The American Athletic Conference will crown champions in 42 events next week as six member schools send representatives to the second annual American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships Feb. 18-21 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The American Athletic Conference Championships will feature six women’s teams and four men’s teams in Greensboro. 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.
All-session tickets are available now and can be purchased up until the start of competition Feb. 18 for $33 each. All-session tickets for college students, senior citizens and those 18 or younger are $18 each. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.
The Greensboro Aquatic Center is one of the top facilities for swimming and diving in the nation. The 78,000-square-foot facility opened in 2011 and has hosted a number of elite collegiate and national meets, including the 2014 AT&T USA Swimming Winter Nationals and the 2015 NCAA Division I Women’s Championship.
The American Digital Network coverage will include 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. 18 and ending with the evening finals of Feb. 21. The ADN coverage will also include interviews with student-athletes and coaches, award ceremonies and senior recognition festivities prior to the Feb. 21 finals as well as instant highlight clips published to the @American_Swim Twitter handle.
For complete coverage of the American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships, visit The American’s Championship Central at www.theamerican.org/swimdive.
Women’s Meet Preview
Freestyle
The sprint freestyle events could play out as the most closely contested events at The American Championship, as returning champions abound. Thursday’s 50 freestyle final could be the most exciting 30 seconds of the week as five athletes turned in sub-23-second times during the regular season. UConn’s Chinyere Pigot, a former Olympian from Suriname, won the 50 last season, but will face a tough challenge from 2014 Conference USA champion Mia Schachter of Tulane. SMU’s Isabella Arcila swam a 22.54 during the regular season to lead all American Athletic Conference swimmers and is the Conference USA record-holder in the 50 (22.33).
Cincinnati’s Jackie Keire won the 200 and 500 as a freshman at last year’s American Championships and enters with the best regular-season times in the 100, 200 and 500 this season. SMU will be well-represented as Arcila and Nathalie Lindborg expect to challenge for medals in the 100 and 200, while the Mustangs’ Ursa Bezan could battle Keire for the top spot in the 500.
East Carolina’s Lauren Chew was 12 seconds faster than any American Athletic Conference swimmer in the 1,650 during the 2014-15 regular season and should be the favorite in that event.
Backstroke
Isabella Arcila from SMU is the hands-down favorite in both backstroke events entering The American Championships. She won gold in both events at the 2013 Conference USA meet and was the runner up in The American last year. She was nearly two seconds faster than her competition in the 100 during the regular season (53.47) and was more than two seconds ahead of the rest of the conference in the 200 (1:56.68). UConn’s Christine Pederson should challenge for the top spot as well as she trailed only Arcila in both events during the regular season.
Breaststroke
SMU’s Rachel Nicol won Conference USA titles in the 100 and 200 breaststroke in 2013 and was the runner-up in The American last season. She turned in the top times in the conference in both events during the regular season and will push for a return to the top of the podium next week. The Mustangs’ Tara-Lynn Nicholas edged Nicol for The American title in the 200 a year ago and will be a strong contender to defend her crown. East Carolina’s Megan Sellers was the Conference USA winner in the 100 last season and should be firmly in contention in both events this year.
Butterfly
SMU’s Marne Erasmus enters this year’s American Athletic Conference meet as the defending champion in the 100 butterfly, but her teammate, Danielle Villars, turned in the fastest times in the 100 and 200 during the regular season. They will be pushed by East Carolina standout Bailie Monahan, who was the Pirates’ top scorer at the 2013 Conference USA meet, but missed the championship portion of the 2014 season due to injury.
Individual Medley
SMU swimmers have the top regular-season times entering The American Championships as Rachel Nicol leads the field in the 200 (2:00.61), while Kirsty McLauchlan is the favorite in the 400 (4:15.66). McLauchlan took fourth in the 400 at last year’s American Championships, but has gone nearly two seconds faster than her finals time during the 2014-15 regular season. Holly Grender of Tulane should be in the mix in both events, whle Danielle Morrin of East Carolina and Kaitlyn Munzenmaier of UConn could challenge in the 400.
