Florida Set to Send 12 Swimmers to 2010 NCAA Championships
Thursday, March 4, 2010 | Women's Swimming & Diving
The official rosters for the 2010 Women's NCAA Swimming Championships were announced by the NCAA late Wednesday evening. The Gators qualified 12 student-athletes in the swimming field, with the possibility of three divers qualifying at the 2010 NCAA Zone B Diving meet, scheduled for March 12-14, at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta.
The 2010 NCAA meet, hosted by Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., will kick off March 18-20 at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center. A total of 322 participants will compete in the championships. Divers will be added to the participant list on Mon., March 15.
The Gators' 12-qualifier NCAA squad marks the fifth-largest contingent of athletes set to compete at the 2010 NCAA meet. The team from Arizona qualified the most competitors with 18 athletes. SEC one-meter springboard and platform champion Kara Salamone (Cooper City, Fla.) is expected to join the squad, with hopefuls in junior Monica Dodson (Franklin, Ind.) and sophomore Kaylee Doback (Brandon, Fla.) on the diving front.
Of UF's 12 swimming qualifiers, nine are freshmen and sophomores, while veteran seniors Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England), Liz Kemp (Potomac, Md.) and Stephanie Napier (Chattanooga, Tenn.) will lead the UF squad with three years of NCAA competition under their belts.
Spofforth and sophomore Jemma Lowe (Hartlepool, England) each tallied individual SEC Championship titles at the 2010 league meet Feb. 17-20 in Athens, Ga., where the No. 6 Gators finished second, while UF's 200-yard free relay, composed of Spofforth, Napier and sophomores Sarah Bateman (Orlando, Fla.) and Shara Stafford (Topeka, Kan.) will look to compete at the highest level at NCAAs after winning the event at the SEC Championship.
Spofforth is the three-time defending national champion in the 200-yard back and a two-time defending champion in the 100-yard back. At the 2010 league meet, Spofforth became the only swimmer in conference history to win three straight years of both the 100 and 200 back races. Her 2009 SEC title in the 200 back set a NCAA record that she'll be looking to eclipse in Indiana.
For all the details of the 2010 NCAA Championship Meet, hosted by Purdue University, please visit here.
NCAA.com will stream both sessions of competition on Thursday and Friday, and the preliminary session on Saturday. ESPN360.com will stream the finals live on Saturday. Additionally, ESPN2 will air a 90-minute show at 1:30 p.m. (ET), Tues., April 6.
Florida 2010 NCAA Championship Squad (Divers to be added March 15)
1 Sarah Bateman (Orlando, Fla.), sophomore
2 Jamie Bohunicky (Gainesville, Fla.), freshman
3 Melania Costa-Schmid (Palma de Mallorca, Spain), sophomore
4 Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.), sophomore
5 Elizabeth Kemp (Potomac, Md.), senior
6 Jemma Lowe (Hartlepool, England), sophomore
7 Stephanie Napier (Chattanooga, Tenn.), senior
8 Lindsay Rogers (Fishers, Ind.), sophomore
9 Corinne Showalter (Sarasota, Fla.), freshman
10 Kirsten Smith (Cary, N.C.), sophomore
11 Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England), senior
12 Shara Stafford (Topeka, Kan.), sophomore
-UF-
