ATLANTA, Ga. â€"â€" Navy's Lauren Barber (Fr., New Wilmington, Pa.) placed 34th in the preliminary heats of the 200 individual medley event at the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championship Thursday morning at the McAuley Aquatics Center on the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta, Ga.

Barber posted a time of 1:58.59 to place third in her heat of eight swimmers. Tennessee's Colleen Callahan recorded a time of 1:57.26 to win the heat (20th overall), with Harvard's Sonia Wang finishing in between Callahan and Barber with a second-place (29th overall) clocking of 1:57.73.

"Going into the race," said Barber, "I wanted to get a best time and do the best that I could and make it back tonight for one of the finals (top-16 return). I think I put a lot of pressure on myself, and it is the biggest meet I have competed in this year. I felt a little tight during the race â€"â€" my legs were a little sore â€"â€" but I recovered well and I am looking forward to performing even better tomorrow."

"Lauren had a decent swim," said Navy head coach John Morrison. "She looked a little nervous behind the blocks and swam a little tight. It is a very fast meet and was nice to see her improve upon her seed. We're glad to get her first race under her belt and we're excited to see what she can do the remainder of the meet now that she has settled in."

Barber entered the event seeded 38th in the 200 IM with a qualifying time of 1:57.89. Her time today ranks third in Navy history behind her own clockings of 1:57.89 (also Patriot League record) and 1:58.42.

She will compete in the 100 breaststroke on Friday and in the 200 breaststroke on Saturday.