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Seminoles Cruise Through 1998-99 Season
Dec. 2, 1999
The Florida State men's swimming and diving team had a
successful season in 1998-99 as they finished the season 6-1 and
undefeated in the ACC. The Seminoles were ranked 9th in the final CSCAA
national poll and led the ACC with a .857 winning percentage.
The Seminoles started the season with a 3-0 sweep of Miami,
Indian River Community College and FAU in a quad meet at Miami. The
Seminoles then headed to Raleigh, N.C., to take on the NC State
Wolfpack. Four Seminoles won seven events, including Stephen Parry (400
IM, 200 Fly and 500 Free), Julio Santos (50 and 100 Free), Greg
Main-Baillie (200 Back) and Brett Petersen (200 Breast). FSU trailed
going into the final event of the meet but the 200 Free Relay team of
Santos, Matt McVittie, Kevin Flanagan and Keam Ang won the event to
clinch the victory for FSU, 123-120.
FSU hosted the Florida Gators in late November for its last home
meet of 1998. The Seminoles started off finishing 2nd in the 400 Medley
Relay and Danny Chocron took 2nd in the 1000 Free. Parry won the 200 and
500 Free as Santos won the 50 Free. The Seminoles took 2nd in the 400
Free Relay but the Gators gave FSU its first loss of the year, 150-92.
FSU then headed to the Notre Dame Invitational for the final competition
of 1998. The men finished 2nd behind the host team as four Seminoles won
five events and set two meet records. Santos took two events, the 50 and
100 Free, Burkman won the one-meter springboard, Petersen took first in
the 100 Breast in a pool and meet record time of 56.35 and Ang won the
200 Fly in a meet record of 1:50.25.
Nine Seminoles headed to Dallas, Texas to take on five other top
20 schools in the Dallas Morning News Classic. Parry, Dedekind,
Main-Baillie, Nelson Mora, McVittie, Petersen, Santos and Ang competed
in the swimming events with Burkman diving for the Seminoles. The
Seminoles won the Classic with Tennessee, Minnesota, Southern Methodist,
Michigan and Texas rounding out the competition. Dedekind won the 50 and
100 Free and 100 Breast with Petersen and Santos winning the consolation
heats of the 100 Breast and 50 Free, respectively. Parry, who was named
the Most Valuable Swimmer of the meet, won four events, including the
400 IM, 100 and 200 Fly (setting a WAC record in the 200 Fly with a time
of 1:44.77) and 200 Back. Burkman finished 5th on the one-meter and 6th
on the three-meter in the diving competition. Parry and Dedekind teamed
up with Santos and McVittie to twin the 200 Free Relay and clinch the
win for the Seminoles.
The nine man squad returned to Tallahassee and joined their team
in the final dual meet of the season as FSU hosted LSU. The Seminoles
won 11 of the 13 events to take the win over the Tigers 155-85. Dedekind
won the 50 Free and the 100 Breast with Parry winning the 100 Back and
200 Free. The other first place finishes included Chocron (500 and 1000
Free), Main-Baillie (200 IM), Ang (100 Fly) and Santos (100 Free). Glen
Gonzales won the three-meter diving competition to round out the meet
for the Seminoles.
The Seminoles took on the ACC in the championship meet in
February, finishing 2nd, only 6.5 points behind Virginia. FSU won 11
events in the meet, including all five relays. Brendon Dedekind made ACC
history as he became the 12th swimmer to win a single event all four
years with his win in the 50 Free, in which he set a new pool record..
He also became only the second swimmer in league history to win
double-digit events in a career as he ended his ACC career with 10
individual championships. Dedekind also won the 100 Free, setting a new
ACC Conference, Meet and Maryland pool record, and 100 Breast, setting a
pool record, and was named Co-Swimmer of the Meet. Stephen Parry, who
shared the Swimmer of the Meet honors, won the 200 Free, 200 Back and
200 Fly in the meet and set a new ACC Record in the 100 Back. The
Seminoles set new Maryland pool records in all 11 events and set new ACC
Meet records in the 200 Medley Relay and 400 Medley Relay.
Florida State returned six 1998 All-Americans to the NCAA meet
and had 18 swims, the most in FSU history. Despite a 12th-place finish,
the Seminoles brought home another NCAA Individual title as Dedekind won
the 100 Breast and repeated as a three-event All-American. The eight men
produced five All-America and six honorable mention All-America honors.
The Seminoles had the best finish in the state of Florida (Miami
finished 13th with Florida at 17th) and in the ACC (Virginia at 14th,
UNC at 30th and NCSU at 34th).
Nine members of the men's team were named to the All-ACC team
after the 2nd place finish at the ACC Championships and a #9 ranking
overall. Brendon Dedekind led the squad as he was named the ACC Swimmer
of the Year for the third year in a row. Keam Ang, Kevin Flanagan, Matt
McVittie, Nelson Mora, Brett Petersen, Julio Santos and Greg
Main-Baillie also garnered the All-ACC honors.
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