Swimming and Diving Ready for NCAA Championship Start
3/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
March 17, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Four members of the Alabama swimming and diving team will be in action when the Women's NCAA Championships get underway Thursday at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center on the Purdue University Campus.
"This is what we've been pointing toward all season, being at our best at this meet," UA head coach Eric McIlquham said.
Senior Agustina de Giovanni is making her third trip to the NCAA Championships while junior Kate Shannon Gray and sophomore Carrie Dragland are making their second appearance and sophomore Suzanne Schwee is making her debut.
"These four are among the best to ever compete for Alabama, with all four holding at least one school record," McIlquham said. "This is one of the fastest meets in the world every year and we'll have to be at our best. It should be a great week of competition."
De Giovanni, a three-time All-American, qualified in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, and the 200 individual medley. The school record holder in the 400 IM, de Giovanni has earned honorable mention All-American honors in the 200 breaststroke in 2008 and 2009. She also earned honorable mention All-American honors in the 400 IM in 2008.
Dragland, a two-time All-American, qualified on all three diving events, the one and three-meter board and the platform. The 2009 SEC Diver and Freshman Diver of the Year, Dragland earned honorable mention All-American honors off the one-meter and platform diving events as a rookie. Dragland won the platform and was second off the three-meter board at last week's NCAA Zone B Championships.
The school record holder in the 200 IM, Gray qualified to swim the 200 and 400 IM and the 200 breaststroke. Gray, a native of Tuscaloosa, Ala., competed in the 200 and 400 IM at last year's NCAA Championships.
Schwee qualified in the 100 and 200 butterfly and the 200 IM. She broke her own school record in the 200 butterfly at last month's SEC Championships, lowering it to 1:57.55.
The Crimson Tide gets things going on Thursday with the 200 IM and the one-meter diving. Preliminaries get underway at 11 a.m. with the finals starting at 7 p.m. The meet will conclude on Saturday.
Players Mentioned
