Swimmer Powell finishes 34th at NCAA competition

This past weekend was an exciting one for junior Adam Powell.

Powell traveled to Columbus, Ohio to face off against the fastest swimmers on the collegiate circuit at the NCAA National Swimming Championships. He gained entrance to the exclusive meet after qualifying for the 50 freestyle in 19.72 seconds—a new school record, and the fastest time at the Ivy League Swimming & Diving Championships three weeks ago.

The junior has been tearing up the pool at Columbia for the past three years, serving as the Lions’ main point-earner in the sprinting events, earning all-Ivy honors, and setting school records up and down the lanes.

Unfortunately, Powell wasn’t able to top the charts and replicate his personal best time this weekend. At Friday’s competition, he finished 34th in the preliminaries with a time of 19.91 seconds, not enough to advance to the finals.

“It wasn’t one of my best performances, but it was my first time at NCAAs, and it was a great experience, and there are definitely a lot of things that I took away from the meet. You know, it was a learning experience,” Powell said. “I had never been, so I was just experimenting, trying new things, and wondering what exactly should I do. ... I’m just happy I’m not a senior. I’m just really happy I’m a junior and I have a whole other year.”