Aug. 4, 2006

Fairfax, Va.--Senior Tom Koucheravy (Fairfax, Va./Robinson) continued to make a mark in the swimming world as he placed third in the preliminary heat for the 1,500-meter freestyle at the 2006 ConocoPhillips Swimming National Championships Friday afternoon at the William Woollett, Jr. Aquatic Center in Irvine, Calif.

Koucheravy was seeded 12th heading into the race with a previous best time of 15:38.00, but ended up shaving off 21 seconds to place third with a time of 15:17.09. As one of the top 24 finishers in the preliminary heat, the Robinson graduate will compete in the finals on August 5.

"It was an unbelievable swim that Tom (Koucheravy) had today," said head coach Peter Ward. "When he swims tomorrow, he will be competing against some of the best freestylers in the world."

Throughout the year, Koucheravy has earned numerous honors for his efforts in the pool, including being named Colonial Athletic Association Male Swimmer of the Year (second consecutive year), CAA Male Swimmer of the Championships for the second year in a row. Koucheravy was also featured in Sports Illustrated's `Faces in the Crowd' (Jan. 9) and was named CAA Male Swimmer of the Week two times during the 2005-06 campaign (Dec. 7, 2005, Nov. 22, 2005).