Former Lafayette High School and current University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill swimmer Ben Colley spent the past two years watching the National Collegiate Athletic Association Swimming and Diving Championship finals from the stands.
Heading into this year’s NCAA championships, which took place Thursday through Saturday, Colley had one goal in mind: Earn All-American honors.
And he did.
Colley, a 2012 graduate of Lafayette High School and junior at UNC, swam 12 times during the three-day meet – six times in preliminaries and six times in finals – and earned All-American honorable mentions in the 200 freestyle relay, the 400 medley relay and the 200 butterfly.
Three strong days of competition from Colley and his teammates helped give UNC an 18th-place finish, the first top-20 finish for the program since 2012.
Despite never competing in a relay during his first two NCAA championship appearances, Colley’s first All-American honors were earned in the 200 freestyle relay on Thursday against some of the best swimmers in the nation.
Colley, who swam for the Williamsburg Aquatic Club and the Kingswood Klams growing up, teamed up with Sam Lewis, Nic Graesser and Logan Heck to take 15th, which was enough to earn All-American honorable mentions.
All-American athletes and relay teams earn the honor by finishing in the top eight of an NCAA championship meet, while honorable mentions are awarded to athletes and relay teams that finish ninth through 16th.
“It feels good,” he said about earning All-American status. “It’s nice to know that your hard work all year has paid off to accomplish your goals.”
Colley earned his second All-American honorable mention later that same night after helping lead the UNC 400 medley relay team to a 14th-place finish in a time of 3:08.02. The time was two-hundredths of a second faster than the previous school record his teammates set during the preliminaries earlier that day.
After two disappointing performances in the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly preliminaries Friday — he finished 35th and 22nd, respectively — Colley came up just short of earning his third All-American honor of the weekend, finishing 19th in the 800 freestyle relay.
The Williamsburg native redeemed himself on the final day of the meet, earning his first individual All-American honor with a 14th-place finish in the 200 butterfly Saturday.
Despite adding three All-American honorable mentions to what has already been an illustrious career – he is a member of the USA Men’s National Swim team, holds six UNC swimming records and holds three Virginia High School League state swimming records – Colley hopes to do better next year in the NCAA championships and earn All-American honors next year, minus the honorable mention distinction.
“I think the 200 fly is my best chance,” he said about the event in which he is most likely to earn a top-eight finish at the NCAA championships. “I’ve been improving each year at NCAAs, so I think that’s my focus going into next year. To get top-eight or podium, [the 200 butterfly] is my best chance.”
Before resuming his training, Colley said he is looking forward to a two-week break that will consist of rest, relaxation and shooting hoops.
“I’m just going to relax and play some basketball, because I don’t get to during the season,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m excited to get a little break, refocus mentally and get back to work.”
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