Cards Set to Host AAC Swimming and Diving Championships
February 18, 2014 | Swimming & Diving
Feb. 18, 2014
With the regular season for swimming and diving concluded, teams across The American are arriving at the Ralph Wright Natatorium in Louisville, Ky. for the inaugural American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships.
Four men's teams and six women's squads will compete for the conference title which will be hosted by the University of Louisville beginning on Wednesday. Cincinnati, UConn, Louisville and SMU will send teams of both genders, while Houston and Rutgers are represented by their women's teams.
Four days of competition begin on Wednesday, with the event following the format of morning preliminaries and evening finals.
The action begins at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 19 with men's 1-meter and women's 3-meter diving preliminaries. The consolation finals for diving will take place immediately after prelims are concluded each day. Diving finals will take place during the finals sessions with the swimming events. The first day of finals, which are set for 6 pm, includes two relay events, along with diving. The 800-freestyle relay, will be first followed by the 200-medley relay. The women's events will always precede before the men's.
Going into the second day of competition on Thursday, Feb. 20, preliminaries for swimming will begin at 10 am and include the events of the 500-freestyle, 200-individual medley, 50-freestyle, and the 200-freestyle relay, which both the women and men are the defending champions. The women's 1-meter diving will start at 12:30 pm.
In the 500-free, on the women's side, freshman Abbie Houck is seeded second in the conference with a time of 4:45.34, with teammate junior Abby Chin in third. Another Cardinal, freshman Andrea Kneppers rounds out the top five. Freshman Trevor Carroll leads the men's times in 4:23.52, and classmate Matthias Lindenbauer is third overall; sophomore Ruben Izarra and freshman Jake Schultz are fourth and fifth, respectively.
The Cardinal women and men both have the top four times in the 200-individual medley event. Pacing the women in 1:58.31 is junior Tanja Kylliainen followed by junior Erica Belcher, freshman Andrea Cottrell, and junior Abby Chin. Sophomore Nolan Tesone tops the men's side with a time of 1:46.22. Freshmen Josh Quallen and David Boland are second and third followed by junior Addison Bray.
The fastest event of the competition, the 50-freeestyle, has two Cardinals seeded on top. Sophomore Kelsi Worrell, who was the Big East champion in this event last year, comes into this meet clocked at 22.40. Senior Krissie Brandenburg is seeded sixth and junior Rachael Lewis eighth. Senior Joao De Lucca is first with a time of 19.45; juniors Caryle Blondell and Thomas Dahlia, both under :20, are the next two.
On Friday, Feb. 21, there are seven different events with preliminaries, again, beginning at 10 am. Men's 3-meter diving will take place at 12:30 pm. The swimming events include: the 400-individual medley, 100-butterfly, 200-freestyle, 100-breaststroke, 100-backstroke, as well as the 400-medley relay, which the men were victorious in a year ago.
The first event of finals, which get underway at 6 pm, is the 400-individual medley. Last year's Big East champion, Tanja Kylliainen, is again at the top with a time of 4:07.57. Abby Chin and senior Carly Munchel are seeded right behind her in second and third. The Cardinal men have the top four spots with Nolan Tesone, trying to defend his title in this event, leading the way. His time of 3:49.03 sets him almost four seconds in front of the next swimmer, who is freshman Ryan Massey. In third and fourth are Cardinals Jake Schultz and sophomore Brett MacKenzie.
The defending Big East champion in the women's 100-butterfly is Kelsi Worrell, who leads the conference with the top time so far this year in 51.94. Sophomore Devon Bibault is third and senior Mary Mittel comes in at fifth. Louisville currently has five of the top times on the men's side. Junior Aaron Young is the fastest going 46.76. Sophomore Pedro Coutinho is seeded second, followed by Josh Quallen, David Boland, and another freshman Mihael Vukic.
Kelsi Worrel has the top time for the Cardinals in the 200-freestyle, timed at 1:47.43, which puts her third overall in the conference. Teammates Andrea Kneppers and Abbie Houck round out the top five. The defending National Champion, Joao De Lucca, not only has the fastest time in The American, but one of the top times in the nation. Just after him are Cardinals Trevor Carroll and Matthias Lindenbauer in second and third, respectively.
In the 100-breaststroke, Andrea Cottrell is seeded second with a time of 1:00.95. Senior Gisselle Kohoyda comes in at third and sophomore Lucy Kramer sits in fifth for the Cards. On the men's side, Louisville has four swimmers at the top. Leading the way is senior Kameron Chastain, with junior Addison Bray, Thomas Dahlia, and freshman Brennen Berger in the next three spots.
Krissie Brandenburg is on top in the 100-backstroke, seeded with a time of 53.52. Three other Cardinals are in the top five. In third is freshman Kristina Steins, then freshman Mackenzie Buss, and Erica Belcher. The Cardinal men have a stronghold in this event going into the championships. They have the top six times in the conference, with freshman Grigory Tarasevich leading the group in a time of 46.85. Aaron Young, freshman Aaron Greene, Josh Quallen, freshman Nick Hasemann, and Caryle Blondell round it out.
