Alabama Swimming & Diving Hits the U.S. Open
12/1/2004 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
The Alabama Swimming and Diving Teams will be sending a sizeable contingent to the U.S. Open Dec. 2-4 in San Antonio, Texas.
Approximately 465 swimmers from six countries are registered for the U.S. Open. Swimmers must meet a time standard during the qualifying period in order to compete. The Crimson Tide had more than a dozen swimmers qualified for the prestigious competition.
"This is one of the winter's premiere competition and it provides us with another opportunity to measure ourselves not just against not just the NCAA's best, but the best in the world," Alabama head coach Eric McIlquham said.
Chief among the Tide's entrants are sophomore Vlad Polyakov and senior Franck Southon. Polyakov, a two-time bronze medalist at the 2004 World Championships and a double finalist at this summer's Olympic Games, is among the top seeds in both the 100 and 200 breaststrokes. Southon, the school record holder in the 200 backstroke, is seeded sixth in that event.
The action gets started Thursday with Alabama competing in the 200 individual medley, 100 breaststroke, 200 backstroke and 50 freestyle.
