13 Gator Men Invited to NCAA Championships

Feb 18, 2018; SEC Swimming and Diving Championships in College Station, TX. Photos by Thomas Campbell/Texas A&M Athletics

13 Gator Men Invited to NCAA Championships

Wednesday, March 7, 2018 | Men's Swimming & Diving

13 individual men and five relays will compete in Minneapolis, Minn.

By: Katie Callahan

NCAA release | Psych Sheet | Athletes by Institution | Relays

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Thirteen Gator men were invited to compete at the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis, Minn., as the NCAA released on Wednesday.

The Championship will be held March 21-24 at the University Aquatic Center on the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities' campus.

The field returns two NCAA Champions in Caeleb Dressel and Mark Szaranek. Dressel, a six-time National Champion, is just one championship away from tying Ryan Lochte (7) for the most in program history on the men's side.

The Gators boast a plethora of experience with the 13 invited Gators, as nine of them have already competed in at least one NCAA Championships meet. This is the fourth NCAA meet for Dressel, Szaranek, Jan Switkowski and Ben Lawless.

Freshmen Clark Beach and Michael Taylor, as well as transfer sophomore Grant Sanders and redshirt junior Bayley Main will be competing at their first NCAA Championships as Gators.

Below is a list of each event the Gators were invited to compete in during the NCAA Meet.

Name	Event	Time	Standard
Khader Baqlah	200 Free	1:31.96	A
	500 Free	4:14.48	B
Clark Beach	200 Back	1:41.13	B
Andrew Brady	500 Free	4:14.98	B
Caeleb Dressel	50 Free	18.66	A
	100 Free	40.87	A
Ben Lawless	500 Free	4:16.06	B
	1650 Free	14:52.03	B
Alex Lebed	200 IM	1:43.95	B
Bayley Main	100 Back	46.01	B
Blake Manganiello	1650 Free	14:46.19	B
Maxime Rooney	100 Free	42.51	B
	200 Free	1:32.97	B
Grant Sanders	400 IM	3:42.81	B
Jan Switkowski	100 Fly	45.26	A
	200 Fly	1:41.60	B
	200 IM	1:41.83	A
Mark Szaranek	200 Breast	1:51.86	A
	200 IM	1:41.00	A
	400 IM	3:37.50	A
Michael Taylor	200 Back	1:40.28	B

Brennan Balogh was selected as an alternate in the 200 back with a time of 1:41.19.

The Gators also qualified in each of the five relays: 200 free relay (1:16.59), 400 free relay (2:47.06), 800 free relay (6:12.06), 200 medley relay (1:22.94) and 400 medley relay (3:04.55).

Although they were not invited to NCAAs other events, each Gator can potentially add an optional event in which they have met the minimum time standard. The other events in which the invited swimmers have recorded B standard times can be found here.

After NCAA Zones, the men have a potential to add divers to the NCAA men's roster. Diving invitations will be released with the conclusion of all five diving zone meets on March 11.

Follow the Gators
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram