Jonah Turner

Position:
Freestyle
Height:
6-1
Weight:
185
Class:
Junior
Hometown:
Raleigh, N.C.

Career Best Times: 4:40.11, 500 Free; 9:38.42, 1000 Free; 16:12.03, 1650 Free.

General: Distance freestyle specialist for UNC...two-time letter winner for the Tar Heels...Dean's List and ACC Honor Roll selection.

1998-99: Named to 1999 Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Honor Roll...tapped for Dean's List in fall semester of 1998.

1997-98: Earned his first varsity letter...says he was a proud member of the 1998 ACC championship swimming team...also played for Riboflavin, an intramural soccer championship team.

Prep: Graduated from Sanderson High School on June 5, 1997...lettered on swim team for four years in 200 and 500 frees...named to U.S.S. Scholastic All-America Team in 1997-98...MVP of SHS team as junior and senior...captain as senior...as a sophomore, he broke the regional record as a member of Sanderson's 200 free relay team which finished second in the state meet...he broke the school record in the 200 free four times and in the 500 free three times...led SHS to Cap-7 conference title as freshman...named to Cap-7 All-Conference Team all four years...as junior, Sanderson finished fifth in state meet...played tennis as sophomore and junior at #6 singles and #3 doubles...was four-year winner of Pepsi Scholar-Athlete Award.

Personal: Full name is Jonah Pharr Turner...nicknamed "Turtle" and "Touchdown Turner"...has one brother and two sisters...was born January 29, 1979 in Corinth, Miss....son of Joe and Jean Turner...hobbies include playing basketball for money, telling people useless facts, sleeping and going to all his classes...athletes he most admires are Dennis Rodman, J.R. Reid and Michael Jordan...biggest sports thrill was winning ACC title in 1998 because he says he has never seen or been on a team that was as close as Carolina was and at ACC's the team's support and spirit blew him away...says he hates beer, loves sports, has been known to weigh a lot and can dunk a basketball...says after he graduates he wants to publish a book with 1,001 interesting facts and dedicate it to the memory of the 1998 men's ACC swimming champions...communications major...wants to pursue a career in broadcasting or TV directing.