March 20, 2008

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Navy's Thuy-Mi Dinh (So., Anaheim, Calif.) recorded the third-fastest 50-yard freestyle time in Navy history to place 38th in the trial heats of the event at the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championship Thursday morning at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion on the Ohio State campus in Columbus, Ohio.

The first Navy and Patriot League women's swimmer to attain an 'A' cut time for any event at the championship, Dinh was seeded 14th in the trial heats with her qualifying time of 22.37. Dinh had a great opening 25 yards of the race Thursday as her clocking of 10.91 ranked 16th in the field of 69 entrants, but her closing 25-yard time of 12.00 dropped her to 38th place in the event with an overall time of 22.91.

California's Madison Kennedy won the trial heats with a pool record time of 21.87. A time of 22.23 was needed to finish in eighth place in the trial heats and advance to the championship final, while a clocking of 22.46 was needed to place 16th and qualify for tonight's consolation final.

Dinh's time ranks third in Navy history behind her school and Patriot League-record clocking of 22.37, as well as her second-best time of 22.57. The latter time was recorded in the trial heats of the 50 free at the recent Patriot League Championship, while her former time was recorded during her victorious effort in the event finals at the meet.

"Thuy-Mi was a little disappointed in her time and her place, but for racing at this meet and against this level of competition for the first time, it was a good performance," said Navy head coach John Morrison. "She approached the meet well and raced hard. Now that this first event is out of the way, she knows she can put together a better performance Saturday. She has learned a lot already. This is just step one in her development as a nationally-recognized swimmer."

Dinh will take Friday off from competition at the championship before returning to the pool Saturday to compete in the 100 freestyle.