DALLAS – The American Athletic Conference will crown champions in 42 events this week as six member schools send representatives to the fifth annual Swimming and Diving Championships at Southern Methodist University’s Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium.
The American Athletic Conference Championships will feature six women’s teams and four men’s teams that will compete in Dallas. The women’s meet will include teams from Cincinnati, UConn, ECU, Houston, SMU and Tulane. The men’s field includes, Cincinnati, UConn, ECU 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 on Feb. 14. In addition to live finals coverage, the ADN will also stream preliminary sessions 2, 4 and 6 beginning with swimming prelims on Feb. 15.
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
UConn’s Emma Smith swept the 100 and 500 freestyle events in last year’s American Championships, but its Zarena Brown of Houston who enters this year’s American Championships as the slight favorite in the 100 and 200 and a NCAA provisional regular season time (4:44.13) five-plus seconds faster than the field in the 500.
Ksenia Yuskova posted NCAA B standard times in the 50-yard freestyle during the regular season. Yuskova produced a time of 22.86, ranking first amongst American Athletic Conference swimmers entering the Championship event. Yuskova will be challenged by SMU’s Felicity Passon and Cincinnati’s Lindsey Niehaus for the 2018 title.
With four-time champion Jacqueline Keire of Cincinnati out of the field, the 200 freestyle title is wide open. Houston’s Ksenia Yuskova is the top contender. The senior finished runner-up at the American Championships a year ago and leads the field (1:44.88) through the regular season. However, teammate Zarena Brown is close behind (1:44.89) and will challenge Yuskova for the title.
Houston’s Reese Lamp enters as the clear favorite in the 1,650 freestyle. She posted a time of 16:30.62 during the 2017-18 regular season, seven-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.
The 200 backstroke boasts six NCAA B cut times. Reigning event champ, Matea Samardzic of SMU, leads the pack with a time of 1:55.06. Houston’s Eleanna Koutsouveli and Laura Laderoute are behind Samardzic with times of 1:56.64 and 1:58.74, respectively. Juliette Lajoie of ECU, Shelly Zelnick of Tulane and Natalie Oban- do of Cincinnati each posted NCAA B cut times as well.
Breaststroke
The 100 breaststroke champion a year ago, Peyton Kondis of Houston, returns to the 2018 American Championships with the top regular-season time in the 100 breaststroke. Kondis swam an NCAA B standard time of 1:00.16 in the 100 and produced an NCAA Championship B time in the 200 of 2:12.01. Vendela Norrman of ECU and Angela Mavrantza of Houston should make a push in the 200, as well.
Five swimmers posted NCAA B cut times in the 200 backstroke including Tulane’s Vendela Norrman and Kate McDonald, Houston’s Peyton Kondis and Angela Mavrantza and SMU’s Andrea Podmanikova. Each have an open shot at the 200 title.
Butterfly
With four-time champion Marne Erasmus of SMU out of the field, the event is up for grabs. Teammate and runner-up a year ago, Erin Trahan enters this year’s American Athletic Conference meet as the favorite in the 100 butterfly. Trahan swam a conference-best time (53.56) in the 100 this season.
Individual Medley
A trio of Houston swimmer highlight the 200 IM event this season. Eleanna Koutsouveli, Laura Laderoute (reigning 200 IM champion) and Peyton Kondis posted the top-three regular season times in the 200 with 1:59.89, 2:00.76 and 2:00.92, respectively.
Matea Samardzic of SMU, who claimed the 400 last season, is the favorite in 2018 with the top regular-season time of 4:13.72. Tulane’s Olivia Johnson could challenge Samardzic in the 400, as well as ECU’s Juliette Lajoie and Houston’s Eleanna Koutsouveli.
Relays
Tulane is the team to watch in the 200 freestlye relay event at the 2018 American Championships. After finishing sixth a year ago, the Green Wave enter the event with the best regular sea- son time (1:31.83).
Houston is the team to watch in the 400 medley and 400 freestyle relay events in the 2018 American Championships. The Cougars produced a conference-best time in both the medley and free during the regular season after posting a 3:39.94 and 3:19.52. finish, respectively.
Diving
Micaela Bouter of Houston is the reigning Most Outstanding Diver and looks to defend her title in the 3-meter and the platform. Teammate Katelyn Abernathy finished runner-up to Bouter in the 3-meter event last season. UConn’s Monica Marcello returns as the top scorer in the 1-meter event from a year ago and will look to challenge Bouter and Abernathy in the 3-meter.
