WPI has had its share of great swimmers and divers of the years.
Not many have matched the feat of Jack Craffey, who burst onto the
college athletics scene as one of the greatest swimmers in program
history and ended his career as an accomplished diver.
Craffey set a quartet of individual freestyle records as a
freshman in 1976. While the 200-freestyle record lasted two
seasons, the 500-freestyle (4:51.77) stood for 29 years, while the
1,000-freestyle (10:20.80) and 1,650-freestyle (17:17.47)
eventually fell in 1996. His standout freshman campaign also
included a 7th-place finish in the 500-freestyle and a 10th-place
showing in the 1,650-freestyle at the New England
Championships.
His times qualified him for the NCAA Championships, which were
held during spring break in 1976. With the way NCAA swimming and
diving was structured back then, Craffey participated in the NCAA
Division II championships in Spring-field, becoming what is
believed to be the only WPI student-athlete to take part in a
Division II national championship.
“When I started coaching in 2004, Jack’s name was
still on the record boards,” noted current head coach Paul
Bennett. “He held the 500 freestyle and the 1000 freestyle
records and. remarkably. it took an athlete who was himself an NCAA
qualifier to break each of his records. Mr. Craffrey’s times
are exceptionally significant given that they would still score at
our conference championships.”
Having been sidelined for part of his sophomore year, Craffey
returned as a diver in 1978 before making his mark once again as
part of the 800-yard freestyle relay team that set the 16-year
program benchmark of 7:30.10 in his senior campaign. He wrapped up
his career competing in a pair of relays in the New England
Championships.
“After setting four school records in his freshman year
and representing WPI at nationals, Jack’s shoulder let him
down,” said WPI Hall of Famer Whit Griffith. “He
remained a loyal swim team member by swimming what he could and
diving. Jack’s records held up for twenty plus years and,
believe me, we tried very hard to break them.”
A native of Bridgewater, Mass., Jack was a chemical engineering
major at WPI. He was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity.
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