Men's Swimming and Diving Set for NCAA Championships
3/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
IOWA CITY, IOWA - With a season's worth of work behind them, now is the fun part for the Alabama swimming and diving men's team. Their last day of practice came here on the University of Iowa campus as the Crimson Tide warmed up for the NCAA Championships which get underway Thursday at 11 a.m.
"The heavy lifting is over," UA head coach Denny Pursley said. "Now it's time to go out there and race."
A total of 10 swimmers team have made it to this year's NCAA Championships. Six have earned individual berths at the NCAA Championships including All-Americans and 2015 Southeastern Conference Champions Kristian Gkolomeev and Connor Oslin as well as All-Americans Anton McKee and Brett Walsh and freshmen Luke Kaliszak and Christopher Reid.
Junior Crews Wellford, sophomore Alex Gray and freshmen Mathew Adams and Will Freeman also earned NCAA berths as part of the Crimson Tide's relays. With four freshmen and four sophomores joining two juniors, Alabama once again has one of the youngest lineups in the nation this season.
The defending NCAA 50 freestyle champion, Gkolomeev is the No. 1 seed in both the 50 and 100 freestyles going into this year's national championships after producing dominating wins in both events at last month's SEC Championships.
Oslin, the 2015 SEC 100 backstroke champion, qualified in the 100 and 200 backstrokes. McKee qualified in both the 100 and 200 breaststrokes as well as the 500 freestyle while Walsh earned slots in the 50 freestyle and the 100 butterfly. Kaliszak qualified in the 100 backstroke and Reid, who joined the Crimson Tide in January for the spring semester, qualified in the 200 backstroke.
The Tide advanced all five relays to the NCAA Championships and is seeded No. 1 in the 400 medley relay, No. 2 in the 200 freestyle relay and in the top 10 in both the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays. The 400 medley relay of Oslin, McKee, Walsh and Gkolomeev posted the nation's fastest time on the way to setting the SEC record at the SEC Championships earlier this season.
Alabama finished 12th at last year's NCAA Championships after qualifying five individuals and taking four more on relays. This year's contingent will total 10 and include six individuals and four relay swimmers. Alabama's rise on the national scene has been swift. Two years ago Alabama had one swimmer at this meet and finished well out of the top-10 as a team, taking 28th place. Now, for the second year is a row, Alabama is at the national championship with its largest squad in well over a decade. The Tide's goal is as it has been since soon after Pursley arrived back on the Alabama campus three years ago.
"Our goal, which we posted in our locker room two years ago, remains the same, to earn a top-10 finish at the NCAA Championships," Pursley said.
Alabama opens the championships on Thursday with swims in the 200 freestyle relay and the 400 medley relay as well as the 500 and 500 freestyles. Prelims start at 11 a.m. CT while finals gets underway at 7 p.m. CT.
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