Relays
SMU established itself as the school to beat in the relays after the Mustangs captured three of the four events in a double-dual meet against No. 6 Texas and No. 11 Arizona during the regular season. The Mustangs won American Athletic Conference medals in the 200 freestyle relay and the 400 medley relay last season and enter this year’s meet with the top times in all five events. Cincinnati could pose a challenge in the freestyle relays, with standout Jackie Keire leading the way, while Tulane should battle for first in the medley relays.
Diving
Houston’s Natasha Burgess was the Most Outstanding Diver at last year’s American Athletic Conference Championships, and she returns to defend her title on the one-meter board. Burgess was the runner-up to UConn’s Taryn Urbanus on the three-meter board, while Houston’s Danielle Shedd was the runner-up on the one-meter board. All three divers figure to be in contention once again. Houston’s Taylor Olanski was last year’s conference champion on the platform.
Men’s Meet Preview
Freestyle
East Carolina senior Nikola Simic enters the 2015 American Championships as the favorite in the sprint freestyle events after he turned in the fastest times in the 50 and 100 during the regular season. Simic went 20.20 in the 50 and 44.47 in the 100 and will push for NCAA-qualifying times at The American Championship. Cincinnati’s Eitan Holder figures to challenge Simic in both events, while SMU’s Ziga Cerkovnik could be a factor in the 50.
SMU freshman Christian Scherubl is the man to watch in the 200 and 500. The 2012 Olympian from Austria has delivered first-place finishes against elite collegiate competition in his first year with the Mustangs and has the fastest times among American Athletic Conference swimmers in the 200 (1:37.20) and 500 (4:25.81). Cincinnati’s Holder has been impressive in both events as well, while UConn’s Christopher Girg looks to defend his 2014 American title in the 500. Girg is just one-tenth away from Scherubl’s regular-season time in the 500.
Cincinnati has designs on the 1,650 title as the Bearcats have three of the top four performers in that event from the regular season. Cody Green, who was eighth at the 2014 American Championships, turned in a time of 15:40.85 to lead the conference, while Christopher Brady is not far off the pace at 15:42.92. UConn’s Michael Lennon was the runner-up at last year’s American Championship and should battle for top honors as well.
Backstroke
SMU’s Sam Straughan has the fastest regular-season time in The American in the 100 backstroke (48.28) and is among the top five in the 200. His teammate, Bartosz Krzyzaniak has been among the best in the conference in both events in the dual season and should be a contender as well. East Carolina’s Boleck De Pawlikowski went 1:47.88 in the 200 at the AT&T Winter Nationals in Greensboro and has the fastest time in that event from the regular season. UConn’s Jeff Magin figures to be a high scorer in both events.
Breaststroke
The favorite in the 100 and 200 breaststroke events is East Carolina senior Rokas Cepulis, an NCAA Championships qualifier from last season who has The American’s fastest regular-season times in both events. Cepulis has already hit provisional NCAA cuts in the 100 (54.22) and 200 (1:55.88). SMU’s Matt Ackman, UConn’s Lachezar Shumkov and Cincinnati’s Daniel Gilbertson figure to challenge Cepulis in the championship finals of both events.
Butterfly
The butterfly events figure to be among the most closely contested at The American Championships. SMU’s Tucker Wells and Ziga Cerkovnik were both championship finalists in last year’s conference championship and have turned in top-eight times in the 100 butterfly in the regular season. Cincinnati’s Eltan Holder was the fastest American Athletic Conference swimmer in the 100 in the regular season (48.78), while East Carolina’s Daniel Woods has the top time in the 200 (1:49.10).
Individual Medley
In addition to his position as the favorite in in the breaststroke events, East Carolina’s Rokas Cepulis appears to be the man to beat in the 200 individual medley as his regular-season time of 1:47.86 is more than two seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Cincinnati could stack the championship final in the 400 as Ryan DePietro leads a group of four Bearcat swimmers among the top five in that event from the regular season. DePietro’s 3:54.46 is an NCAA provisional qualifying time.
