With a strong showing at the 2004 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, the UW women’s swimming and diving team placed 10th to take home the highest national finish in school history.

Meanwhile, the men’s swimming and diving team grabbed fifth place in the 2004 Big Ten Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships.

In a milestone NCAA run, the women’s team posted a school record of 135 points, eclipsing the previous record of 133 points recorded in 2000. With their 10th place finish, the Badgers close out the year as the highest-ranking Big Ten program in the nation.

“I’m really impressed with the result,” UW head coach Eric Hansen said. “We accomplished so much this season and reaching our goal at the end means so much. It speaks volumes about our swimmers and their character, hard work and effort. My staff has also been an integral part in the process. It was truly an impressive meet.”

Senior Bethany Pendleton and junior Carly Piper were the Badgers’ point leaders in the tournament and underclassmen Susan Johnson and Amalia Sarnecki also played key roles in the historic run.

Piper placed 11th in the 1500-meter freestyle, a race in which the top five finishers in her heat bested the NCAA record of 16:03.59 and USC’s Kalyn Keller set a new American record of 15:49.14.

Johnson grabbed honorable mention All-America honors with a 16th place finish in the 200-meter backstroke, finishing in 2:12.15 to become the first UW freshman since Piper to earn All-America honors in an individual event.

On the men’s side, the Badgers placed second in seven events to earn an impressive total of 341.50 points in their fifth-place Big Ten finish.

A foursome of UW second-team All-Big Ten selections, Matt Marshall, Adam Mania, Eric Wiesner and Dale Rogers broke its own school record with a 2:54.05 finish in the 400-yard freestyle to grab second in the event.