By midnight on Sunday, Feb. 19, the USMMA swimming and diving team had successfully completed their final swims at the 2006 Metropolitan Championships, walking away with eight NCAA qualifying times, while breaking nine Academy records.

Senior Andrew Dunlevy led the pack breaking five records-four individual and one relay. Dunlevy broke Academy records in the 200-yard, 500-yard, 1,000-yard and 1,650-yard freestyle, all being NCAA qualifying times.

On the first day of METS, Dunlevy started his tournament on the right foot with a second-place finish and Division III NCAA "B" qualifying time (4:36.48) in the 500-yard freestyle. Dunlevy broke the Academy's record in the event, previously set by James Hogan in 2000 at 4:39.86. He also broke the meet record in the event.

Dunlevy also helped the Mariner 400-yard medley relay squad to an Academy record with a time of 3:30.53. The team of Scott Pearson, Jay Carpenter, Jesse Bowser and Dunlevy placed second at METS with a time of 3:30.53, missing the NCAA "B" cut by one second. The record they broke this weekend was their own, set earlier this season with a time of 3:34.77.

Days two and three of METS were also a success for Dunlevy, who broke Paul Coan's 19-year-old record in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:40.97 in the morning swim and 1:42.52 in the finals. Dunlevy's time qualified him for an NCAA "B" cut and a fourth-place finish.

He also shattered his own records in the 1,000- and 1,650-yard freestyle events. With a time of 9:40.13 in the 1,000-yard freestyle, he beat his time of 9:43.77, which he set in 2003. In the mile, Dunlevy beat his previous record of 16:07.23, which he set at the 2003 NCAA Championships, with a first-place time of 15:58.74. His first-place finish also broke the meet record, which he held. His time also qualified him for an NCAA "B" cut.

Sophomore Jay Carpenter also had a good weekend, breaking three of his own Academy Records individually, and two additional relay records, while qualifying for five NCAA events.

On day one of METS Carpenter raced to a 1:52.31 finish in the 200-yard IM, breaking his previous 2004 NCAA qualifying time and Academy record. That same day he also was part of the aforementioned 400-yard medley relay squad of himself, Pearson, Dunlevy and Bowser.

Like Dunlevy, Carpenter also fared well on the second and third day of the championship, breaking three additional records. On Saturday morning, Carpenter qualified for the finals with a time of 56.61 in the 100-yard breaststroke, breaking his previously set record time of 59.11, set in 2005. Carpenter finished the day with second-place finish in the event and a time of 56.89, qualifying him for another NCAA "B" cut. He broke his own record in the 200-yard breaststroke, with another second place finish, another NCAA qualifying time and a time of 2:05.76. He shattered his recently set record by 7.44 seconds.

Carpenter was also a part of the 200-yard medley relay squad of David Ramseur, Pearson and William Ansell, who broke the 2002 Academy record of 1:38.07 with their NCAA qualifying swim of 1:34.84. The squad finished in second place at METS behind The College of New Jersey, improving 3.48 seconds from their preliminary swim earlier that day.

Along with the nine Academy records broken this weekend, Mariners David Scarberry, Robyn Jimenez, Matthew Ellison, William Ansell, David Ramseur, Marlaina Pippin and Sarah Christenson also had important performances to help the Mariners to a 10th-place finish on the women's side (fifth of all Division III schools) and a fourth-place finish on the men's side (third of all Division III schools).

As a freshman, Scarberry finaled and had lifetime bests in all three of the events he participated in (500-yard freestyle, 400-yard IM and 1,650-yard freestyle). Jimenez and Ellison finaled in the top 16 in their events. Ansell also finaled in the top 16 in his individual events, while also being an integral part of both NCAA qualifying relays.

Ramseur had impressive swims this weekend, finishing in the top eight in his two events. In the 100-yard backstroke, Ramseur finished fourth with a time of 53.89. In the preliminaries, he went 53.11, just .24 away from the NCAA "B" cut. He also finished fifth in the 200-yard backstroke event with an impressive time of 1:57.15, 2.95 seconds behind Denny Shupe of SCSU, the first-place finisher. Ramseur also participated in the two NCAA qualifying relays.

Pippin and Christenson helped the women's team gain key points by finishing with high marks in the diving competition. Pippin finished fourth in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events with a score of 321.35 off the 1-meter and a mark of 345.30 in the 3-meter competition.

Christenson barely missed the top-8 in 1-meter competition with a ninth place finish and score of 247.50. In the 3-meter competition, Christenson finished sixth with a score 325.55.

The Mariners also made 31 ECAC "Open" cuts. All three divisions will compete at the ECAC "Open."