INDIANAPOLIS, IND. - Karl Mering has a long record of making school history. But nothing is so decisive as a national title - and tonight, Mering became the first-ever Whitman swimmer to claim this honor. After leading the nation in the 100 yard butterfly for nearly all of the regular season, and claiming the NWC title with a new Conference record at the 2014 NWC Champs, Mering broke the 48-second barrier at the DIII National Championships today for the win. His title-winning time of 47.91 in the finals of the event today also broke new ground for Whitman Swimming.

When Mering's goggles fell of in this morning's preliminaries, and he still finished 6th, it was clear that tonight's race held a lot of potential. In the end, it came down to the smallest possible margin: Mering touched the wall just .01 seconds ahead of second-place Samuel Gill from Connecticut College. The historic finish showcased one of Mering's strengths where it counted most.

"Karl closes races better than anyone and that's what it takes to win national titles," said Assistant Coach Chris Bendix. "This morning Karl lost his goggles and it threw his whole race off. Tonight it was perfect. Everything was perfect."

Mering took 8th place in that event at the 2013 NCAA National Championships; his highest finish before today was a third-place showing in the 200 yard butterfly at the meet last year. Mering will take on the 200 tomorrow. 

Mering's teammate Claire Collins is also anticipating a big race tomorrow: coming off a NWC win and Conference record in the 100 yard breaststroke, Collins will be making a bid to renew her All-American status. She earned 12th place in the event at last year's National Championships. While breaststroke is indisputably where she dominates, Collins got her toes wet yesterday with a quick 50 yard freestyle. 

Each swimmer selected into the National Championships is allowed to swim up to three individual events, so Collins selected the 50 yard freestyle as her third swim, in part to give her a chance to get moving before the breaststroke events in the following days.

"We were so happy with Claire's 50 and our decision to swim that event. It's a super high energy event, but because she doesn't swim it much, also one without a lot of pressure," explained Head Coach Jenn Blomme. "More importantly, it gave her a chance with zero pressure to just have a fun race to start off her meet."

Collins shaved .26 seconds off her entry time, finishing 44th with a time of 25.35. The time puts her at 8th on Whitman's all-time top ten list. 

"She's physically totally prepared and mentally in a great place," said Blomme. "We can't wait for that 100 breast tomorrow!"

Competition will resume tomorrow for the Whitman swimmers with Mering's 200 yard butterfly and Collins' 100 yard breaststroke at 10 a.m. Eastern Time (7 a.m. Pacific) tomorrow.

For up-to-date live results, click here.
Watch the event live here.