CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
CHAMPIONSHIP PROGRAM
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The American Athletic Conference will crown champions in 42 events this week as six member schools send representatives to the third annual American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Houston’s Campus Recreation & Wellness Center (CRWC) Natatorium in Houston.
The American Athletic Conference Championships will feature six women’s teams and four men’s teams that will compete in Houston. The women’s meet will include teams from Cincinnati, UConn, East Carolina, Houston, SMU and Tulane. The men’s field includes Cincinnati, UConn, East Carolina and SMU
The American Digital Network will provide live and on-demand finals coverage of all 42 events of the four-day men’s and women’s championships, beginning with relay and diving finals Feb. 17. The coverage will also include interviews with student-athletes and coaches, and much more.
For complete coverage of the American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships, visit The American’s Championship Central at
www.theamerican.org/swimdive and follow
@American_Swim.
Women’s Meet Preview
Freestyle
Four athletes posted NCAA B standard times in the 50-yard freestyle during the regular season. Jacqueline Keire of Cincinnati produced a time of 22.60, ranking the best amongst American Athletic Conference swimmers during the regular season. Keire will be challenged by SMU’s Hannah Rogers and Victoria Cunningham, and Tulane’s Amelia Schachter for the 2016 title.
Keire swept the 100, 200 and 500 freestyle events in last year’s American Championships and posted the top regular season times in the 100 and 200. SMU’s Madeline Hoch poses a challenge for Keire in the 100 and 200, while Hoch and Houston’s Delia Weber look to claim the top spot in the 500 in 2016.
Weber enters as the clear favorite in the 1,650 freestyle. She posted a time of 16:32.75 during the 2015-16 regular season, eight-plus seconds faster than the rest of the conference.
Backstroke
The 100 backstroke is expected to be a tight contest with less than a second separating eight swimmers in The American. Tulane’s Wei Zhang leads the field with a 55.18 regular-season time. Zhang is followed by Eleanna Koutsouveli of Houston (55.25), and UConn’s Jaimie Brookover (55.46) and Annika Grewal (55.55). In the 200, Grewal (1:57.30) and Koutsouveli (1:58.52) produced NCAA B standard times during the regular season to lead the field.
Breaststroke
SMU swimmer Tara-Lynn Nicholas has the top regular-season times in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Nicholas swam an NCAA B standard time of 1:00.58 in the 100 and produced an NCAA Championship B time in the 200 of 2:13.10. Ashley Grijalva of Houston, and Vendela Norrman of East Carolina should make a push in the 200, as well.
Butterfly
SMU’s Marne Erasmus enters this year’s American Athletic Conference meet as the back-to-back champion in the 100 butterfly. Erasmus swam a top-20 time nationally (52.54) in the 100 this season. In the 200, East Carolina’s Bailie Monahan, the champion in 2015, will have a challenge in defending her title. Sophie Nothnagle of UConn looks to build off her runner-up finish in last season’s conference championships as she comes into the 2016 American Championship with the top regular-season time of 1:58.57.
Individual Medley
Tulane freshman Michelle Zelnick concluded her rookie campaign with the top time in the 200 with 2:03.41. Bailie Monahan of East Carolina placed third in last season’s championship meet and finished the 2015-16 regular season right behind Zelnick with the second-fastest time (2:03.74) amongst swimmers in The American. Kirsty McLauchlan of SMU, who claimed the 400 last season, is the favorite in 2016 with the top regular-season time of 4:14.82. Houston’s Eleanna Koutsouveli could challenge McLauchlan in the 400, as well as East Carolina’s Juliette Lajoie and Cincinnati’s Andrea Bartel.
Relays
SMU is the team to watch in the relay events in the 2016 American Championships. The Mustangs won four out of the five relay events in 2015 and enter this year’s meet as the favorite in all five events.
Diving
Taylor Olanski of Houston is the reigning Most Outstanding Diver and looks to defend her title in the 3-meter and the platform. Teammate Danielle Shedd was last season’s 1-meter champion and finished runner-up to Olanski in the 3-meter event. UConn’s Taryn Urbanus will look to challenge Olanski and Shedd in the 3-meter.
