Alabama Swimming Sends Four to U.S. Olympic Trials
7/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
When the United States Olympic Swimming Trials get underway Wednesday (July 7), four members of the University of Alabama swimming and diving program will be testing their mettle in one of the toughest meets in the world.
Ben Worby, Marcy (Warriner) Rushing, Kathryn Hallquist and Victoria Genova will all compete this week in Long Beach, Calif. in the Long Beach Arena. The main aquatic stadium will seat up to 10,000 spectators, athletes and media.
Including the Crimson Tide quartet, there will be nearly 700 swimmers competing for the 52 spots available on the U.S. squads, 26 men and 26 women.
Worby, who finished his eligibility this year, will swim the 200-meter individual medley. The preliminaries of the 200m IM are July 11th. The Redlands, Calif. native is seeded 36th going into the trials.
Rushing served as Tide captain during her senior season in 2002. A three-time All-American, she is second all-time for the Alabama in the 100 breaststroke. She is seeded 29th in the 100m breaststroke and will swim the prelims on July 8.
Hallquist, a native of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., just completed her sophomore season. The All-American will swim the 100m backstroke at the trials and is seeded 52nd and will swim the prelims July 8.
Genova also just finished her sophomore year at Alabama. The Sunrise, Fla. native will swim the 100 and 200m butterfly in Long Beach. She is seeded 63rd in the 100 and 30th in the 200. The prelims of the 100m butterfly are July 7 and the prelims of the 200 are July 10. Genova is the Alabama record holder in the 200 butterfly.
In addition to the four Tide Athletes, head coach Eric McIlquham will be in attendance at the trials. The Crimson Tide has a proud history when it comes to the Olympic Games, a history best represented by Jon Olsen, a two-time Olympian (1992 and 1996) who won five medals, including four gold medals, and was captain of the 1996 U.S. Team.
