(Mar. 13, 2001) — The University of Kentucky men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will send nine athletes to the NCAA Championship meets. The women’s NCAA Championship meet will be held Thursday, March 15, through Saturday, March 17, at the Nassau County Aquatics Center in Long Island, NY. The NCAA Championship for the men will be held Thursday, March 22, through Saturday, March 24, in College Station, Texas, at Texas A&M’s Rec Center Natatorium.

Jaime Siegele and Melissa Olson will be traveling to Long Island to compete for the women. Siegele automatically qualified in the 50 freestyle at the SEC Championships, where she took third in the event. She also will be competing in the 100 freestyle at the meet. After provisionally qualifying in the 200 backstroke, 200 individual medley, and the 400 individual medley, Olson was invited to swim the 400 individual medley at the meet, where she will also get to compete in the 200 backstroke and the 200 individual medley. Olson competed in the same events at the NCAA meet last year.

For the men, Macon White, Shaun Zitani, Roger Watkins, David Tweedie, Aaron Workman, Clayton Moss, and Aaron Kirkpatrick will be competing in College Station, Texas, at the NCAA championship meet for Kentucky. White automatically qualified at the SEC Championship meet in the 200 freestyle, allowing him to swim that event plus 500 freestyle. In addition, he will compete as part of the 400 and 800 freestyle relays.

Zitani was invited to swim the 100 fly and the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. He will also get to swim the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay. Workman was invited in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays, and will also swim the 50 and 100 freestyles, 200 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay. Watkins was invited in the 200 free relay and will compete in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes as well. To finish out the swimmers, Tweedie was invited in the 200 and 400 freestyle relay. He will also swim the 500 and 200 freestyle along with the 800 freestyle relay.

For the divers, Clayton Moss and Aaron Kirkpatrick will represent Kentucky at the NCAA meet. Moss, the 2001 SEC one-meter champion, qualified for the NCAA meet in the three-meter, allowing him to compete in that event and on the one-meter and platform as well. Kirkpatrick qualified on the one-meter, which will allow him, too, to compete on the three-meter and platform in Texas.

This is the largest UK men’s team ever to qualify for the NCAA Championship meet.