Seven Bulls Heading To Omaha For US Swimming Olympic Trials
OMAHA, NE- The University at Buffalo will be well represented this week at the US Swimming Olympic Trials being held in Omaha, NE as seven swimmers will have a chance to represent the United States at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. In all, 13 different events will have at least one Buffalo swimmer in the field.
Matt Schwippert will compete in both backstroke events, beginning tomorrow with the 100 Backstroke. He will also compete in the 200 Backstroke on Friday. Schwippert is currently the school record holder in that category. Phil Aronica joins Schwippert in the 100 Backstroke tomorrow.
Matt Hogan has qualified in three events, beginning tomorrow in the 200 Freestyle, where he is the school record holder. Hogan also hold UB's all-time mark in the 100 Freestyle, which he will compete in on Thursday. Hogan will also take part in the 50 Freestyle on Saturday.
Teammate Mike Dugan will also take part in the 50 and 100 Freestyle, while also competing in the 100 Butterfly on Saturday. Dugan holds the school record in the butterfly at 47.73.
On the women's side, Brittney Kuras will swim in four events, the most of any UB swimmer at the meet. She begins with a busy day on Wednesday as she competes in the 200 Freestyle and 200 IM. Kuras set school records in both of those events at the NCAA Championships in March. On Friday, Kuras will compete in the 100 Freestyle, where she also holds the school record, and on Sunday she will swim in the 50 Freestyle.
Joining her in the 50 Freestyle is UB school record holder Mallory Morrell, while Alie Schirmers will compete on Friday in the 200 Breaststroke.
For each event that the Bulls are competing in, preliminary heats will take place beginning at 11:00 am EST each day. Semifinals for each of those events will follow that evening beginning at 6:45 pm EST and the finals of each event will take place during the evening session the following day.
There will be a live webcast of preliminary action each day at usaswimming.org. NBC, the home of the 2012 Olympics, will be showing Finals coverage each evening from 8:00-9:00 pm.