2014 SCAC Men's Swimming & Diving Championship - Preview

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – The 2014 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Swimming & Diving Championships will be held February 12-15 at the Rockwall Independent School District Natatorium in Rockwall, Texas. Psych Sheet | Official Website | Live Video 

It is the third consecutive year that the conference meet will be held at the Rockwall ISD.

Trinity University is the defending champion on the men’s side. The Tigers earned their third consecutive SCAC men’s swimming and diving title and sixth overall by easily outpointing the field, finishing with 1039.5 points to second-place Colorado College’s 810.5.

Trinity returns eight swimmers who earned All-SCAC honors a year ago, led by junior Stephen Culberson and sophomore Andrew Thiesse, who were both three-time All-SCAC performers a year ago. A two-time SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Week this season, Culberson has posted either the fastest or second-fastest time this season in four events (50 free, 100 free, 200 free and 100 fly). He won the 100 free, placed second in the 100 fly and was third in the 100 back at the 2013 championships. Thiesse, who won the 1,650 free, placed second in the 500 free and was third in the 200 free at last year’s championships, has the fastest 400 IM time heading into this year’s meet. He was the SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Week in Week 5. Sophomore Nikita Chirkov returns to defend his 200 breast and 400 IM titles and fellow second-year swimmer Brandon Tunon placed third and second respectively in the 100 and 200 fly at last year’s championship meet. Three/fourths of last year’s record-setting 200 medley relay team (Culberson, sophomore Thomas Jones and junior Adam Thomas) return after setting the new SCAC standard in the event with a finishing time of 1:32.42. Culbertson, Thomas and sophomore Jonathan Hoffman were part of a 200 free relay team that swam the fourth-fastest time ever (1:23.18) for that event. Junior Galve Deleste and sophomore Philip Whalen hope to continue the Tiger’s strong diving tradition as both have been earned SCAC Diver-of-the-Week recognition during the 2014 regular season.

Colorado College posted its second consecutive second-place finish at the 2013 conference championships.  The Tigers return four All-SCAC swimmers from a year ago, including the league’s two-time defending Diver-of-the-Year, junior Austin Howlett. A four-time SCAC Diver-of-the-Week honoree this year, Howlett won both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards at the 2013 championships with the third-best scores ever posted in either event. He earned All-America honors a year ago on the 3-meter board. Junior Matt Nadel was also a two-time All-SCAC performer last season, finishing second in the 200 free and third in the 1,650 free. He was also a member of the winning 800 free relay team from a year ago, along with junior Brian Kopec and senior Michael Bennett. Sophomore Colin Chupik, the SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Week in Week 3, returns to defend his 200 fly title where he posted the fourth-fastest finish (1:53.50) in SCAC history a year ago.

After a third place finish in its inaugural SCAC championship meet in 2013, Centenary College looks to build on that strong opening act. The Gents will count on Austin Butler to score in several events. The senior was a three-time All-SCAC performer last season, with victories in the 50 and 200 free and a third-place finish in the 200 free. Along with teammate and junior Andrew Borel, Butler was also a member of the SCAC-winning 400 free and 400 medley relay teams in 2013, with the later swimming the second-fastest time (3:26.86) in SCAC championships history. Heading into next week’s championship, Butler, the SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Week in Week 10, has swum the fastest times in the league in 2014 in both the 50 and 200 free.

Southwestern University, which posted a program-best fourth-place finish at the 2013 championships, returns four of the all-conference contributors that led to that historic effort. Sophomore Thomas Frashier returns after winning the 500 free and placing second in the 1,650 free. Junior Kyler Wood placed second in the 100 and 200 breast in 2013 and currently owns the top time and NCAA “B” cuts in both events (:57.51 and 2:06.12 respectively) heading into the 2014 championships. He is a two-time SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Week. First-year swimmer Shelby Hall, who was SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Week in Week 8, is featured prominently on the current top times list with conference-best times in the 500 free (4:44.82) and 200 fly (1:54.97).

Austin College, which finished fifth at the 2013 championships, has a roster made up entirely of freshmen and sophomores, with the lone exception of senior Truman Word. The young ‘Roos will look for a strong performance from sophomore Eric Gentzel who posted three victories in the 100 back, 200 back and 200 IM in the team’s last meet – a dual against McMurry University. His best times in both the 100 and 200 back rank among the top 10 times in the SCAC this season.

The University of California-Santa Cruz is making its inaugural appearance at the SCAC championships. An affiliate member of the conference in the sport of swimming and diving, the Banana Slugs have produced over 100 All-America selections, two national champions, an Olympic trial qualifier and a Maccabien Games gold medalist over the last 11 years. For this year’s team, freshman Ivan Garin has made an immediate impact and currently owns the league’s top time in the 100 fly (51.59), second-best time in the 100 free (46.96) and fourth-best time in the 50 free (21.43). He was the SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Week in Week 2. Another UC-Santa Cruz swimmer expected to contribute at the SCAC championships is freshman Casey Colella who has posted SCAC top three times this season in the 200 IM (2:20.30), 100 breast (1:00.78) and 200 breast (2:10.56).

Competition at the 2014 SCAC Swimming and Diving Championships begins on Wednesday, February 12 with three events (women’s and men’s 200 medley relay, men’s 1-meter diving and the women’s and men’s 800 free relay) at 6:30 p.m. CST. Competition continues on Thursday, February 13 and runs through Saturday, February 15 with morning preliminaries at 10:30 a.m. and finals following at 6:30 p.m. each day.

For a complete schedule of events, go the official website of the 2014 SCAC Swimming & Diving Championships:

http://scacsports.com/tournament/winter/swimming/index