Pitt’s Blaise Vera Earns NCAA All-America Status
3/25/2021 7:30:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
GREENSBORO, N.C.—Senior sprinter Blaise Vera made Pitt men's swimming history on Thursday at the 2021 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
Competing in the 50-yard freestyle, Vera became an NCAA First Team All-American – Pitt's first in men's swimming since 1980 when Stu Swanson placed sixth in the 200-yard backstroke.
Vera secured his status forever as an NCAA All-American swimmer by clinching a top-eight finish in the morning with a preliminary time of 19.17 in college swimming's fastest event.
A native of Clinton, Miss., Vera finished seventh in the championship heat with a time of 19.39.
Vera is Pitt swimming & diving's first NCAA First Team All-American (top-eight finish in any event) since Dominic Giordano won the national title on 3-meter springboard diving in 2016.
The last time a Pitt men's swimmer earned All-America honors in the 50 Free was nearly a century ago when William Wright achieved the feat in 1928 for the Panthers.
Crucially, Vera also scored 12 team points for the Panthers, vaulting the men's team in position to produce one of its best finishes ever at the NCAA Championships with two days left in Greensboro.
Here are Pitt men's swimming & diving's highest-scoring meets at the NCAA Championships:
Dylan Reed placed 27th with a score of 283.85, while Josh Parquet finished 43rd with a mark of 222.25. Both divers were making their debuts at the NCAA Championships for the Panthers.
The 2021 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships continue Friday in Greensboro with another full day of preliminary and final action to determine All-Americans and national champions.
Pitt will be represented in the 10 a.m. prelims by Vera in the 100-yard butterfly and Cooper van der Laan in the 100-yard breaststroke as well as four Panthers in the 200-yard medley relay at 6 p.m.
The Panthers will also enter Reed in the men's 3-meter diving competition tomorrow.
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Competing in the 50-yard freestyle, Vera became an NCAA First Team All-American – Pitt's first in men's swimming since 1980 when Stu Swanson placed sixth in the 200-yard backstroke.
Vera secured his status forever as an NCAA All-American swimmer by clinching a top-eight finish in the morning with a preliminary time of 19.17 in college swimming's fastest event.
A native of Clinton, Miss., Vera finished seventh in the championship heat with a time of 19.39.
Vera is Pitt swimming & diving's first NCAA First Team All-American (top-eight finish in any event) since Dominic Giordano won the national title on 3-meter springboard diving in 2016.
The last time a Pitt men's swimmer earned All-America honors in the 50 Free was nearly a century ago when William Wright achieved the feat in 1928 for the Panthers.
Crucially, Vera also scored 12 team points for the Panthers, vaulting the men's team in position to produce one of its best finishes ever at the NCAA Championships with two days left in Greensboro.
Here are Pitt men's swimming & diving's highest-scoring meets at the NCAA Championships:
- 2016: 22nd, 31.0 points
- 1997: 31st, 25.0 points
- 2002: 24th, 18.0 points
- 2020: 18th, 12.0 points (active)
- 2017: 31st, 12.0 points
Dylan Reed placed 27th with a score of 283.85, while Josh Parquet finished 43rd with a mark of 222.25. Both divers were making their debuts at the NCAA Championships for the Panthers.
The 2021 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships continue Friday in Greensboro with another full day of preliminary and final action to determine All-Americans and national champions.
Pitt will be represented in the 10 a.m. prelims by Vera in the 100-yard butterfly and Cooper van der Laan in the 100-yard breaststroke as well as four Panthers in the 200-yard medley relay at 6 p.m.
The Panthers will also enter Reed in the men's 3-meter diving competition tomorrow.
#H2P | #H2oP | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Players Mentioned
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/ Swimming & Diving
DIVE
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FLY/FREE
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