The Tennessee swimming and diving team had a season that should be considered successful in most people's eyes, placing 12th in the 2011 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

Standout performances include the 400 freestyle relay team taking 13th with a time of two minutes 53.20 seconds.

In the platform competition, rising senior Ryan Helms had his best-ever finish in the event, coming in at 14th with 337.20 points.

Brad Craig, who graduated this year, earned his second individual honorable mention All-America honor of the meet with a 14th-place finish in the 200 breaststroke.

Meanwhile, the swimming and diving team and rising senior Ryan Harrison picked up post-season honors as the result of the 2010-11 College Swimming and Diving Honors, released by CollegeSwimmingAwards.com.

The Vols as a team were named as one of eight "Male Break Out Teams" after their strong showing at the NCAA Championships. At the national meet, the Vols had 10 student-athletes achieve All-America status in 11 events.

A native of Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Harrison was one of eight male swimmers selected as a "Break-Out Swimmer." At the SEC Championships, he won the 200 freestyle with a UT record-setting time, was a member of the runner-up 800 freestyle relay squad, broke the UT record in the 500 freestyle, swam a leg of the third-place 400 medley relay and won the 100 freestyle consolation final.

Craig, along with Samuel Rairden and Ed Walsh, each recorded Olympic Trial cuts at the 2011 Long Course Southeastern Championships. Craig earned qualifying standards in both the 100 and 200 breast events. The two-time SEC Champion in the 200y breaststroke won both of the events.

Walsh, a native of London, England and a rising senior, won the 50 freestyle event and claimed runner-up in the 100 freestyle. Rairden, a rising junior, also notched a qualifying time in the 100 freestyle along with Walsh. He qualified for the 2011 NCAA Championships in both backstroke events and swam on relays.

Diver Jordan Mauney advanced to the platform finals, but came up just short in earning a national qualifying spot at the USA Zone A National Preliminary Meet.

The Signal Mountain, Tenn., native claimed seventh in the platform event with a score of 276.30. Normally the top five divers in the event advance, but due to a pre-qualifier who competed, the sixth-place finisher also qualified for nationals.

Divers Michael Wright and Brent Sterling qualified for the national meet, with Wright participating in both the one- and three-meter boards, while Sterling participated in the one-meter competition.

On the women's side, graduated seniors Aleksa Akerfelds, Martina Moravcikova and Tricia Weaner ended their UT careers on the swimming and diving team, finishing 12th at the 2011 NCAA Championships.

It was the fourth time in as many years that the seniors made the trip to the national meet, helping lead the team to an unprecedented sixth straight top-15 team finish.

The Lady Vols had a tally of 148, which was its highest amount of points since 2008 at Ohio State. Tennessee also earned All-America status in 12 events.

Competing in both breast events each season at NCAAs, Moravcikova, a Prague, Czech Republic, native, finished 16th in the 200y breast with a time of 2:11.96. Moravcikova leaves the Lady Vols as the fastest competitor in the 200y breaststroke, as she etched her name in the Tennessee record books by setting a new program record in the event with her prelim time of 2:10.31.

It marked the first time Moravcikova ever reached a championship final at NCAAs, which she did twice, and earned All-America honors.

In addition to her 16th-place finish in the 200y breaststroke, she grabbed 12th in the 100y breaststroke and swam legs of the fourth place 400y medley and the 14th place 200y medley relay. She grabbed four A-A accolades, including a first-team honor in the 400y medley relay.

Akerfelds touched in at 16:10.33 to take 30th place. A native of Bronxville, N.Y., Akerfelds' best individual finish at NCAAs came last season in the 1650 freestyle, where she finished 15th.

Akerfelds entered this weekend's NCAA Championships with three A-A honors to her credit and earned one more in the 800 free relay by placing 11th. She has also competed in the 500 freestyle, notching 40th with a time of 4:45.80. In addition, she leaves as the Lady Vol record holder in the 500 freestyle, 1000y freestyle and 400 individual medley.

Though Weaner did not make it past the preliminary rounds, she proved to be valuable to the Lady Vols. Weaner competed in both back events and the 200 butterfly. She placed 36th in the 200 backstroke (1:57.19) and 43rd in the 200 butterfly (2:02.77).

Over the course of her career, Weaner notched two All-America certificates in relay events, including a third-place clocking in the 200 medley relay in 2009.

The mile saw sophomore-to-be Lindsay Gendron grab eighth after swimming a time of 16:01.77. Her clocking was a career-best by almost six seconds and ranks second on the Lady Vol performance and performers list, only behind Akerfelds.

Over the course of the meet, Gendron earned six All-America honors, two of which were first-team honors, as she was on four relays along with the mile and 200 freestyle.

Rising junior Kelsey Floyd registered five Olympic Trial cuts at the meet in the 100  and 200 butterfly, 200 and 400 freestyle and 200 individual medley. The Lexington, Ky., native won the 200 butterfly and swam the fastest preliminary times in the 200 and 400 freestyles.

Lindsay Gendron, a rising sophomore, qualified for the Olympic Trials in 100, 400 and 800 freestyles. She won all three events and also won the 200 freestyle.

Jenny Connolly, Sloane Pitman and Molly Hannis also recorded qualifying times. A rising senior, Connolly won the 100 back and was scheduled to compete in the same event at the 2011 World University Games.

The swimming and diving teams will begin the 2011-12 season with a heavy heart, as long-time assistant swimming coach Joe Hendee passed away at his Knoxville home in April at the age of 50, after nearly a year-long battle with brain cancer.