Author: Sam Mowe and Adam Greenhouse
Jonathan and Robert Dohring (juniors), twin brothers and divers for Oxy’s team, finished first and second in the 1-meter and 3-meter events at the NCAA Division III Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships on March 15-17 in Houston, Texas. Finishing with 81 total points, Oxy placed 13th overall.
Jon is Oxy’s first athlete to win two individual titles for the same championship, and he is the first national champion at Oxy since 1978. The College Swimming Coaches Association of America gave Jon “Diver of the Year” honors and the Dohrings’ coach, Roland King, was named Diving Coach of the Year by the CSCAA.
In the 3-meter event on Saturday, Jon and Robert battled before a winner was decided. Rob created a 32-point lead after the preliminaries, but Jon fought back with several solid dives. Jon eventually won the championship 531-525. Jon also earned the 1-meter title on Thursday, squeaking past his twin by less than four points.
Jon is Oxy’s first diving national champion since 1948 and 1952 Olympic Gold Medalist Sammy Lee ’43 won the 3-meter and 10-meter at the National AAU meet in 1942.
Last year at Nationals, Robert placed fourth in the 1-meter and third in the 3-meter. At the SCIAC Championships in Cerritos, California on Feb. 15-17, Jon beat Robert by half a point. Jon also won the 3-meter by one and a half points over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps’ Mark Emanuel.
Dickson Fai (junior) earned an honorable mention on Friday with a 10th place, 51.87-second time finish in the 100-meter backstroke. Fai is a two-time All-American. “It’s been a great week for Oxy water sports,” head coach Peggy Carl said.
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