Arizona Men Travel to College Station for 78th Annual NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships
The Event: The No. 7 ranked Arizona men’s swimming and diving team will head to College Station, Texas, for the 2001 NCAA Division I Championships. The competition will run from Thursday, March 22 through Saturday, March 24 and Texas A&M University will be the host. The 78th annual event , with over 200 competitors, will be held at the Student Rec Center in the Nautatorium. The meet will feature the nation’s best swimmers and divers, including former and future Olmypians.
The Facilities: The Championships will be hosted by Texas A&M University. The meet will take place at the Student Rec Center in the Nautatorium, and its capacity is apporoximately 1,000. This is the first time an NCAA Championship has been held at this facility, although other major meets have taken place here. The 1998 World Cup, the 1998 U.S. Open, the 2000 Big XII Championships and this year’s Zone D Diving Championships were all held at the Nautatorium.
Arizona’s Participants: Ben Anderson 200 IM, 200 fly Jeff Dash 200 IM, 100 fly, 200 fly Scott Gaskins 100 free, 200 free Tyler Johnson 50 free Eric la Fleur 50 free, 100 free, 100 back Omar Ojeda Diving Tyler Painter 400 IM, 500 free, 1650 free Roland Schoeman 50 free, 100 free, 100 fly Jay Schryver 100 free, 200 free Ruben Vaca Diving Juan Veloz 200 fly, 500 free
Pac-10 Championships: The Wildcat men finished fourth at the 2001 Pac-10 Championships held at the Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach, Calif. Arizona finished fourth with 538 points. Stanford won its 20th consecutive conference title, with 844.5 points, Southern California came in second place with 722.5 points and California took home the third spot with 540.5 points.
Roland Schoeman was impressive for the Cats taking home second place in the finals of the 100 fly (47.51), while Jeff Dash placed first in the consolation finals of that event with a 48.23. Schoeman also swam to a third place finish in the 50 free with a time of 19.48. In the finals of the 100 free Schoeman placed eighth with a time of 44.28. Also, the 200 free relay team made up of Schoeman, Tyler Johnson, Jay Schryver and Eric la Fleur came in third (1:19.18).
Individually for the Cats, Tyler Painter captured third place in the 1650 free with a time of 15:02.11. Painter also placed first in the consolation final (ninth overall) in the 400 IM with a time of 3:52.88. During the prelims of the 200 fly Ben Anderson made his NCAA cut by touching the wall in a time of 1:45.32. In the finals of the event, Anderson placed fourth with a time of 1:45.72. In the 200 IM Anderson also placed eighth at 1:50.12. In the championship final of the 200 free Schryver took home seventh place (1:36.72).
In the 200 medley relay Arizona brought home third place with a time of 1:28.57. The relay team consisted of Kris Souther, Greg Owen, Schoeman and Schryver. Souther, Owen, Anderson and Schoeman took home fourth place (3:14.90) in the 400 medley relay.
Zone E Diving Championships: Two Wildcat divers qualified for this year’s NCAA Championships at the Zone E Diving Championships in Federal Way, Wash. Junior Omar Ojeda placed first on the one meter and the three meter (605.65) events. While fellow Wildcat diver, junior Ruben Vaca, finished first on the platform with 534.65 points.
Arizona’s NCAA Media Information: For information regarding the NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships, contact Sarah Fahey in the Arizona Media Relations office (520) 621-4163. To obtain results the Arizona Media Relations Office will release a story upon the completion of the competition each day and will email it to the local Tucson media. Those interested in obtaining complete results themselves can do so at www.ncaachampionships.com.
Rankings: The men enter the meet ranked No. 7 in the nation in the March 8 edition of the Speedo America College Swimming Coaches Association top-25 poll. Last season the men finished in third place at the 2000 NCAA Championships held in Minneapolis, Minn.
The Facts: The men finished the 1999-2000 season in third place at the NCAA Championships behind Auburn in second place with 385 points and the Texas Longhorns with 538 points in first place. The men’s team placed fourth at the 2001 Pac-10 Championships with 538 points. In the 1999-2000 season the men’s team also finished fourth with 468 points behind USC in third, California in second and Stanford taking home the title. The final dual meet record for the men this season is 4-4 and 2-2 in the Pac-10.