Men’s Meet Preview
Freestyle
In the 100, Pirates’ Victor Martins Dos Santos (44.36) produced the fastes time in 2017-18. Will Kearsy of UConn and reigning champion John Myhre of ECU will also be in contention.
Din Selmonovic of Cincinnati enters the American Champion- ships with a slight edge in the 500 and 200 freestyle events. However, the field in the 100 freestyle is open with ECU’s Victor Martins Dos Santos (44.36) and UConn’s Will Kearsy (44.45) as top contenders.
John Myhre of ECU finished the regular season with a conference-best time of 20.61 and is the default favorite in the 50 free- style. However, teammeate Victor Martins Dos Santos will make things interesting after finishing the season just 0.01 behind (20.62).
Backstroke
UConn’s Will Kearsy comes into the championships as the top swimmer in the 100 and 200 backstroke. Kearsy swam NCAA B cut times in both events during the regular season, holding the advantage in the 100 (47.45) and 200 (1:44.94).
Breaststroke
Cincinnati enters the 2018 American Championships with the top swimmers in the 100 breaststroke. The Bearcats possess two out of the top three swimmers in the event with Dominic Polling leading the way with a NCAA provisional time of 54.47. Not far behind Polling is teammate Zachary Hostoffer (55.22).
UConn’s Mark Hunter is the man to watch in the 200 as he registered the league’s fastest NCAA B standard time of 1:58.23 during the regular season.
Butterfly
Reigning champ, ECU’s Gustavo Santos posted a league best time in the 100 butterfly (48.11) and enters the 2018 American Championship as the event favorite.
Mustang Jonathan Gomez shattered the 200 butterfly last sea- son resetting the meet record by four seconds. During the 2017- 18 season, the senior swam a 1:47.00, meeting the NCAA provisional cut and besting the rest of the swimmers in The American.
Individual Medley
With two-time champion Fran Krznaric of ECU out of the field, the 200 IM is up for grabs. Cincinnati’s Dominic Polling holds the best time in the event with a regular reason time of 1:47.21. Will Kearsy of UConn is not far behind (1:48.96) and will look to take the event at the American Championships.
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 3:54.25.
Relays
ECU enters the American Championships as the team to watch in the 200 freestyle relay event. The Pirates are the slight in the 200 freestyle relay (1:21.26), while their regular season time in the 400 freestyle relay (2:59.60) is two-plus seconds faster than the rest of the field.
UConn enters the American Championships as the team to watch in the 400 medley relay. The Huskies are the favorites in the 400 freestyle relay with a 3:15.23 time that’s five-plus seconds faster than the rest of the field.
ECU looks to repeat and secure another relay title. The Pirates are the team to watch in the 400 freestyle relay event in the 2018 American Championships. ECU posted the fastest time in the conference during the regular season (3:19.52).
Diving
Two-time reigning champ Bryce Klein will look to take his third- straight sweep of the 3-meter and 1-meter diving events. Mitch Godar of Cincinnati enters the field as a viable contender for the title. The Wright State transfer posted the second-best score (351.90) in the field and produced several strong performances throughout the season.
The platform diving event at the 2018 American Championships appears to be pretty open on the men’s side. Cincinnati’s first- year transfer Mitch Godar will be looking to make an impact after several strong performances during the regular season. Godar leads the field with a score of 259.10.
2018 American Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championships
Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium
Wednesday, Feb. 14
SESSION 1 - 11:00 am CT (Diving Prelims); 5:00 pm 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 (Consolation) |
| 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, Feb. 15
SESSION 2 - 10:00 am CT (Swimming Prelims); 1:00 pm CT (Diving Prelims)
SESSION 3 - 6:00 pm 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 |
| Event 14 |
Women's 200 Yard Freestyle Relay |
| Event 15 |
Men's 200 Yard Freestyle Relay |
Friday, Feb. 16
SESSION 4 - 10:00 am CT (Swimming Prelims); 1:00 pm CT (Diving Prelims)
SESSION 5 - 6:00 pm 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, Feb. 17
SESSION 6 - 10:00 am CT (Swimming Prelims); 1:00 pm CT (Diving Prelims)
SESSION 7 - 6:00 pm 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 |
#AmericanPow6r#