Alabama
Men's NCAA Championships
Alabama Swimming Diving on Day Two of 2016 NCAA Championships
3/24/2016 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
ATLANTA, Ga. - The Alabama men's swimming and diving team bounced back from some bad luck in prelims to post a trio of fast swims in finals of the NCAA Championships second day in McAuley Aquatic Center on the Georgia Tech campus.
"It was kind of a rocky morning, but we're real pleased with the way the guys turned it around tonight," UA head coach Dennis Pursley said.
Alabama is tied with Southeastern Conference rival Georgia for ninth place after the championships' second day with 68 points.
In the morning session, an off swim in the prelims of the 400 medley relay - including the Tide's anchor leg slipping during his takeoff and cutting his foot heading into the relay's final leg - put the Crimson Tide just out of the top-eight and the championship final of the relay.
"The guys came together tonight and came back strong, in both relays really," UA head coach Dennis Pursley said. "We were pleased to post a time in the 200 freestyle relay that was good for third place and the fastest of any other SEC team and then to post a time in the 400 medley relay that not only won the consolation final but was the third fastest time overall and faster than any SEC team."
The Tide posted a 3:04.32, nearly three seconds faster than its prelims time and just a tenth of a second off the school record, to win the consolation final of the 400 medley relay and place ninth overall. Juniors Connor Oslin and Anton McKee combined with sophomore Luke Kaliszak and junior Kristian Gkolomeev to dominate the consolation final and posted a time that would have been third in the championship final.
The Crimson Tide opened the night with the 200 freestyle relay, jumping up a spot from prelims to take third place. Gkolomeev led the Tide off with a split of 18.92, the fastest 50 freestyle for the Tide this season. Freshman Laurent Bams, Kaliszak and senior Brett Walsh combined to finish the race in a time of 1:16.16, just three-hundredths of a second off the school record.
Gkolomeev came back in the 50 freestyle and grabbed another bronze medal for the Tide, posting an 18.95 to move up five places from his prelims finish. The junior from Greece was part of a three-way tie for the last spot in the championship final after prelims. Gkolomeev broke the tie in a swim-off, posting a 19.04 and earning the eighth seed coming into finals.
Alabama gets back to work on Friday with the 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 3-meter diving and the 200 medley relay.
"We've got some strong events coming up tomorrow and we're looking forward to taking advantage of those and moving forward," Pursley said.
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Players Mentioned
