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17 UT SWIMMERS DEPART FOR OLYMPIC TRIALS
Seventeen current or
former Tennessee swimmers will compete for positions on Team USA
beginning Monday at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb.
The
Trials run Monday through July 2 at the CenturyLink Center, which holds
more than 13,000 spectators. The top two finishers in each event
automatically qualify for the Olympics.
NBC will broadcast
the finals every night at 8 p.m. Eastern. All but the fastest heats of
preliminaries will be streamed live at usaswimming.org. The fastest
heats of preliminaries will be shown tape delayed on NBC Sports.
For news and notes heading into next week:
THE LADY VOL COMPETITORS
The
Lady Vols are scheduled to have 13 swimmers in the field, headlined by
2008 Olympic silver medalist Christine Magnuson and 2012 first-team
All-SEC performers Jenny Connolly, Kelsey Floyd, Lindsay Gendron, Molly
Hannis and Caroline Simmons.
Magnuson, who won the silver
medal in the 100-meter butterfly at the 2008 Olympics, now trains in
Arizona and plans to compete in 100 butterfly, the 50 freestyle and the
100 freestyle. She has the second-fastest seed time in the 100
butterfly (57.32 seconds) and is also the event record-holder in the
Olympic Trials, swimming in 57.50 to qualify for the 2008 team.
Connolly
won two individual titles in her final SEC Championship in February and
made headlines last summer by winning the gold medal in the 50-meter
backstroke in a meet record-setting performance at the World University
Games. She also won silver in the 100 backstroke at the meet.
Connolly
is slated to swim in the 100 backstroke and the 100 butterfly. She has
the sixth-fastest seed time in the 100 backstroke (1:00.21), a race
that promises to be a closely contested one with four swimmers clocking
times under a minute. The also has the 12th-fastest seed time in the
100 butterfly (59.02).
Floyd, a rising senior, won the SEC
title in the 200-yard butterfly and also took bronze in the 100
butterfly last season as a junior. At the NCAA Championships, she took
third place in both those events. She is competing in the 100
butterfly, the 200 butterfly and the 200 freestyle.
Gendron
is entered in the most events of the Lady Vols, swimming the gamut of
freestyle events: the 100, 200, 400 and 800 races. She placed sixth at
NCAAs in the 200 freestyle, and in a show of versatility, also finished
16th in the mile.
THE VOLS IN THE FIELD
Brad Craig, the
back-to-back SEC champion for Tennessee in the 100-yard breaststroke in
2010 and 2011, is among the four Vols competing at the trials. He is
among the veteran Tennessee swimmers departing for the trials, having
competed at the 2008 event. Craig is set to swim the 100 and 200
breaststroke.
Rising junior Samuel Rairden is Tennessee’s
top returning swimmer, having earned a silver medal in the 100
backstroke at the 2012 SEC Championships. Rairden has one of the
busiest schedules of the Tennessee swimmers, set to go in the 100
freestyle, 200 freestyle, 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly.
TENNESSEE IN THE OLYMPICS
The
Vols have boasted 19 Olympians in the past, including five who have
medaled at the Games. Four Vols swam at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing:
Octavio Alesi (Venezuela), Andrew Bree (Ireland), Jonas Persson
(Sweden) and Jevon Tarantino (USA).
The Lady Vols have had
seven Olympians over the years, including two at the 2008 Games:
Magnuson (USA) and Fabiola Molina (Brazil).
Diving coach Dave Parrington has been to the Olympics as both a diver and a coach for Zimbabwe.
DIVING ONGOING
Tori Lamp and Michael Wright still have one day to go in the U.S. Olympic Diving Trials in Federal Way Washington.
Lamp
is in fifth place heading into the final round of the women’s platform.
The rising redshirt junior from Knoxville has a score of 641.15,
putting her 62.60 points behind second place. Like the swimming trials,
the top two in diving make the Olympic team.
Wright is in 12th place in the finals of men’s 3-meter springboard.
The
men's 3-meter finals will be held Sunday at noon Pacific (3 p.m.
Eastern) with the women's platform to follow. The competition will be
televised on NBC.
Tennessee’s U.S. Olympic Trials Participants
Men (events)
Brad Craig (100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke)
Ricky Henahan (100 backstroke)
Samuel Rairden (100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 100 butterfly)
Troy Tillman (50 freestyle)
Women (events)
Abigail Alton (50 freestyle)
Kirstyn Colonias (100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke)
Jenny Connolly (100 backstroke, 100 butterfly)
Kelsey Floyd (100 butterfly, 200 butterfly, 200 freestyle)
Samara Gelb (200 breaststroke)
Lindsay Gendron (100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 400 freestyle, 800 freestyle)
Molly Hannis (100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke)
Kennedy Higdon (200 butterfly)
Christine Magnuson (100 butterfly, 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle)
Kate McNeilis (100 backstroke, 200 backstroke)
Caroline Simmons (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle)
Lauren Solernou (100 backstroke, 200 backstroke)
Brooke Watson (100 butterfly, 200 butterfly)
U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials
Television Schedule
All times Eastern
June 25
Prelims, 6:30-8 p.m., NBC Sports
Finals, 8-9 p.m., NBC
June 26
Prelims, 6:30-8 p.m., NBC Sports
Finals, 8-9 p.m., NBC
June 27
Prelims, 7-8 p.m., NBC Sports
Finals, 8-9 p.m., NBC
June 28
Prelims, 4:30-5:30 p.m., NBC Sports
Finals, 8-9 p.m., NBC
June 29
Prelims, 4:30-6 p.m., NBC Sports
Finals, 8-9 p.m., NBC
June 30
Prelims, 6:30-8 p.m., NBC Sports
Finals, 8-9 p.m., NBC
July 1
Prelims, 6-7 p.m., NBC Sports
Finals, 8-9 p.m., NBC
July 2
No Prelims
Finals, 8-8:30pm, NBC
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