April 1, 2006
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - Yet another renewal of the Army-Navy series took place Friday night on the coastline of the Pacific Ocean as members of the two schools competed against each other in the final heat of the men's 400-meter freestyle relay at the USA Swimming Spring Championship in Federal Way, Wash. The Mids would edge Army for third place in the heat and fourth place overall in the event by just 14-hundredths of a second.
"There were other teams in the race, but all anyone in the building was watching was Army and Navy," said Navy assistant coach Adam Kennedy. "It was a fun to see both service academies swim as they did at a major meet like this. Tonight was great for both schools and programs."
Navy's relay squad of Mike Linn (Sr., Newhall, Calif.), Billy Vey (Fr., Huntersville, N.C.), Alex Oldenkamp (Fr., Coppell, Texas) and Joe Smutz (Sr., Marriottsville, Md.) were seeded third and placed into lane three of the third and final heat in the event on the night. The Black Knights were seeded fifth and swam next to the Mids in lane two.
After posting a time of 24.78 through the opening 50 meters, Linn ended his leg of the relay in third place with a time of 50.96. Meanwhile, Army ended its opening leg in fifth place with a time of 53.05.
Vey followed for the Mids and immediately moved Navy into second place after his first 50 meters (1:17.78), a position he remained in at the midpoint of the relay with a time of 1:45.76. However, Army's Zach Disbrow swam a 52.29 during his leg to move the Black Knights into first place with an overall time of 1:45.34.
"As Mike was swimming towards me all I was watching was Army's lane," said Vey. "I saw how close it was going to be. I lost the lead to them in the end, but I trusted the rest of my teammates."
Oldenkamp entered the water for the third leg and, after dropping the team to fourth place at the 250-meter mark (2:21.00), moved back into second place by less than one-tenth of a second at 300 meters with an overall time of 2:39.85. Army fell to fifth place after 300 meters with a time of 2:40.46.
"I knew it was going to be close between us and Army," said Oldenkamp. "I swam a pretty controlled opening 50, then built up a little over third 25 meters before kicking and sprinting home over the last part of the race."
"Billy and Alex were tremendous tonight," said Kennedy. "They really came through with great swims and were the key to our success."
Swimming the anchor leg for Navy was Smutz, who fell from second place to third by less than three-tenths of a second at 350 meters (3:04.39) and finished in the same position with an overall time of 3:31.55. He was able to narrowly hold off at the wall a hard-charging Efri Ruthenberg by 14-hundredths of a second (3:31.79).
The Mission Viejo Nadadores won the heat in an overall time of 3:30.61, with The Bolles School Sharks finishing in second place with a time of 3:31.09.
"We are very proud of our relay, but a ton of credit needs to go to Army," said Kennedy. "They all dug deep and posted great times."
In the final overall standings for the event, Mission Viejo placed second, The Bolles School placed third and Army finished in fifth place. USC won the race with a time of 3:28.09.
Special recognition was paid to both teams during the awards ceremony by the meet announcer, which was followed by a standing ovation from the assembled crowd.
Competing in individual events during Friday's morning preliminary heats for Navy were Jennie Spencer (Fr., Smithburg, W. Va.), who placed 55th in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 1:07.90, and Linn, who would record a time of 57.11 and a placing of 32nd in the 100-meter butterfly.
The championship concludes Saturday with the Mids competing in the men's 50 freestyle and 400 medley relay and Kelly Zahalka (Fr., Richmond, Va.) competing in the 200 individual medley.