Relays
The five relay events appear to be wide open entering The American Championship, which should produce some of the more thrilling races of the meet. The four schools are separated by less than one second in the 200 freestyle relay. East Carolina turned in the fastest 400 free relay in the regular season (2:58.93), while Cincinnati’s depth in the mid-distance freestyle events produced the fastest 800 free relay time (6:37.62). Any of the four teams could take the top spot in the 200 medley relay, while East Carolina appears to have a slight edge in the 400 medley relay.
Diving
The clear favorite in the diving well is SMU’s Devin Burnett, who won all three events at last year’s American Athletic Conference Championships and was named the meet’s Most Outstanding Diver. Burnett, who went on to earn top-eight finishes in all three events at the NCAA Championships, including a third-place showing in platform diving. The Mustangs’ Hayden Hodges scored top-three finishes in all three events at The American Championships last year and should be a fixture on the medal stand once again. UConn’s John Brice took fourth in both springboard events and should challenge once again.
2015 American Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championships
Feb. 18-21, 2015
Greensboro Aquatics Center • Greensboro, N.C.
Complete Finals coverage on The American Digital Network
Wednesday, February 18
Diving Noon; Finals: 6 p.m.
Event 1 1 Meter Diving Preliminaries - Women
Event 2 3 Meter Diving Preliminaries - Men
Event 1 1 Meter Diving Consolation - Women
Event 2 3 Meter Diving Consolation - Men
Event 3 800 Yard Freestyle Relay - Women
Event 4 800 Yard Freestyle Relay - Men
Event 1 1 Meter Diving Final - Women
Event 2 3 Meter Diving Final - Men
Event 5 200 Yard Medley Relay - Women
Event 6 200 Yard Medley Relay - Men
Thursday, February 19
Preliminaries: 10 a.m.; Diving 12:30 p.m.; Finals: 6 p.m.
Event 7 1 Meter Diving Preliminaries - Men
Event 7 1 Meter Diving Consolation - Men
Event 8 500 Yard Freestyle - Women
Event 9 500 Yard Freestyle - Men
Event 10 200 Individual Medley - Women
Event 11 200 Individual Medley - Men
Event 12 50 Yard Freestyle - Women
Event 13 50 Yard Freestyle - Men
Event 7 1 Meter Diving Final - Men
Event 14 200 Yard Freestyle Relay - Women
Event 15 200 Yard Freestyle Relay - Men
Friday, February 20
Preliminaries: 10 a.m.; Diving: 12:30 p.m.; Finals: 6 p.m.
Event 16 3 Meter Diving Preliminaries - Women
Event 16 3 Meter Diving Consolation - Women
Event 17 400 Individual Medley - Women
Event 18 400 Individual Medley - Men
Event 19 100 Yard Butterfly - Women
Event 20 100 Yard Butterfly - Men
Event 21 200 Yard Freestyle - Women
Event 22 200 Yard Freestyle - Men
Event 23 100 Yard Breaststroke - Women
Event 24 100 Yard Breaststroke - Men
Event 25 100 Yard Backstroke - Women
Event 26 100 Yard Backstroke - Men
Event 16 3 Meter Diving Final
Event 27 400 Yard Medley Relay - Women
Event 28 400 Yard Medley Relay - Men
Saturday, February 21
Preliminaries: 10 a.m.; Diving: 12:30 p.m.; Finals: 6 p.m.
Senior Recognition Ceremonies 5:35 p.m.
Event 29 Platform Diving Preliminaries - Men
Event 30 Platform Diving Preliminaries - Women
Event 31 1,650 Yard Freestyle - Women
Event 32 1,650 Yard Freestyle - Men
Event 33 200 Yard Backstroke - Women
Event 34 200 Yard Backstroke - Men
Event 35 100 Yard Freestyle - Women
Event 36 100 Yard Freestyle - Men
Event 37 200 Yard Breaststroke - Women
Event 38 200 Yard Breaststroke - Men
Event 39 200 Yard Butterfly - Women
Event 40 200 Yard Butterfly - Men
Event 29 Platform Diving Final - Men
Event 30 Platform Diving Final - Women
Event 41 400 Yard Freestyle Relay - Women
Event 42 400 Yard Freestyle Relay - Men
