Smith competes in Masters meet

Jamestown High School swimming coach Ben Smith finished second in the 200-meter backstroke of the men’s 25-29 age group at the U.S. Masters Swimming Summer National Championships Friday in Omaha, Neb.

Smith, 26, entered with a seed time of 2:51.70, but swam a 2:36.53.

“The goal is to always improve your time, and I hadn’t swam the 200 back since college,” Smith said. “I kind of have a starting point now.”

He also placed ninth in the 50 freestyle, besting his seed time of 28.09 with a 26.16.

“My 50 free time was actually faster than what I swam in collge, which is a surprise that I can still be up to that caliber,” he said.

The third competition was the 100 butterfly, which saw him take fifth with a 1:03.10, beating his seed time by more than seven seconds.

Smith said he was one of eight people that made up Team North Dakota, one being from Fargo and the other six residing in Grand Forks.

“I swam with two of them in college, so it was a fun little reunion,” he said.

— Sun Staff

Tags: sports, jays, swimming