Cavalier Swimmers Head to Olympic Trials
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June 23, 2016
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.-A total of 34 swimmers with ties to Virginia are set to compete at the upcoming U.S. Olympic Team Trials, to be held June 26-July 3 at CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Neb.
Among the over-1,800 athletes that will compete in Omaha, 25 of them will be returning Cavaliers. Also in attendance will be six UVA incoming freshmen and three alums, including 2000 Olympic gold medalist Ed Moses.
NBC and NBCSN will broadcast every session of the meet. The TV schedule is available at the bottom of this release. Every preliminary and finals session of the meet will be streamed live on the NBC Sports Live Extra app.
Preliminaries will begin each day at 11 a.m. with finals starting at 7:45 p.m. All times are EST.
Among the highest-ranked Cavaliers is rising senior Leah Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.), who is seeded second in the 400-meter freestyle and fourth in the 200m and 800m free. Rising junior Jennifer Marrkand (Westford, Mass.) is seeded 11th in the 200m butterfly, while rising senior Kaitlyn Jones (Newark, Del.) is ranked 15th in the 200m IM. Rising senior Austin Quinn (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) is seeded 25th in the 100m backstroke.
Jones, Marrkand and rising sophomore Megan Moroney (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) are entered in six events each, tied for most on the UVA women’s team, while Quinn has the most entries on the men’s side with five events.
The top-two swimmers in each individual event earn spots on the U.S Olympic Team. The top-four finishers in both the 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle events will also officially make the team, however, there is an option to add the fifth and sixth-place finishers to the squad as alternates.
In 2012, Matt McLean (’11) and Lauren Perdue (’13) qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team. Perdue finished fourth in the women’s 200m free, while McLean placed fifth in the men’s 200m free. Both went on to win Olympic gold at the London Games with their respective 4x200m free relay teams.
Cavaliers Entered at U.S. Olympic Team Trials
Alums (3): Shaun Casey (’15), Ed Moses (’00), Ellen Williamson (’15)
Rising Seniors (5): Kaitlyn Jones, Matt Lockman, Austin Quinn, Shannon Rauth, Leah Smith
Rising Juniors (7): Caitlin Cooper, Jessie Gvozdas, Jennifer Marrkand, Henrik Pohlmann, Laine Reed, Dina Rommel, Cece Williams
Rising Sophomores (13): Alex Albracht, Brendan Casey (redshirt), Eryn Eddy, Zach Fong, Dan Golczewski, Matthew Hrabchak, Bryce Keblish, Sam Magnan, Megan Moroney, Rachel Politi, Kasey Schmidt, Sara Stranick, Vivian Tafuto
Incoming Freshmen (6): Ryan Baker, Morgan Hill, Ted Schubert, Mary Claire Tansill, Madeleine Vonderhaar, Kyle Ward
2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials TV Schedule (all times EST)
June 26
Prelims: 6 p.m., NBCSN
Finals: 8 p.m., NBC
June 27
Prelims: 6:30 p.m., NBCSN
Finals: 8 p.m., NBC
June 28
Prelims: 7 p.m., NBCSN
Finals: 8 p.m., NBC
June 29
Prelims: 7 p.m., NBCSN
Finals: 8 p.m., NBC
June 30
Prelims: 6:30 p.m., NBCSN
Finals: 8 p.m., NBC
July 1
Prelims: 6 p.m., NBCSN
Finals: 8 p.m., NBC
July 2
Prelims: 5 p.m., NBCSN
Finals: 8 p.m. NBCSN
July 3
Finals: 7 p.m., NBC