Alabama Sends Seven to Men's NCAA Championships
3/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
The Alabama men's swimming and diving team has five swimmers and two divers at the 2005 NCAA Championships being held in Minneapolis, Minn. this week.
Juniors Aaron Ashworth and Darren Erasmus, Sophomore Hunor Mate', Vlad Polyakov, and Apostolis Tsagkarakis and seniors Stewart Smith and Franck Southon are all set to compete at one is, year in and year out, one of the fastest meets in the world. Of the seven, six have earned All-American honors during the Alabama careers.
Polyakov, the SEC 100 and 200 breaststroke champion, will be making a bid for a national title at both distances this weekend. He is currently seeded second in both events just behind Stanford's Gary Marshall. Polyakov was a finalist at the Athens Olympics in both events. He also earned double bronze medals in those events at this fall's World Championships. As a freshman, Polyakov surprised a lot of people by finishing second in the 200 breaststroke at the NCAA Championships. This year, he won't be able to sneak up on anyone.
Sophomore Hunor Mate' will also compete in both breaststrokes. His seeded 19th in the 100 and 31st in the 200, meaning he will have to improve several places to score for the Tide.
Ashworth and Smith both earned their bids at last months NCAA Zone B Diving Championships. Both men have earned All-American honors during their Tide careers and both will be a threat to final at these championships. The duo finished in the top-10 on the one and three-meter boards and the platform at the zone meet. It will be Smith's third trip to the NCAA Championships and Ashworth's second.
Southon, who made the NCAA meet his first two years, returns after a one year layoff. He will compete in the 200 backstrokes and the 200 IM where he is seeded 32nd and 34th respectively. An All-American as a freshman, Southon finaled in the 200 backstroke and scored in the 200 IM at the SEC Championships. He competed at the NCAA Championships as a freshman and sophomore.
Tsagkarakis and Erasmus will both compete in the 50 and 100 freestyles. Both men are ranked in the Tide's all-time top-5 in both events. Tsagkarakis is within 1/10th of Jon Olsen's 1991 school record in the 50 freestyle at 19.84. Tsagkarakis is 22nd on both the 50 and 100 while Erasmus is 39th in the 50 and 26th in the 100. This will be Tsagkarakis' second NCAA Championship and Erasmus' third and both have earned All-American honors during the Tide tenures.
Southon, Polyakov, Tsagkarakis and Erasmus will also compete in the medley relays. Alabama broke the school record in both the 200 and 400 medley relays this season.
This will mark Alabama's fourth trip to The University of Minnesota and the University Aquatic Center for the NCAA Men's Championships. The first time the Gophers hosted, in 1994, Alabama finished 10th and the last time the Gopher's hosted, 2000, Alabama finished 22nd.
