Alabama
Men's NCAA Championships
Alabama Swimming and Diving Earns Third-Consecutive NCAA Top-10 Finish
3/25/2017 8:41:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
INDIANAPOLIS – The Alabama swimming and diving team moved up two places over the last day of the 2017 NCAA Championships taking 10th place with 153.5 points at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis Saturday night.
The Crimson Tide clinched its third-straight NCAA top-10 finish when its 400 freestyle relay won the B final, scoring 18 team points, pushing Alabama past Louisville.
Sophomore Robert Howard, freshman Zane Waddell, junior Christopher Reid and sophomore Laurent Bams finished ninth overall in the relay with a school-record time of 2:48.84.
"That relay came at the end of a long week and I know those guys were feeling it, but they swam real well, beating Auburn to the wall and taking first in the B final, getting the school record and finishing up the meet on a lot of positive notes for us," UA head coach Dennis Pursley said.
Alabama's team finish was all the more remarkable after its 400 medley relay was disqualified on day two of the meet.
"I couldn't be more pleased with how we finished," Pursley said. "We had a pretty tough blow early in the meet when that relay was disqualified on a call that we disagreed with, but our guys came fighting back, taking it one race at a time and clawing their way back into the meet."
In 16th place after the championships' second day, Alabama was in 12th heading into Saturday.
"Going into the final session of the meet, we were still sitting outside the top-10 behind Auburn and Louisville," Pursley said. "To be able to pass both those teams and get back to the top 10, I couldn't be prouder of our guys."
Anton McKee saved the best swim of his amazing Crimson Tide tenure for last, racing to a silver-medal finish in the 200 breaststroke with a school-record 1:51.22, bettering the mark he set in 2014 as a freshman. The senior closed his career as the only UA swimmer under 1:52 in the 200 breaststroke and the fastest Tide swimmer in the event by more than a second. The only swimmer faster in the 200 breaststroke at the 2017 NCAA Championships was Texas' Will Licon, who used an NCAA and American record to best McKee.
"For Anton to have his highest finish at this meet and to break the school record he set as a freshman on the way, it was great night for him," Pursley said.
Also going big in the last swim of a storied Alabama career, Connor Oslin opened the Crimson Tide's night by taking fourth in the 200 backstroke after coming into finals seeded eighth. The senior reclaimed the school record in the 200 backstroke with a 1:39.23 and posted his highest national finish in the 200 backstroke in his final NCAA championship race.
"To finish his career off with a school record and his best finish at this meet in the 200 backstroke was great for Connor," Pursley said. "He went career-best swims in all his races and closed his career strong."
Bams and Waddell scored in the 100 freestyle earlier in the night. Bams tied for 12th in the 100 freestyle with a 42.58 while Waddell was 16th with a 42.90. Bams posted a 42.39 in prelims, tying his career-best time.
In addition to being Alabama's third-consecutive top-10 NCAA finish, it was the Tide's fourth consecutive year to score more than a 100 points at the NCAA championships. The last time Alabama swimming and diving posted three top-10 NCAA finishes in a row was 1981-83. The last time Alabama scored 100-plus points at four-straight NCAA swimming and diving championships was 1975-78.
For all the latest information on the Alabama swimming and diving teams, follow AlabamaSwimDive on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. General athletic news can be found @UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.
Players Mentioned
