Two Men Smash 4:20 Barrier, but Arthur Conover Snags 500 FR D3 Record

DIVISION III MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 15-18, 2017
• CISD Natatorium, Shenandoah, Texas
• Prelims 10 AM, Finals 6 PM – U.S. Central Time Zone (GMT -6 currently)
• Event schedule
• Real-time results – diving
• Real-time results – swimming
• Video link
• Championship Central

Kenyon‘s Arthur Conover took down the 500 free D3 record en route to a big victory for his team. Conover, who broke the 1650 free D3 record this past December, dueled with Johns Hopkins‘ Andrew Greenhalgh the entire race through. Greenhalgh previously held the D3 record at 4:20.60, setting it his sophomore year, and he went on to beat Conover again in 2016.

This year, though, Conover stayed with Greenhalgh, only to charge at the last 100. As evidenced by his splits below, the national title went to Conover due to his tenacity and the way that he attacked the end of his race, especially the final 50. Conover won it in 4:18.35 over Greenhalgh’s 4:19.66, with more than three seconds separating Greenhalgh and third place.

SPLITS

Arthur Conover, Kenyon

24.17        50.07 (25.90)
        1:16.07 (26.00)     1:42.31 (26.24)
        2:08.69 (26.38)     2:35.01 (26.32)
        3:01.49 (26.48)     3:27.87 (26.38)
        3:53.60 (25.73)     4:18.35 (24.75)

Andrew Greenhalgh, Johns Hopkins

24.15        50.04 (25.89)
        1:16.42 (26.38)     1:42.77 (26.35)
        2:08.93 (26.16)     2:35.19 (26.26)
        3:01.34 (26.15)     3:27.54 (26.20)
        3:53.66 (26.12)     4:19.66 (26.00)

Conover and Greenhalgh are the first to ever break the 4:20 mark at the Division III level. Conover did so by a large margin, and now that both are graduating, it’s hard to see who will be capable of taking down this mark in the future. Nonetheless, these two had a spectacular race, and prove to be a testament to the rise of Division III swimming.

*For those who are interested in comparing D3 standouts to D1, Conover would’ve tied for 24th at D1 NCAAs last season.