Feb. 22, 2011
The defending Big 12 Champion Texas A&M women's swimming and diving team will be seeking its fourth conference team crown in five seasons when the No. 10-ranked Aggies compete in the 2011 Big 12 Championships Wednesday through Saturday at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin.
Boosted by wins in 13 of 18 possible events last season, head coach Steve Bultman's Aggies rolled to a 99-point victory over runner-up Texas last year in College Station. Only one individual conference title winner returns for the Aggies in 2011, however, and the Aggies will be seeking to defend their 2010 championships with a different group of competitors.
"It is a challenge because we lost some very good girls from last year," Bultman said. "We lost a number of our relay swimmers so we'll have a bunch of new faces there. We have a very large freshman class and this will be their first conference meet. I think they will respond well but they're an unknown really. We'll see how they do, but so far they've done everything we've asked them and we have a history of swimming very well at conference. I'm excited to see how they're going to do."
Key to the Aggies' title defense will be the leadership of a solid core of veterans who have stepped into the spotlight in 2010-11. Several have individual or relay Big 12 titles under their belts, which includes seniors Maria Sommer (2009, 2010 200 free relay) and Lindsey King (2009 100 backstroke), junior Janie Potvin (2010 platform) and sophomore Maureen McLaine (2010 800 free relay). Other Aggie veterans with All-America honors on their resumes include juniors Rita Medrano and Megan Latone and sophomores Tess Simpson and Kendra Chernoff.
"The upperclassmen have done a great job of leading this season," Bultman said. "Not all of them were vocal, big leaders before and it's been a growing process. They've done a very good job and they're stepping up, and they're saying things that need to be said. Overall they've done a good job, and we'll definitely need their leadership this weekend."
The Aggies' 2010 signing class has already made a significant impact this season, breaking one school record and posting a host of NCAA "B" qualifying cuts. Leading the way is Sarah Henry, who posted a NCAA "A" cut and broke the school record in the 400 IM with a time of 4:06.66, and she's also recorded "B" cuts in the 200 free, the 500 free, 1,650 free, the 200 breaststroke and the 200 IM.
Other newcomers with NCAA "B" or zone cuts include freshmen Lili Ibañez (100 free, 200 free and 500 free), Cammile Adams (500 free, 200 fly and 400 IM), Paige Miller (100 back, 100 fly), Wylie Escobedo (200 back), Kim Pavlin (200 back, 200 IM), Erica Dittmer (100 breast, 200 breast, 200 IM) and Breeja Larson (100 breast, 200 breast), as well as transfers Anna Heller (200 back, 200 IM) and Jo Thibodaux (1m springboard).
"When we were recruiting this class, we were and still are very excited about the group we have. It's a big class and also a very talented class with some people that are already good but with a lot of potential to get even better. It's going to be exciting to see what they do this weekend and for the next four years.
FACT SHEET
WHAT: 2011 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships.
WHERE: Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center - Austin, Texas
WHEN: Wednesday, Feb. 23 through Saturday, Feb. 26 (complete schedule below)
LIVE RESULTS
http://www.tsc.utexas.edu/results/big12/index.htm?DB_OEM_ID=10410
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS WEB SITE (includes live video links)
http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10410&KEY=&ATCLID=204989587
TICKETS (available at the door, priced per session)
Adults - $5
Students/Youth - $2
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE
SWIMMING
Wednesday, Feb. 23 - 6 p.m. Central (finals)
200 medley relay
800 freestyle relay (following men's 1-meter diving finals)
Thursday, Feb. 24
10 a.m. Central (prelims)
500 freestyle
200 individual medley
50 freestyle
6 p.m. Central (finals)
200 freestyle relay
500 freestyle (following women's 1-meter diving finals)
200 individual medley
50 freestyle
Friday, Feb. 25
10 a.m. Central (prelims)
400 individual medley
100 butterfly
200 freestyle
100 breaststroke
100 backstroke
6 p.m. Central (finals)
400 medley relay
400 individual medley (following men's 3-meter diving finals)
100 butterfly
200 freestyle
100 breaststroke
100 backstroke
Saturday, Feb. 26
10 a.m. Central (prelims)
200 backstroke
100 freestyle
200 breaststroke
200 butterfly
6 p.m. Central (finals)
200 backstroke
100 freestyle
1,650 freestyle
200 breaststroke
200 butterfly
400 freestyle relay (following men's platform diving finals)
DIVING
Wednesday, Feb. 23
4:30 p.m. - men's 1-meter prelims
6 p.m. - men's 1-meter finals (following 200 medley relay)
Thursday, Feb. 24
1 p.m. - women's 3-meter prelims
6 p.m. - women's 3-meter finals (following 200 freestyle relay)
Friday, Feb. 25
10:30 a.m. - men's 3-meter prelims
1:30 p.m. - women's 1-meter prelims
5 p.m. - men's 3-meter finals
6 p.m. - women's 1-meter finals (following 400 medley relay)
Saturday, Feb. 26
12:15 p.m. - women's platform prelims
2:45 p.m. - men's platform prelims
5 p.m. - women's platform finals
7:45 p.m. (approximately) - men's platform finals