Alabama
Men's NCAA Championships
Alabama Set to Roll at Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships
3/24/2021 2:23:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
The Crimson Tide has nine swimmers and a diver at the national championships which are being held in Greensboro, N.C., this week
GREENSBORO, N.C. – It's been two years since the Alabama men have had the opportunity to compete at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships after COVID-19 wiped out the 2020 championship season. For the Crimson Tide, the wait to compete at the national championships ends Thursday, as it gets things rolling at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, N.C.
This year's squad, which consists of nine swimmers and a diver, is almost completely different from the squad that finished seventh in 2019, with just seniors Sam DiSette and Jonathan Berneburg and junior Nicholas Perera returning.
Swimmers DiSette, Berneburg, Perera, Derek Maas, Matt Menke and Colton Stogner along with diver Kevin Li all qualified for last year's championships before it was shut down due to the pandemic. Matt King, Jake Marcum, Eric Stelmar all made the list for the first time.
Interim Head Coach Ozzie Quevedo Said
"We're beyond ready to get rolling. It seems like a really long time since the SEC Championships for the guys, even though it was really only a few weeks back. We've got a great group here, with a good mix of experience and enthusiasm. The way these guys competed at SECs and the way they've attacked training since then really has the staff excited for this week and the opportunities we have as a team. As we've been saying this season, we're coming into this last meet 'All Gas, No Brakes.'"
Alabama at the 2021 NCAA Championships
- 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 nine, 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
- 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 and could swim the 100 butterfly as well
- Berneburg is also slated to swim in the 50 freestyle at the championships
- Kevin Li, who qualified last season as well, is set to compete off the 1-meter springboard
- Li is the first UA diver to advance to the NCAA Championships since the Tide sent two in 2016
- Derek Maas will compete in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes
- Matt Menke (100 and 200), Jake Marcum (200) and Eric Stelmar (200) 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
- Marcum and Stelmar are also slated to swim the 100 backstroke
- Menke (200) and Nicholas Perera (400) both qualified in the individual medley events
- Perera could also swim the 200 butterfly
- 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 three-hundredths of a second 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
Day One for the Crimson Tide
- Alabama opens the 2021 NCAA Championships with the 200 individual medley and 50 freestyle as well as the 200 freestyle and 400 medley relays
- Prelims starting at 9 a.m. CT and finals at 5 p.m. CT
- While the individual events include prelims in the morning, with the top-16 finishes returning for finals, the relays are all timed finals, and will be competed in the evening session
Last Time Out
- The Crimson Tide women competed at their national championships last week in Greensboro, taking fifth place, matching its best finish in school history (1983), with a school-record 266 points
- Alabama's historic finish was paced by a pair of silver-medal performances from Rhyan White and its first NCAA relay title with Morgan Scott, Kalia Antoniou, Flora Molnar and Cora Dupre taking top honors in the 400 freestyle relay
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Players Mentioned
