Swimmers Set to Compete at NCAA Championships
3/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
COLUMBUS, Ohio ?? When the 2008 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships get underway Thursday at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion on the Ohio State campus, the Alabama Crimson Tide will be represented by five swimmers who have already set three school records, including two relay marks, this season.
“We’re excited about this group and what we can accomplish at these championships,” Alabama head coach Eric McIlquham said. “These five made their automatic cuts back in December, which allowed us to train the rest of the season with our eye on this week, on this meet.”
It will mark the first time the championships have been held in Columbus. The five student-athletes are the most at the championships for the Tide since the 2005 season, when Alabama also sent five. The Tide finished 21st that season. Overall Alabama has 25 top-25 finishes nationally, including nine in the top 10.
The Tide is led by sophomore Agustina de Giovanni, who shattered the school record in the 400 IM in a dual meet earlier this season and has shaved five seconds off the previous mark set by Olympic bronze medalist Anne Poleska in 2003. She is also a part of the Tide’s school record holding 400 freestyle relay. De Giovanni, who finaled at the Pan American games last summer, is slated to compete in the 200 IM and 200 breaststroke as well as the 400 IM and 400 freestyle relay at these championships. A versatile athlete, de Giovanni is ranked in Alabama’s all-time top-10 in eight different events.
Senior Erin Sparks will compete as part of the Tide’s 200 and 400 freestyle relays, both of which set school records in December’s Alabama Classic. She will also swim the 100 and 200 breaststrokes and the 200 IM. Sparks, the Tide’s MVP last season, is ranked fourth all-time for the Tide in the 100 breaststroke. She posted career-best marks in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes at the recent Southeastern Conference Championships.
Freshman Ida Persson has had an immediate impact on the Tide’s fortunes, vaulting into the Tide’s all-time top-10 in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly, both events she will swim in during the championships. She will also compete in both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays and the 100 freestyle. Junior Vanessa Von der Heyde will also swim both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays while sophomore Brooke Baldi will swim a leg on the 200 freestyle relay. Von der Heyde also scheduled to swim both the 50 and 100 freestyles.
The championships start Thursday with the prelims of the 200 freestyle relay. Sparks and de Giovanni will swim the 200 IM while Persson and Von der Heyde will compete in the 50 freestyle.
Players Mentioned
