Men's Swimming Heads to NCAA Championships
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Florida's sixth ranked men's swimming team will head to Federal Way, Washington for their shot at a national championship. The meet is set to begin Thursday March 27 and will conclude Saturday March 29.
The Gators will lead all teams with 17 qualifiers at this year's championships and will be followed by Texas with 16, Auburn with 15 and Stanford and Arizona with 14. The Gators will be led by Shaune Fraser, Bradley Ally, and Clark Burckle, each of whom won an SEC Championship last month in Tuscaloosa.
Fraser defended his 200 free title, touching the wall with a time of 1:34.23, setting an SEC and pool record with his career best swim. The sophomore also notched the fifth best time in school history with that time. Fraser also joined Ally on the awards stand in the 200 individual medley. Ally picked up his title with a time of 1:44.45 and was followed by Fraser who touched in with a time of 1:44.96.
Burckle, who broke the school record in the 100 breast during his preliminary swim with a time of 53.79 went on to finish third in the event. Burckle was not to be denied an SEC championship of his own as the sophomore went on to win the 400 IM title with a time of 3:44.86. He picked up his second individual championship in the 200 breast, following in sister Caroline's footsteps to become the first brother sister combination to win the same event, in the same year at the same meet.
Omar Pinzon, will lead the contingent of Gator backstrokers after winning the 200 back title with the fifth best time in school history of 1:41.85. He was followed by Rex Tullius and Roland Rudolf who touched in with the second and third best times of the evening.
Florida will open the championships with the 200 free relay and 500 freestyle. Florida was able to place seven swimmers in the final or consolation final of the 500 free at the SEC championships and will look to do the same this week as all seven will swim at the NCAA Championships.
Live results can be found via www.gatorzone.com and the action can be seen through www.swimmingworldmagazine.com's live stream.
