For Iowa State, few ripples during the season broke the swimmers’ strides. However, the water finally got a little rougher at the NCAA Championships this weekend.

Through it all, the team rode the highs and lows to finish 35th at the national meet in Auburn, Ala. Stanford won the title with 599 points, followed by Auburn and Texas.

“It was an up-and-down meet,” sophomore Mitch McGinty said. “But for the most part it was pretty good.”

ISU Coach Trip Hedrick agreed with McGinty’s thoughts.

“We were just inconsistent,” he said.

Among the highlights was the fact senior Jay Schindler became the second Cyclone to earn All-American honors during four consecutive years. He etched his name alongside ISU legend Roger Watts (1947-50) as the university’s only swimmers to accomplish the feat.

However, all did not end perfectly for the Cyclone star. The senior, who entered the race with the fastest time in the nation, finished 10th in the 100 breaststroke with a time of :55.15.

“I was pretty disappointed,” Schindler said. “It just wasn’t there for me.”

Schindler’s goal at the beginning of the season was to net a top eight finish in his top event. He was eighth at the national meet in 1997 and 12th two years ago.

“It wasn’t anything that I wanted, [but] I’m going to take what I can from it,” he said.

Hedrick said, “It’s a tough one. Our hopes were certainly for a higher finish. He just didn’t feel his stroke.”

Schindler also swam on the 400 medley relay team that was disqualified for an illegal start. The team, which also included Brian Rogers, McGinty and Joakim Dahl, was poised to finish in an All-American position.

Schindler said that the team’s struggles at the end of the season were tough to swallow, especially after the team had performed so well during the dual meet season and in the Big 12 Conference Meet.

As for nationals this year, “I gained a lot of experience,” he said. “[I’ll just] take it in stride.”

However, the Cyclone co-captain was able to notch another feather in his cap after the 200 medley relay team of Schindler, Rogers, Henrik Ingesson and Jeff Gahan earned All-American honors by grabbing the 16th spot in 1:29.36.

According to his coach, McGinty was another of the weekend’s bright spots.

“Mitch had the best meet without a doubt,” Hedrick said.

McGinty swam a career-best time by placing 20th in the 200 butterfly (1:47.21), with teammate Lovre Franicevic finishing 27th (1:48.20) in the same event.

In the 100 butterfly, McGinty grabbed the 23rd position in (:48.22), Dahl claimed 26th (:48.33) and Ingesson took 30th in :48.71.

McGinty also competed on the 400 freestyle relay team that placed 18th with a time of 3:00.28. Dahl, Gahan and Franicevic were his Cyclone wing men in the event.

McGinty said he was a little disappointed in his finish in the 100, but it leaves the sophomore with something to prove next season.

“It was a good experience. I want to make it back in both events,” he said.

Hedrick said the final weekend’s results is not enough to damper the season’s accomplishments, including an undefeated dual meet season, a fourth place finish in the Big 12 Meet and the crowning of four All-Americans.

“This was the best season we’ve ever had,” Hedrick said.