March 22, 2008

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Navy's Thuy-Mi Dinh (So., Anaheim, Calif.) closed out her first appearance at the NCAA Women's Swimming Championship by placing 64th in the trial heats of the 100-yard freestyle event, Saturday morning at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio.

Dinh entered the day seeded 56th in the 100 free with her Navy and Patriot League record time of 49.91. She posted a time of 50.50 Saturday morning, which is the third-fastest time recorded by a Navy swimmer in the event.

A time of 48.54 was needed to qualify for tonight's 100 free championship final, while a clocking of 48.72 was required to compete in the event's consolation final.

In her first event at the championship, Dinh posted the No. 3 time in school history in the 50 free (22.91) to place 38th in Thursday's preliminary round of racing for the event.

"Thuy-Mi approached her race today much better than she did Thursday," said Navy women's swimming head coach John Morrison. "She has set the standard for herself pretty high so she wasn't completely pleased with either her time or her placing, but this was a very good performance, especially with this being the first time she has competed at the national championship.

"This whole week has been a step in the right direction for both herself and our program."

Dinh will now focus her training towards the U.S. Olympic Trials where she is one of four current or former members of the Navy men's and women's swimming program to qualify for the trials. Dinh will compete in the 50-meter freestyle at the event, which is slated to be held in Omaha, Neb., in late June and early July.