Men’s Meet Preview
Freestyle
SMU junior Ziga Cerkovnik and East Carolina senior Shawn Hunter enter the 2015 American Athletic Conference Championships as the two favorites in the 50-yard freestyle. Cerkovnik (20.25) and Hunter (20.27) were on the brink of producing NCAA-qualifying times during the regular season. In the 100, Mustangs’ Till Pallmann (44.48) produced the fastest time in 2015-16. Connor Davis of Cincinnati and Cerkovnik will also be in contention in the 100.
Christian Scherubl of SMU, the 2015 Most Outstanding Swimmer of the Year, looks to defend his title in the 200 and 500 events this season. Scherubl posted an NCAA B time in the 200 this season, touching the wall at 1:36.83. Cincinnati’s Eitan Holder (1:37.67), Mustangs Bartosz Krzyzaniak (1:37.76) and Pallmann (1:37.81), and Michael Dugan of East Carolina (1:37.86) all accompanied Scherubl with NCAA provisional times in the event. In the 500, Chris Bready of Cincinnati will put pressure on Scherubl, who set the American Championship record in the event last season with a time 4:18.23. Bready posted the best time (4:26.01) out of any swimmer in the conference during 2015-16, two-plus seconds faster than the rest of the field.
Bready seems poised to repeat in 1,650 freestyle as he produced a NCAA provisional time of 15:10.99 during the regular season, nearly 20 seconds faster than the next closest swimmer in The American.
Backstroke
East Carolina’s Fran Krznaric and SMU’s Bartosz Krzyzaniak come into the championships as the top two swimmers in the 100 and 200 backstroke. Kryzyzaniak swam NCAA B cut times in both events during the regular season, holding the advantage in the 200 (1:46.13). Krznaric enters as the top swimmer in the 100 (47.70). Dymitro Turkin of Cincinnati will be in the mix in the 100, while East Carolina’s Boleck De Pawlikowski will be in competition for a spot on the podium in the 200.
Breaststroke
Cincinnati enters the 2016 American Championship with the top swimmers in the 100 and 200 breaststroke events. The Bearcats possess three out of the top four swimmers in the 100 with Ludovico Corsini leading the way with a NCAA provisional time of 55.19. On Corsini’s heels will be SMU’s Stefan Popov (55.32). Tyler Roehr is the man to watch in the 200 as he registered a NCAA B standard time of 1:59.42 during the regular season.
Butterfly
The 100 butterfly is shaping up to be one of the tightly contested events in this year’s championships. Adam Dear of East Carolina (47.62), Till Pallmann of SMU (48.18) and Eithan Holder of Cincinnati (48.25) all qualified for the NCAA Championships with B standard times during the regular season. Bearcat Ryan DePietro leads the field in the 200. DePietro swam a 1:46.05, meeting the NCAA provisional cut and besting the rest of the swimmers in The American by more than two seconds.
Individual Medley
In addition to his position as the favorite in the breaststroke events, East Carolina’s Fran Krznaric has proven to be the swimmer to beat in the 200 individual medley as his regular season time of 1:45.81 is nearly five seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Cincinnati appears to have the best chances of winning the 400 as Ryan DePietro, the 2015 conference champion in the event, leads a group of four Bearcat swimmers among the top five in the event during the regular season. DePietro posted an NCAA B time of 3:50.64.
Relays
Cincinnati and SMU enter the American Championships as the teams to watch in the five relay events. The Bearcats are the slight favorites in the 200 freestyle relay (1:21.26), while their regular season time in the 400 freestyle relay (2:57.73) is three-plus seconds faster than the rest of the field. The Mustangs hold a slight advantage in the 800 freestyle relay (6:36.95), 200 medley relay (1:28.69) and the 400 medley relay (3:17.25).
