin went 44.29 in the men’s 100 free to also grab a fourth-place finish.

South Carolina ended the meet with a fifth-place effort from the women’s 400 free relay team of Edith Lingmann, Kraus, Ayris Akbay and Otten combined to finish at 3:22.63. 

Up Next
Select student-athletes will compete in the 2019 NCAA Championships over the next two weeks from Austin, Texas. The women’s championships will run from March 20-23 with the men’s championship running from March 27-30.