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2017 Division I Men’s NCAA Championships

Jim Hallmark 0 Comment

By Reach for the Wall staff.

Now that the 2017 Division I Women’s NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships (NCAAs) have concluded (Stanford University won), it’s now time to turn our attention to the men.

Jack & John
John Shebat (left) and Jack Conger (right) look for Texas 3-repeat at NCAAs.

The Men’s NCAAs (March 22-25) start this Wednesday at the historic Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Natatorium in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana.  As in the women’s NCAAs, the performances of swimmers and divers who grew up in the Washington D.C. metro area will be key to the success of their universities at this meet.

The Texas Longhorns are the 2-time defending national champions led by Jack Conger (Rockville, Md / Our Lady of Good Counsel), John Shebat (Oak Hill, Va / Oakton High School), diver Grayson Campbell (Vienna, Va / James Madison High School), and a supporting cast that includes Townley Haas (our neighbor from Richmond, Virginia who won a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 800 free relay) and Joseph Schooling (the Singapore national who beat our neighbor from Baltimore, Michael Phelps, for the gold medal in Rio in the 100 Fly).

But winning a title this year won’t be as easy for Texas as it’s been the last 2 years when they crushed 2-time runner-up, Cal Berkeley, by 190.5 points in 2016 and 129 points in 2015.  For one thing, the Golden Bears currently are ranked #1 and look to regain the NCAA title they won in 2014, 2012 and 2011.  Cal is led by Andrew Seliskar (McLean, Va / Thomas Jefferson High School), and Ryan Murphy, who won gold medals in Rio in 100 and 200 backstroke and the 400 medley relay (and was the most sought after high school swimming recruit in the Class of 2013 next to Jack Conger).

Go Gators!
Go Gators!

And don’t overlook North Carolina State, who torched Texas in a dual meet earlier this season in Austin.  The Wolfpack are led by Ryan Held, who won a gold medal in Rio in the 400 meter freestyle relay with Michael Phelps, Nathan Adrian and Caeleb Dressel.

Speaking of Caeleb Dressel, he might carry his Florida Gators all the way to an NCAA championship this year. Dressel recently went a 17.86 in 50 free to tie the fastest split ever.  Silly fast.

And keep an eye on the Georgia Bulldogs, led by Chase Kalisz (Bel Air, Md / Fallston High School), who won a silver medal in Rio in the 400 meter IM.

Folks, get your popcorn ready.  This should be a fun meet.

Key Info
  • Heat Sheets
  • Schedule
    • Prelims / Trials
      • Swimming:  10am (ET) on Thur., Fri. & Sat.
      • Diving:  12pm (ET) on Thur., Fri., & Sat.
    • Finals at 6pm (ET) on Wed., Thur., Fri., & Sat.
PVS Swimmers

Below are swimmers and divers from the Washington D.C. metro area who are competing in NCAA’s this week (tell us in the Comment section below who we missed so we can add them to the list).

  • Grayson Campbell (Univ. of Texas / Vienna, Va / James Madison HS)
    • 1 meter springboard (Thur), 3 meter springboard (Fri)
  • Jack Conger (Univ. of Texas / Rockville, Md / Our Lady of Good Counsel)
    • 800 Free Relay (Wed), 50 Free (Thur), 100 Fly (Fri), 200 Fly (Sat)
  • Brandon Fiala  (Virginia Tech / Fairfax, Va / Westfield HS)
    • 200 IM (Thur), 100 Breast (Fri), 200 Breast (Sat)
  • Ben Lawless (Univ. of Florida / Owings, Md / Northern HS)
    • 500 Free (Thur), 200 Free (Fri), 1650 Free (Sat)
  • Brennan Novak (Harvard Univ. / Potomac, Md / Gonzaga College HS)
    • 500 Free (Thur), 200 Free (Fri), 1650 Free (Sat)
  • Andrew Seliskar (Univ. of California Berkeley / McLean, Va / Thomas Jefferson HS)
    • 200 IM (Thur), 400 IM (Fri), 200 Fly (Sat)
  • John Shebat (Univ. of Texas / Oak Hill, Va / Oakton HS)
    • 50 Free (Thur), 100 Back (Fri), 200 Back (Sat)
  • Carsten Vissering (Univ. of Southern California / Bethesda, Md / Georgetown Prep HS)
    • 100 Breast (Fri), 200 Breast (Sat)

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