11 Alabama Swimmers and Divers Earn Men's NCAA Championship Berths
3/10/2021 3:14:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
The Crimson Tide’s total includes 10 swimmers and one diver as well as four relays
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men qualified 11 swimmers and divers and four relays for the upcoming NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, which will be held in Greensboro, N.C., March 24-27. The Crimson Tide is sending nine swimmers and one diver in individual events and one swimmer as part of its relay pool.
Liam Bell, Jonathan Berneburg, Sam DiSette, Matt King, Derek Maas, Jake Marcum, Matt Menke, Nicholas Perera and Eric Stelmar are all slated to swim individual events, while Colton Stogner advanced to nationals as part of the Tide's relay contingent.
Kevin Li punched his ticket to NCAAs earlier this week at the Zone B Diving Championships, picking up a spot off the 1-meter springboard.
Bell, Berneburg, Disette, Li, Maas, Perera and Stogner all qualified for last year's NCAA Championships before the event was canceled due to the CoVID-19 pandemic.
Interim Head Coach Ozzie Quevedo Said
"We're excited about the group we have going to the national championships. We had more individuals earn a spot at this meet than we did a year ago, and our relays come into the meet with the chance to make some real noise. Despite the fact that a lot of our guys qualified for last year's championships, it's going to be a new experience for most of our squad because that meet ended up being canceled due to COVID-19, so there is going to be a lot of excitement and hunger as we make our way to Greensboro. The way we competed at SECs should give us a lot of confidence going into NCAAs, especially knowing that we can still get faster."
Going to the Show
- This year's squad is the Crimson Tide's largest since taking 14 to the 2016 NCAA Championships
- Alabama bettered the number of student-athletes who earned a spot in individual events from last year, going from eight to 10, and more than doubled that total from 2019
- The Tide qualified individuals in three strokes (backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle) as well as the individual medley (combining all four competitive strokes in one race) and diving at these championships
- Kevin Li, who qualified last season as well, is the first UA diver to advance to the NCAA Championships since the Tide sent two in 2016
- Liam Bell (100) and Derek Maas (200) are slated to compete in the breaststroke events
- Matt Menke (100 and 200), Jake Marcum (200) and Eric Stelmar all qualified in the backstroke events
- Menke is seeded in the top-10 in the 100 backstroke, while Marcum is in the top-10 in the 200 backstroke
- Menke (200) and Nicholas Perera (400) both qualified in the individual medley events
- Jonathan Berneburg (100), Sam DiSette (50) and Matt King (50 and 100) qualified in the sprint freestyle events
- King is seeded in the top-10 in the 50 and 100 freestyles
- Alabama also qualified in the 200 and 400 freestyle and 200 and 400 medley relays
- The Tide is seeded second in the 400 freestyle relay, just .03 behind NC State
- Alabama is seeded in the top-10 in both the 200 freestyle and medley relays and top-12 in the 400 medley relay
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Players Mentioned
