UVA Women Open NCAA Swim/Dive on Wednesday

March 14, 2017

Charlottesville, Va. – The No. 8 Virginia women’s swimming and diving team starts competition at the 2017 NCAA Championships on Wednesday at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Ind. The four-day meet runs through Saturday.

The Cavaliers have 10 individuals competing this week and UVA will field a team in all five relay events. The swimmers representing Virginia are seniors Kaitlyn Jones (Newark, Del.), Laura Simon (Simmern, Germany), Leah Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Ellen Thomas (Guildford, United Kingdom), juniors Caitlin Cooper (Atlanta, Ga.) and Jennifer Marrkand (Westford, Mass.), sophomore Vivian Tafuto (Hummelstown, Pa.) and freshman Morgan Hill (Olney, Md.). Diving for UVA are sophomore Kylie Towbin (New Canaan, Conn.) and freshman Sydney Dusel (Naperville, Ill.).

Virginia finished fifth at the NCAA Championships in 2016, marking the second consecutive season to finish in the top-five and matching the program’s best finish. UVA finished with 11 All-America honors in 2016, with four swimmers from that team returning to the championship.

Jones, Simon, Smith and Thomas are four-time qualifiers for the NCAA Championships. An 11-time All-American, Smith is a four-time NCAA Champion after winning the 1,650 free and the 500 free in 2015 and 2016. She currently holds the second fastest times in the country in both events.

Simon is a 10-time All-American and placed third in the 400 medley relay at the 2016 NCAA Championships along with Thomas, who is a nine-time All-American, and Jones who is a seven-time All-American. Simon qualified for the 100 and 200 breaststroke. She is the 2017 ACC Champion in the 100 and finished second in the 200.Jones will swim the 200 IM, 100 and 200 butterfly events. Thomas qualified in the 50 free and has been on four of the five relays the last two years.

Cooper and Marrkand qualified for the third time. Cooper is a six-time All-American and helped the 200 medley relay team to a fourth-place finish in 2016, while Marrkand is a five-time All-American and anchored the 800 freestyle relay team in a fifth-place finish in the 2016 NCAA Championships. Marrkand made the field in the 200 IM, 200 free and 200 fly, while Cooper will swim the 50 free.

Tafuto is making her second NCAA Championship appearance in the 100 breast, while Hill is making her first appearance in the 100 free.

Towbin is making her second consecutive trip to the NCAAs. She was the runner-up at the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships on the platform. Dusel was fifth at the Zone A Championships on the three-meter board.

A total of 322 participants (281 swimmers and 41 divers) will compete in the championships. Swimmers qualified for the championships by meeting the established minimum time for the events in which they entered.

ESPN3.com will stream the championships finals sessions live on Friday and Saturday. Wednesday’s evening session, Thursday’s sessions along with the morning sessions on Friday and Saturday will be streamed live on NCAA.com and indianasportscorp.org/ncaasd. Additionally, ESPNU will air a two-hour broadcast via tape delay at 7 p.m. Eastern time, Tuesday, March 28.

Live results for the championships will be available on NCAA.com.

Wednesday, March 15
6 p.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 800 Freestyle Relay

Thursday, March 16
10 a.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 500 Freestyle Trials: Leah Smith
10 a.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 200 Individual Medley: Kaitlyn Jones, Jennifer Marrkand
10 a.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 50 Freestyle Trials: Caitlin Cooper, Ellen Thomas

6 p.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 200 Freestyle Relay Consolation / Final
6 p.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 500 Freestyle Consolation / Final
6 p.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 200 Individual Medley Consolation / Final
6 p.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 50 Freestyle Consolation / Final
6 p.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 400 Medley Relay Consolation / Final

Friday, March 17
10 a.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 100 Butterfly Trials: Kaitlyn Jones
10 a.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 200 Freestyle Trials: Morgan Hill, Jennifer Marrkand, Leah Smith
10 a.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 100 Breastroke Trials: Laura Simon, Vivian Tafuto
12:15 p.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” Three-Meter Diving Trials: Sydney Dusel, Kylie Towbin

6 p.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 100 Butterfly Consolation / Final
6 p.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 200 Freestyle Consolation / Final
6 p.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 100 Breastroke Consolation / Final
6 p.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” Three-Meter Diving Final
6 p.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 200 Medley Relay Consolation / Final

Saturday, March 18
10 a.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 100 Freestyle Trials: Morgan Hill
10 a.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 200 Breastroke Trials: Laura Simon
10 a.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 200 Butterfly Trials: Kaitlyn Jones, Jennifer Marrkand
12 p.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” Platform Diving Trials: Sydney Dusel, Kylie Towbin

6 p.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 1650 Freestyle: Leah Smith
6 p.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 100 Freestyle Consolation / Final
6 p.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 200 Breastroke Consolation / Final
6 p.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 200 Butterfly Consolation / Final
6 p.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” Platform Diving Final
6 p.m. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 400 Freestyle Relay Consolation / Final