Alabama Opens 2022 Men’s NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships Wednesday

ATLANTA, Ga. – The Alabama men's swimming and diving squad put the final touches on its postseason prep work on Tuesday and is set to open competition at the NCAA Championships Wednesday in Atlanta, Ga.

The championships run March 23-26 in the McAuley Aquatic Center on the Georgia Tech campus and will be streamed live on WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app.

The Crimson Tide has 10 set to compete at the men's national championships, including eight swimmers and two divers. A total of six UA men have qualified to compete in individual events, including Mohamed Farouk, Derek Maas, Jake Marcum, Matt Menke, Kevin Li and Eric Stelmar. Kaique Alves, Jonathan Berneburg, Charlie Hawke and Tyler Sesvold also made the meet as part of the Crimson Tide's relay contingent.

The Alabama men are coming off their best showing at the Southeastern Conference Championships in more than 35 years, taking second place. Last season, Alabama took 15^th place at the NCAA Championships, marking its seventh-consecutive top-15 finish. Overall, Alabama has tallied 40 top-25 finishes since first breaking into the top 25 in 1974.

Alabama Head Coach Margo Geer Said

"I think the key to our success this year on the men's side has been the way that they've come together and come together in a big way. We've had some good leadership on this team and a mindset where everyone is out there doing their best for the team. There's also been a lot of resiliency on this team, which has really helped when things haven't gone exactly the way we wanted them to. We're looking forward to this week and seeing how we can translate the success we had at the SEC championships over to the national stage. It's going to be another total team effort and we can't wait."

The Schedule

Competition opens Wednesday at 5 p.m. CT with the 200 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay
Alabama is seeded fifth in the 200 medley relay and 15th in the 800 freestyle relay
Thursday through Saturday will feature a full slate of events each day with prelims getting underway at 9 a.m. CT and finals starting at 5 p.m. CT

Alabama at the 2022 Men's NCAA Championships

Rookie Mohamed Farouk earned berths off the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards as well as the platform at the NCAA Zone B Championships
The 2022 SEC 100 and 200 breaststroke champion, Derek Maas is seeded second in the 100 and top 10 in the 200 going into NCAAs and is seeded in the top 20 in the 200 individual medley
Matt Menke is slated to compete in both the 100 and 200 backstrokes after medaling in the 100 at the SEC Championships
Jake Marcum is seeded in the top 15 in the men's 200 backstroke
Kevin Li earned a spot in the 1-meter springboard for the third year in a row
Eric Stelmar earned a spot in the 200 backstroke at this year's championships
Alabama also qualified to swim all five relays and is seeded in the top five in the 200 medley and in the top 15 in the 400 and 800 freestyle and 400 medley relays
As a rookie, Kaique Alves ranked fourth in the 200 freestyle and ninth in the 100 freestyle all-time at Alabama
Jonathan Berneburg posted a career-best time in the 50 freestyle this season and ranks seventh in the 50 and eighth in the 100 freestyle all-time at UA
Newcomer Charlie Hawke posted a career-best 1:33.09 in the 200 freestyle this season to rank second all-time at UA
Tyler Sesvold ranks in UA's all-time top 10 in the 50 and 100 freestyle and the 100 butterfly, where's second in Alabama history

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