Diving
The diving events at the 2016 American Championships appear to be pretty open on the men’s side. John Brice of UConn returns after posting second-place finishes in the 1-meter and 3-meter events last season. East Carolina’s Matt Mullen turned in a fourth place performance in the 3-meter in 2015 and should challenge this season. SMU’s Bryce Klein will be looking to make an impact after several strong performances during the regular season.
2016 American Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championships
Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium • Houston, Texas
Feb. 17-20, 2016
Wednesday, February 17
SESSION 1 - Noon CT (Diving Preliminaries); 6 p.m. CT (Swimming Relays)
Event 1 Men’s 1 Meter Diving (PRELIMINARIES)
Event 2 Women’s 3 Meter Diving (PRELIMINARIES)
Event 1 Men’s 1 Meter Diving (CONSOLATION)
Event 2 Women’s 3 Meter Diving (CONSOLOLATION)
Event 3 Women’s 800 Yard Freestyle Relay
Event 4 Men’s 800 Yard Freestyle Relay
Event 1 Men’s 1 Meter Diving (FINAL)
Event 2 Women’s 3 Meter Diving (FINAL)
Event 5 Women’s 200 Yard Medley Relay
Event 6 Men’s 200 Yard Medley Relay
Thursday, February 18
SESSION 2 - 10 a.m. CT (Swimming Preliminaries); 12:30 p.m. CT (Diving Preliminaries)
SESSION 3 - 6 p.m. CT (Finals)
Event 7 Women’s 1 Meter Diving (PRELIMINARIES)
Event 7 Women’s 1 Meter Diving (CONSOLATION)
Event 8 Women’s 500 Yard Freestyle
Event 9 Men’s 500 Yard Freestyle
Event 10 Women’s 200 Individual Medley
Event 11 Men’s 200 Individual Medley
Event 12 Women’s 50 Yard Freestyle
Event 13 Men’s 50 Yard Freestyle
Event 7 Women’s 1 Meter Diving (FINAL)
Event 14 Women’s 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
Event 15 Men’s 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
Friday, February 19
SESSION 4 - 10 a.m. CT (Swimming Preliminaries); 12:30 p.m. CT (Diving Preliminaries)
SESSION 5 - 6 p.m. CT (Finals)
Event 16 Men’s 3 Meter Diving (PRELIMINARIES)
Event 16 Men’s 3 Meter Diving (CONSOLATION)
Event 17 Women’s 400 Individual Medley
Event 18 Men’s 400 Individual Medley
Event 19 Women’s 100 Yard Butterfly
Event 20 Men’s 100 Yard Butterfly
Event 21 Women’s 200 Yard Freestyle
Event 22 Men’s 200 Yard Freestyle
Event 23 Women’s 100 Yard Breaststroke
Event 24 Men’s 100 Yard Breaststroke
Event 25 Women’s 100 Yard Backstroke
Event 26 Men’s 100 Yard Backstroke
Event 16 Men’s 3 Meter Diving (FINAL)
Event 27 Women’s 400 Yard Medley Relay
Event 28 Men’s 400 Yard Medley Relay
Saturday, February 20
SESSION 6 - 10 a.m. CT (Swimming Preliminaries); 12:30 p.m. CT (Diving Preliminaries)
SESSION 7 - 6 p.m. CT (Finals)
Event 30 Women’s Platform Diving (PRELIMINARIES)
Event 29 Men’s Platform Diving (PRELIMINARIES)
Event 31 Women’s 1,650 Yard Freestyle
Event 32 Men’s 1,650 Yard Freestyle
Event 30 Women’s Platform Diving (FINAL)
Event 33 Women’s 200 Yard Backstroke
Event 34 Men’s 200 Yard Backstroke
Event 35 Women’s 100 Yard Freestyle
Event 36 Men’s 100 Yard Freestyle
Event 37 Women’s 200 Yard Breaststroke
Event 38 Men’s 200 Yard Breaststroke
Event 39 Women’s 200 Yard Butterfly
Event 40 Men’s 200 Yard Butterfly
Event 29 Men’s Platform Diving (FINAL)
Event 41 Women’s 400 Yard Freestyle Relay
Event 42 Men’s 400 Yard Freestyle Relay