Men?s Swim and Dive Prepare for NCAA Championships
This Week in the Pool ?- The No. 6 Arizona men’s swimming and diving team is set to compete at the 2006 NCAA Championships on March 23-25 at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Ga. Preliminary action will start at 12 p.m. (EST) and finals will begin at 7 p.m. each day.
A Look at the Wildcats ?- The men’s team will feature nine swimmers and one diver at this year’s national championships, who will compete in 25 individual events, five relays and two diving events. The men’s team also returns nine total All-Americans to this meet.
The men are currently ranked No. 6 with a 6-2 overall record (3-2 Pac-10). The Wildcats most recent competition was at the 2006 Pac-10 Championships on March 1-4 in Federal Way, Wash. as they finished fourth with 519 points. The men also tallied a total of 11 NCAA automatic qualifying times and 20 consideration times throughout four days of competition.
Seniors Simon Burnett, Lyndon Ferns, Tyler DeBerry and junior Adam Ritter composed the first-place 800 free relay on the first niht, setting a new Pac-10 meet record and a new school record with a time of 6:18.70.
Ferns posted the first individual conference title of his career, winning the 100 butterfly with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 46.43. Burnett captured the 200 freestyle crown as well, setting a new Pac-10 meet record with a time of 1:33.26.
Ferns’ and Burnett’s victories marked the first individual Pac-10 champions Arizona had seen since 2002 when former Wildcats Roland Schoeman and Omar Ojeda tallied two apiece.
Senior John Collier competed in at the Zone ?'E’ Diving Championships on March 10-12 in Oklahoma City, Okla. Collier was the only Wildcat to place in the 1and 3-meter events for the men, as he finished sixth in the 3-meter with 663.10 points and seventh in the 1-meter competition with 591.60 points.
Who’s Qualified ?- Name Event(s) Ivan Barnes* 100 breast/ 200 breast/ 400 medley relay John Collier* Diving Tyler DeBerry* 200 free/ 500 free/ 1650 free/ 800 free relay Lyndon Ferns* 50 free/ 100 free/ 100 fly/ All five relays Nicolas Nilo 50 free/ 100 free/ 200 free/ 200 free relay/ 400 free relay Adam Ritter* 200 IM/ 100 free/ 200 free/ 200 free relay/ 400 free relay/ 800 free relay Dave Rollins* 100 breast/ 200 breast/ 200 IM/ 200 medley relay Albert Subirats* 100 free/ 100 fly/ 100 back/ 200 medley relay/ 400 medley relay Nick Thoman 100 back/ 200 back |
The Competition- The Wildcats will be competing amongst the best teams in the nation including four Pac-10 teams who are in the top-25. Stanford is currently ranked No. 1 in the CSCAA rankings with an undefeated dual-meet record while California is ranked third, USC is ranked fourth, and ASU is 25th.
Another top-team to defeat is the No. 2 Auburn Tigers who are in search of their fourth national title in five years.
What Happened Last Year ?- After three days of competition at the 2005 NCAA Championships, the men’s swimming and diving team finished third out of 56 teams with 388 points while 12 athletes tallied one national champion, 37 All-American honors and eight new school records. Head coach Frank Busch was also named co-swimming coach of the year along with Bob Groseth from Northwestern for the third time in his career.
Burnett took the NCAA title in the 200-yard freestyle for the second time in his collegiate career, winning with a time of 1:33.28. Burnett was the 2003 NCAA champion in the 200-yard freestyle (1:33.69) and he currently holds the NCAA, and Pac-10 and records in the event as well.
Last Week in the Pool - The Arizona women’s swimming and diving team completed their respective NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga. on March 18. The No. 4 Wildcats finished third for the third year in a row with 415 points while posting two individual titles by junior Whitney Myers and three relay titles, which is the most ever accumulated at the meet in school history.
Seven different Wildcats broke a total of 18 records over the course of the three-day meet including nine school, five pool, two U.S Open and two NCAA.
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Records Broken at the Meet: 50 free Nymeyer 22.10 (school) 100 free Nymeyer 48.43 (school) 400 IM Myers 4:06.32 (pool and school)* 1-meter diving(six dives) Manning 293 points (school) 100 back Gresdal 52.52 (school: was a relay leadoff time) 200 free relay Cashion, Turner, Gresdal, Nymeyer 1:27.98 (U.S. Open, NCAA, pool and school)* 400 medley relay Gresdal, Sieper, Myers, Nymeyer 3:31.70 (pool and school)* 400 free relay Cashion, Gresdal, Myers, Nymeyer 3:12.77 (NCAA, U.S. Open, pool, school)* *- indicates 2006 NCAA Championship title |
Men’s NCAA Championships History ?- Since 1998, the Arizona men have finished in the top ten at the NCAA Championships. While the Wildcats have never taken a national team title, there have been a total of 21 individual national titles and one relay title.
Past NCAA Championships: Year Place Points National Champions, event(s) 2005 3rd 388 Simon Burnett, 200 free, (1:33.28) 2004 4th 322 2003 8th 205 Simon Burnett, 200 free (1:33.66) 2002 7th 242 Roland Schoeman, 50 free (19:18 2001 6th 251 2000 3rd 360.5 Ryk Neethling, 200m free, 400m free 1999 5th 296 Ryk Neethling, 200, 500, 1650 free 1998 6th 185 Ryk Neethling, 200, 500, 1650 free 1997 16th 84 Ryk Neethling, 1650 free (14:34.44) 1996 14th 106.5 Martin Pepper, 100 fly (46.74) 1995 8th 211 1994 13th 108 Chad Carvin, 500, 1650 free 1993 4th 263 Seth Pepper. 100 fly (46.51) & Newman, Abernethy, Pepper, McQuitty, 200 MR 1992 5th 238 1991 7th 195 1990 10th 154
