Completed Event: Men's Swimming & Diving versus NCAA Championships on March 28, 2026 ,
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Men's Swimming & Diving
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The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Men's Swimming Season Recap
4/8/2008 12:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
April 8, 2008
The 2007-08 Utah men's swimming and diving campaign was a trying season, but throughout the season the team showed flashes of its potential and the future is bright for this young squad. The Utes placed sixth at the 2008 Mountain West Conference Championships with 353.5 points.
Over the course of the regular season Utah saw growth and improvement each week under first-year head coach Greg Winslow. From freshman Garrett Beaman in the free and back to juniors Marco Ferraro and George Evans becoming team leaders, the Utes have reason to feel they will return to be a conference power in the coming season.
The squad opened the season strong in non-conference meets at Denver and Arizona State. Beaman won three events against Denver. Ferraro won the 500 free against Arizona State as the Utes competed against Winslow's former school.
Conference competition opened up for Utah with a home loss to UNLV. Against the Rebels, Evans won the 100 free and 400 free relay to lead the Utes. The team competed over the holiday break at the UNLV Invitational where Beaman swam strong again, winning the 200 IM and placing second in the 200 free. Ferraro won the 200 free at the Invitational to cap off the weekend.
Returning for the second half of the season the Utes lost a close meet to TCU, 136-101. Against the Frogs, five different swimmers won events including Thomas Ekstrom, Vlas Lezin and Adam Oliver.
Beaman and Oliver won events against Wyoming and Air Force before the Utes finished the season at BYU. John Baque won the 200 breast and was the lone winner for the Utes against the Cougars.
The biggest strides were made at the conference championships in Oklahoma City, Okla.
At the 2008 MWC Championships the Utes highlights included a new school record in the 800 free relay. The team of Beaman, Ferraro, Evans and Ekstrom broke the previous record by over 2.5 seconds, finishing with a time of 6:36.42. They placed third overall in the event.
Evans placed ninth in the 200 free with a time of 1:38.41, which was third on the all-time school record list.
After the conclusion of the championships the Utes had four athletes named to the all-MWC team. Beaman earned the honor in the 200 IM, Oliver was named to the team in the 400 IM and Spencer Peterson garnered the honor in the 200 breast. Ferraro was all-conference in the 200 free, 500 free and 1650 free. The 800 free relay team was also named to the all-MWC team.
Several Utes swam times this season that qualified as top-10 all-time at the school. Beaman ranked himself fourth in the 200 IM (1:49.91) and sixth in the 100 back (50.46). Ekstrom stands eighth in the 200 back (1:50.12). Evans ended the year with the fourth-best mark in the 200 free (1:38.41) and eighth-best in the 100 free (44.93). Ferraro was fourth in the 1650 free (15:42.47), fifth in the 200 free (1:38.52) and seventh in the 500 free (4:29.44). Oliver ranks ninth in the 1650 free (15:48.58), ninth in the 500 free (1:50.91) and tenth in the 400 IM (4:00.29). Peterson clocked in at seventh in the 100 breast (56.48).
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