Meet Results
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Great Midwest Athletic Conference celebrated its first national champion on the awards podium at the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships Thursday evening as Findlay’s sophomore sensation Tim Stollings did so in the 100-yard butterfly.
Swimming and diving student-athletes at the Division II level have had their fair share of adversity following last year’s cancellation after just one day of competition from COVID-19.
This year, the entire field did not feel the luck of the Irish on St. Patrick’s Day (Wednesday) as inclement weather warnings in the Birmingham area closed the CrossPlex facility for the entire afternoon. The Day 1 schedule was shifted and as usual, these competitors showed their resiliency to adjust.
Due to the weater, Stollings didn’t have an opportunity to get warmed up with a preliminary run against the field. He had one chance to make it count and he did.
Stollings is just writing the early chapters of his collegiate legacy while dominating the finals session with a time of 45.57 in his signature event. Swimming in Lane 4, it was clear the pack was chasing the Oiler as he beat out Delta State’s Giulio Brugnoni (46.16) and others.
It ranked as the third-fastest time in Division II Championship history and also established a new school program and combined Great Midwest/Mountain East Conference record.
Stollings was also an NCAA All-American in the 50 freestyle after making it out of the prelims and finishing 16th in the finals with a time of 20.22. He is the reigning Great Midwest Swimmer and Freshman of the Year from the shortened 2019-20 season.
Stollings is also competing in the 100-yard backstroke at the NCAA Championships. On Friday night, he was the NCAA runner-up in the event by the closest of margins. In the prelims, Stollings was the top time at 46.96 seconds and in the finals, only Brugnoni touched the wall first in a 46.77 to 46.97 difference.
His final event of the week was the 100 freestyle, where he finished 23rd and promptly set a new school record in a time of 44.46.
It was a phenemonal effort for Stollings, who earned All-American honors three times and a national championship in 2020-21.
Last year, he was a national qualifier in the 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke and part of the qualifying 200 and 400-yard medley relay units.
It continues a remarkable winter season for Findlay athletics with Sterling Mungro capturing an individual weight throw national title and James Wimer winning the 157-pound national title in wrestling that was conducted in St. Louis.