Bloomington, Ind. - State University of New York at New Paltz men's swimming sophomore Cooper Knapp made history this past week, winning the national championship in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1 minute, 46.45 seconds on Friday night and finishing sixth in the 400-yard individual medley with a 3:55.74 reading on Thursday night at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, earning All-American honors in both events.

"This is really historic for New Paltz swimming," Hawks head coach Tom Eickelberg said. "He had one of the most impressive and consistent meets I've ever seen out of a swimmer. He got better with every swim. Cooper is an unbelievable worker and an unbelievable athlete and he's a leader on the team that we all trust to do the right thing as a competitor."

He became the first national champion in program history since Michelle Coombs '08 won the 100-yard freestyle in 2007, and the first men's national champion since Louis Petto '94 touched first in the 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle in 1994.

Petto was also the last men's swimmer to earn All-American honors, while Chelsea Allocco '14 was the last Hawk to do so.

"Finishing the last 25 yards of the race was grueling, but when I touched the wall and looked up all of the pain vanished," Knapp said. "It was an unbelieveable way to end the meet and I couldn't be happier with my experience at nationals this year."

Knapp got off to a quick start in the 200 butterfly, setting the second-fastest time in program history in the first 100 yards of the event. That gave him a large enough lead to win the event, despite slowing down towards the end.

"If it was a 201 yard race, he would have lost," Eickelberg said. "He held on for dear life. He had the slowest 50-yard butterfly that he swam all year to finish the race. But he attacked the race and put everything out there in the first 100 yards."

Knapp's first-place finish is even more impressive considering he finished third in the preliminary round, the same place he was seeded in the event coming into the day. He also greatly improved his time in the 400 individual medley, as he was seeded 22^nd before his sixth-place finish.

Prior to both events, Knapp placed ninth in the 200-yard individual medley on Wednesday night, clocking in at 1:48.28. to earn All-American Honorable Mention honors. He was seeded 10^th in the event going into the meet.

"The school should be unbelievably proud of someone who came here instead of taking their talents elsewhere and is raising the profile of SUNY New Paltz across the country," Eickelberg said. "He showed that we do have an elite level of athletics here and the rest of the campus needs to know that. Cooper is the athletic role model the department needs and he's one of the best athletes in Division III."

Not only does Knapp hope to make another appearance at nationals next season, he hopes that he won't be the only Hawks representative there.

"This was the best experience I have had in my swimming career to date," Knapp said. "I can't wait for next year and for more opportunities to bring some of my teammates."