CMC75 Moments: Teeples Leads 1991 Men's Swim and Dive to NCAA Runner-Up Finish
As part of the buildup to the 75th Anniversary celebration for Claremont McKenna College (visit CMC's 75th Anniversary Countdown Page to learn more), we are reliving many of the great moments from CMS athletic department history over the 75-day countdown from April 17 to July 1. If you were a part of this great moment and would like to add to the memories, or if you would like to submit your memories of your own favorite CMS Athletics moments, fill out the form on our main 75th Anniversary page.
Great Moments from 75 Years of Athletics
1991 Men's Swimming and Diving Finishes Second, Behind Teeples' National Title
The CMS Men's Swimming and Diving team finished in second place at nationals six different times from 1983-91, a victim to peaking during Kenyon's dominant run of 31 straight national titles. The 1990-91 team was the last of the six, and earned its way back to the second-place finish after the Stags had a "down year" and slipped to tenth the season before.
The driving force was Ryan Teeples, who earned a national championship in the 400 IM, and added a third-place finish in the 200 breast and a fourth-place finish in the 200 IM. Teeples had strong support as well, with Paul Daigle finishing fifth in the 400 IM, sixth in the 200 back, and 10th in the 200 IM, Mike Tolfree earning fourth in the 100 free and 12th in the 50 free, Brent Davis capturing third in the 200 fly and 12th in the 200 free, and Brian Weaver earning CMS points in the diving competition with 12th and 14th place finishes in the one-meter and three-meter dives.
In addition to the national success, the Stags also fought off Pomona-Pitzer 104-92 to go undefeated in SCIAC for the 11th year in a row, a streak that would extend to 12 before Redlands finally snapped it in the conference opener in 1993. Scott Cohen was a SCIAC Champion in the 100 breast and Murphy McCann captured the 100 fly, joining Teeples (200 IM, 400 IM, 200 breast) on the top of the SCIAC podium. Nat Coffman, Paul Daigle, Steve Daughters, Brent Davis, Brendan Halffman, Doug McCrary, Regan Pelton, Mike Tolfree, Bob Walsh and Eric Zech all added All-SCIAC honors with top-three finishes.
Mike Tolfree:
I've been thinking back through the old memory tapes and a few moments stand out to me after all these years. We had a pretty big team that year, with a large senior class. The team was tight, and camaraderie was fantastic. And we had a ton of fun too. Even the "camps" over Christmas break were so much fun, with card games at night and massive rock-paper-scissors contests with the loser clearing ALL of the trays and dishes at the dining hall.
I remember a few snippets from the meet. In addition to the great individual performances, I also remember our relays doing well. Specifically the 400 medley relay really kicked ass and I think got third place.
As I recall, Kenyon was comfortably in first place (as always, lounging around in their hideous fuzzy purple sweats) and we were in a tight four-team race for second place. Only the top four teams got trophies, so we were in quite a battle - one of the teams would go home empty-handed. One of the teams was our rival UCSD and they had a huge national team, but we battled them with about half their number and came out on top.
I remember we all went crazy when Teeps won the 400 IM. It was so inspiring, all of us were energized to swim our best after that. The only national champion in my career at CMC. I was so psyched for him, such a great guy - everyone on the team liked him. But everyone on the team "clutched up" and swam great that meet. It was great to be a part of that.
Once our team got second place, the "Stag Swim" at the end of the meet was one for the ages. (I thought it would be faster to swim over the tripled lane lines, and it was... until my swimsuit got caught on a rope and exploded. I still finished the swim before worrying about how I would actually get out of the pool with no suit.)
There was so much pride and joy that our relatively small team had done so well and reached second place. Everyone swam great. It was such a fun memory - one of the best.
Paul Daigle:
Great team and season. I remember being relieved the meet was in Atlanta after freezing in Maine and Illinois (I think) the previous two nationals.
Similar to Mike, I most remember beating UCSD and Ryan winning the 400 IM title, I had a great view from behind. I went out a bit aggressively, had a decent lead after the backstroke, spent the breastroke leg watching Teeps and a few others pass then hung on the last hundred checking Ryan's lead at the turns. It was great to be part of that race.
Our team was tight, we carried a lot of pride in the CMC Swimming tradition. I had a real feeling of team accomplishment, rarer in our sport than some others, when we were able to put the program back where we believed it belonged.
Murphy McCann:
I'll third that race by Teeps – impressive swim to watch. I also liked how Zech swam the 200 fly.
Ryan Teeples:
It has been a long time since I've sat and thought about (read "try to remember") that meet and season that led up to it. I certainly agree with Tolfree about the team and how tight we were as a group throughout the season. I think for many of us who had been on the team for a few years there was a feeling we had something to prove after the 1990 NCAA finish. I know I personally was disappointed on how I had performed and how the team ended up.
Like Tolfree, I also remember the same 4-team scrum for position just under Kenyon. Every event and every finish counted and the leader board would switch around after every race. It was exciting and I felt like the entire team responded to that energy. I recall some extraordinary splits in relays propelling us to some very good finishes and lots of points scored. Tolfree swimming out of his head in the 100 free, BD and Zech crushing the 200 Fly and on and on. It's hard not to take it up a notch when the whole team was in the zone.
To be honest, I never had the personal goal of winning an event at the NCAA's. I felt I could place in the top 8 in every event I swam, but it wasn't until after prelims of the 400 IM that I thought there was a possibility of winning. More so, I was fired up Daigle made the finals as well and I figured we had the chance to score a bunch of points for the team standings. Looking back, I only have a couple distinct memories of the race. In typical Teeples fashion, I over compensated in the first three strokes to make up for the freestyle, which was always my Achilles heel. I remember vividly pushing off the wall after the breaststroke, seeing that I had a pretty sizable lead, then feeling my arms and I went "oh oh"… I was pretty much out of gas by the time I hit the last 25 yards, but still having a lead was just enough motivation to get to the wall. It was mostly a blur, but I do remember pep talks to myself during the freestyle!
I think for me the second place overall was the greatest result of the meet. We were expected to be somewhat strong, but I think most people expected us to finish fourth or fifth that year. I was, and still am, proud to have been a part of this team, to be associated with the guys that made it so great and the coaches that paved the way for us.
1990-91 Men's Swimming and Diving Roster
Head Coach: Mike Sutton
Assistant Coaches: Todd Thomas, Tom Haig
Nat Coffman (Sr., CMC)
Scott Cohen (Fr., CMC)
Kevin Colwell (So., HMC)
Paul Daigle (Jr., CMC)
Steve Daughters (Sr., CMC)
Brent Davis (Sr., HMC)
John Finke (So., CMC)
Brendan Halffman (Sr., CMC)
Tony Leneis (Sr., HMC)
Murphy McCann (So., CMC)
Doug McCrary (Jr., CMC)
Greg Parks (So., HMC)
Regan Pelton (So., CMC)
Kent Redwine (So., CMC)
Ryan Teeples (Sr., CMC)
Mike Tolfree (Jr., CMC)
Rob Walsh (So., CMC)
Brian Weaver (Jr., CMC)
Eric Zech (So., CMC)