On the fourth and final day of competition, Saturday, Feb. 22, the events that will take place are: platform diving (men and women), 1,650-freestyle, 200-backstroke, 100-freestyle, 200-breaststroke, 200-butterfly, and the 400-freestyle relay which the Louisville men and women both won last year. Swimming prelims are to begin at 10 am, diving prelims/consols at 12:30 pm, and all finals at 6 pm. Cardinal diver Sean Piner won the inaugural platform in the Big East diving event a year ago and will look to defend his title on the tower.
In the grueling mile event, Cardinal Carly Munchel has the best time in the conference, clocked at 16:43.29. Teammate Abbie Houck is not far behind in second. Bryan Draganosky, who won this event last year is yet again on top right now with a time of 15:19.29. Jake Schultz sits in second, about 13 seconds ahead of the third seeded time.
The 200-backstroke has Kristina Steins, Erica Belcher, and Kenzie Buss at second through fourth for the Cards. Steins seeded time is 1:57.38. For the men, Aaron Greene's time of 1:42.21 has him at the front of a pack of five Cardinals for the best times in this race. Next is Grigory Tarasevich in second, followed Nolan Tesone, senior Juan Lopez who is the defending champion, and Nick Hasemann.
Last year's Big East Champion Kelsi Worrell has the top time for Louisville as she sits in second overall in the conference for the 100-freestyle, going 48.53. Teammate Andrea Kneppers is currently in the sixth spot. Another defending conference champion, Joao De Lucca, will look to defend his title in the 100-free, seeded with a time of 42.24. He will have to fend off seven other Cardinals that round out the top eight in The American right now. Caryle Blondell, Trevor Carroll, Matthias Lindenbauer, Aaron Young, senior Brooks Wilmoth, junior Rudy Edelen, and senior Lemar Linton are second through eighth in that order.
Gisselle Kohoyda goes into the Championships with the second-best time in the 200-breaststroke in a time of 2:10.92. Cardinal Andrea Cottrell is third with Lucy Kramer coming in at fifth. Addison Bray has the top time for the men, going 1:54.89. Teammates Kameron Chastain, Thomas Dahlia, and Brennen Berger round out the top four in this event.
The 200-butterfly has three Cardinal women at the top, with the first two of Kelsi Worrell and Tanja Kylliainen separated by one hundredth of a second, their times being 1:54.12 and 1:54.13. Kylliainen was the 2013 champion in this event. Devon Bibault currently sits in third. Josh Quallen has the top time for the men in 1:45.75, followed by Cardinals Juan Lopez, freshman Joe Brown, and David Boland in second through fourth.
All-session tickets can be purchased up until the start of competition on Feb. 19.
Prices are as follows:
All-session adult: $33.00
All-session 18 and under, college student, and senior citizen: $18.00
Swimming preliminaries will be held each day in the morning beginning at 10 am. Finals will start in the evenings at 6 pm. Diving preliminaries are at noon every day, with finals combined with swimming in the evening sessions.
For ticket information click here: Tickets or call the University of Louisville ticket office at 502-852-5151.
Swimming preliminaries will be held each day in the morning beginning at 10 am. Finals will start in the evenings at 6 pm. Diving preliminaries are at noon every day, with finals combined with swimming in the evening sessions.
There are a limited number of single session tickets available and will be sold at the Natatorium beginning at one hour before the sessions begin.
Ticket prices are as follows: Finals Sessions: $8.00 Adults $4.00 Students/Seniors 65 & older/18 & younger
Prelim Sessions: $5.00 Adults $ 3.00 Students/Seniors 65 & older/18 & younger
2014 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULEWednesday, February 1912:00 pm: Men's 1-Meter Diving, Women's 3-Meter Diving PRELIMS Men's 1-Meter Diving, Women's 3-Meter Diving CONSOLS6:00 pm: FINALS800 Freestyle Relay Men's 1-Meter Diving Women's 3-Meter Diving 200 Medley Relay
Thursday, February 2010:00 am: PRELIMS12:30 pm: Women's 1-Meter Diving PRELIMS Women's 1-Meter Diving CONSOLS6:00 pm: FINALS500 Freestyle 200 Individual Medley 50 Freestyle Women's 1-Meter Diving 200 Freestyle Relay
Friday, February 2110:00 am: PRELIMS12:30 pm: Men's 3-Meter Diving PRELIMS Men's 3-Meter Diving CONSOLS6:00 pm: 400 Individual Medley 100 Butterfly 200 Freestyle 100 Breaststroke 100 Backstroke Men's 3-Meter Diving 400 Medley Relay
Saturday, February 2210:00 am: PRELIMS12:30 pm: Platform Diving PRELIMS Platform Diving CONSOLS6:00 pm: 1,650 Freestyle 200 Backstroke 100 Freestyle 200 Breaststroke 200 Butterfly
Players Mentioned
