The University of Kentucky men?s swimming team looks to crack the top 10 for the first time this weekend at the NCAA Men?s Swimming & Diving Championships at Minnesota?s University Aquatic Center. The competition runs Thursday through Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. EST each day, with the finals set for 8 p.m. EST daily.
The 12th-ranked Kentucky men enjoyed their best NCAA finish under Coach Gary Conelly a season ago, placing 15th in E. Meadow, N.Y. Collectively, Kentucky competed in 16 events at the 2004 championships, but with eight Cats counting 23 events among themselves this weekend, UK is poised to reach new heights.
Kentucky enters the championships with six top-10 seeds in five different events, including a No. 1 seed in senior Daniel Cruz. The Palm Coast, Fla., native became Kentucky?s first SEC men?s swimming champion in 48 years last month when he captured the 200 butterfly at Florida?s O?Connell Center Natatorium. No one in the NCAA this season completed the event faster than Cruz did in February, as he rewrote his school record with a time of 1:42.86. The event?s second seed, Stanford?s Jayme Cramer, follows Cruz with a time of 1:43.09. Cruz is joined in the top five by fellow senior Jerram Chudleigh, who holds the fourth seed in the event. Should Cruz record a qualifying time in Saturday?s preliminary round and capture the event final later in the evening, he would become Kentucky?s first NCAA swimming champion and UK?s first national champion in any sport since former track standout and Olympic medalist Tim Harden, who won the 55-meter dash in 1996.
The Kentucky men rewrote school records in 10 of 19 events this season, including all three freestyle relays. Medley and freestyle-relay finishes earn twice as many points as individual events, and given the Cats? qualification for all five relay events this weekend, Kentucky stands to climb up the leaderboard with strong relay showings.
Kentucky figures to fare well on day one of the championships, when the Cats will compete in the 200-freestyle relay, 500 freestyle, 50 freestyle and 400-medley relay events. UK?s 200-freestyle relay quartet of seniors Tim Patrick and Clay Gasparovich and juniors Daniel Farnham and Steven Manley enters the event with the fifth seed and will earn an All-America selection should it qualify for Thursday?s final. Manley will earn an All-America honor in the 500 freestyle if he moves up one spot or more from his 17th seed. Patrick and Farnham, who hold the 12th and 19th seeds, respectively, in the 50 freestyle, also will vie for All-America selections. The Cats 400-medley relay team of sophomore Alejandro Bravo, freshman Kristian Outinen, Cruz and Farnham holds the ninth seed and will look to move up a spot to qualify for the final.
NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships ? Minneapolis, Minn.
All distances in yards; seed in parentheses; relay teams are interchangeable
Thursday, Mar. 24
200 Freestyle Relay ? (5) Patrick, Gasparovich, Farnham, Manley
500 Freestyle ? (17) Steven Manley
50 Freestyle ? (12) Tim Patrick; (19) Daniel Farnham; (52) Clay Gasparovich
400 Medley Relay ? (9) Bravo, Outinen, Cruz, Farnham
Friday, Mar. 25
200 Medley Relay ? (15) Bravo, Outinen, Cruz, Patrick
100 Butterfly ? (18) Daniel Cruz; (21) Jerram Chudleigh
200 Freestyle ? (13) Steven Manley; (15) Daniel Cruz; (47) Daniel Farnham
100 Breaststroke ? (33) Kristian Outinen
100 Backstroke ? (30) Alejandro Bravo
800 Freestyle Relay ? (8) Cruz, Farnham, Chudleigh, Manley
Saturday, Mar. 26
100 Freestyle ? (18) Daniel Farnham; (23) Steven Manley; (34) Tim Patrick; (59) Clay Gasparovich
200 Breaststroke ? (19) Kristian Outinen
200 Butterfly ? (1) Daniel Cruz; (4) Jerram Chudleigh
400 Freestyle Relay ? (8) Farnham, Patrick, Cruz, Manley
Event/Swimmer 2004 NCAA Finish 2005 NCAA Seed
200 Freestyle Relay 10 5
400 Freestyle Relay 11 8
800 Freestyle Relay 9 8
500 Freestyle/Steven Manley 14 17
50 Freestyle/Tim Patrick 41 12
50 Freestyle/Daniel Farnham 23 19
50 Freestyle/Clay Gasparovich 47 52
400 Medley Relay -- 9
200 Medley Relay -- 15
100 Butterfly/Daniel Cruz 13 18
100 Butterfly/Jerram Chudleigh 28 21
200 Butterfly/Daniel Cruz 3 1
200 Butterfly/Jerram Chudleigh 18 4
100 Breaststroke/Kristian Outinen -- 33
200 Breaststroke/Kristian Outinen -- 19
100 Backstroke/Alejandro Bravo -- 30
200 Freestyle/Steven Manley 10 13
200 Freestyle/Daniel Cruz -- 15
200 Freestyle/Daniel Farnham -- 47
100 Freestyle/Daniel Farnham 30 18
100 Freestyle/Steven Manley -- 23
100 Freestyle/Tim Patrick -- 34
100 Freestyle/Clay Gasparovich -- 59
