By Brendan Kurie, The Standard Times (New Bedford)

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Jameson Rose didn't take the path most traveled to his blossoming collegiate swimming career.

The Bridgewater State freshman, who has already re-set the Bears record books and earned a trip to the ECAC Division III Championships in three events, didn't swim his junior and senior years at Bishop Stang.

Rose, who hails from Somerset, followed in the footsteps of his older sisters, Elizabeth Rose and Caroline Rose, who both swam at Stang before competing for Bryant and Roger Williams, respectively, in college.

"My older sisters (swam) and I just tried it out and really liked it at first," he said.

But after Rose's sophomore year, he quit the Spartans swim team and competed solely for the Seacoast Swimming Association, based out of Seekonk.

Still, he always planned on swimming in college. BSU became the only school he applied for.

"It was the college in the area that I thought I could get into," he said.

After a strong freshman season, Rose came alive during the 2016 New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association Division III Championships at the University of Rhode Island last weekend.

On Friday, the 6-foot-1 swimmer broke the BSU school record in the 200 backstroke, finishing in 1:54.01 in the prelims to break Kyle Swardstrom's mark of 1:59.20 by a whopping five-plus seconds. Rose finished second in the finals with a time of 1:56.03 to earn All-NEISDA status.

He entered the meet four seconds behind Swardstrom's time.

"Whenever I swim the 200, I always feel like my first 100 is really fast, and the second 100 I always die," he said. "But during this swim, I felt good the entire race. I was really surprised. I thought I was going to break the record by a second, I didn't realize I would break it by (five)."

On Saturday, he shattered another Swardstrom record, this time going 53.12 in the 100 back, more than a second ahead of Swardstrom's 54.30 record. Rose finished fourth in the finals in 53.14, earning his second All-NEISDA honor in as many days.

"I didn't feel as confident because it's only 100 and I was still two seconds off (entering the meet)," he said. "I just tried to swim as fast as I could. During the 200, I went 55 on my first leg, and I knew the record was a 54, so all I had to do was drop a second."

But his weekend wasn't over, as Rose earned his third All-NEISDA award in the 50 back, finishing third in 25.35. He helped BSU finish eighth as a team over the three-day championship meet with 277 points. Keene State captured top honors with 866 points.

Rose credits his "underwater work" with helping him get further off the walls on his turns thanks to an improved dolphin kick, which led to the significant time drops. He'll look to shave even more time off at the ECAC meet in two weeks, but it will be tough sledding to qualify for the NCAA Division III championships, which would require a five-second drop in the 100 back and an eight-second drop in the 200.

"I don't have any goals for making a time or going to another meet," he said. "I just want to swim faster than I did this past weekend."

Rose is thankful he'll joined at the ECAC meet by the Bears' 200 medley relay.

"I didn't want to have to travel alone," he said.

Interestingly, Rose wasn't a backstroker until he arrived at BSU. He swam the butterfly for his club team, but the Bears needed a backstroker and he made the transition.

Rose is still undeclared on a major, but is leaning toward athletic training. He said the transition from Stang to college hasn't been too difficult, and he's enjoying his team community.

"I really like the coaches and the team is really nice," he said. "It's been a big transition. It's definitely harder. I just want to swim faster than I am right now."