If the Thursday preliminary session of the 2005 Big Ten Men's Swimming and Diving Championships is any indication as to what the crowd in Minnesota's University Aquatic Center can expect for the rest of the week, they are in for an exceptional championship meet.
The 500-yard freestyle saw 49 athletes swim in seven heats. A total of 13 NCAA standards were hit in those heats, three of which were automatic qualifying times. Justin Mortimer of the host Minnesota Golden Gophers set the fastest time in preliminary competition with 4:18.03. Big Ten Championships record holder Peter Vanderkaay of Michigan, who already owns the nationa's second best 500-yard freestyle time this season, finished second with 4:18.87 and Indiana's Sergiy Fesenko finished third after the heats with an A time of 4:18.91. Joining the three automatic NCAA qualifiers in the event final this evening are Brian Davis from Northwestern, Michigan's Andrew Hurd, Travis Beckerle of Minnesota, Davis Tarwater from Michigan, and Minnesota's Sean McCaffrey.
The day's second set of heats was in the 200-yard individual medley. Swimmers earned 14 NCAA-B standards in the preliminaries and four more earned automatic berths. Louis Paul of Purdue, already the Big Ten Championships record holder in the event, set the all-time Big Ten mark with the country's third fastest time of the season, 1:44.65. Northwestern's Mike Alexandrov also earned an A-standard with a time of 1:45.70. Gopher Adam Mitchell finished the heats third with a time of 1:45.91 and Wisconsin's Timothy Liebhold rounded out the NCAA automatic qualifiers with a time of 1:46.66. Joining those four in the 200 IM finals will be Wisconsin's Adam Mania who holds the conference's regular season top time. A pair of Indiana Hoosiers are also in the championship mix. Todd Patrick and Kevin Swander finished the prelims sixth and seventh respectively, and Ohio State's Nate King rounds out the event's final's field.
Seventy-six swimmers swam in the 13 preliminary heats for the 50-yard freestyle. Ten earned NCAA provisional times and one earned an automatic berth. Big Ten Championships record holder Matt Grevers of Northwestern set a new all-time conference mark when he finished the sprint in 19.36 seconds, the second fastest time in the nation this season. Teammate Kyle Bubolz joins Grevers in the finals, finishing second. Ales Volcansek of Minnesota is the first of four Gophers to qualify for the event finals, finishing the heats in third. Hoosier Colin Russell sits in fourth, while Gophers Terry Silkaitis, Igor Cerensek, and Mario Delac occupy the fifth through seventh spots. Penn State's Sean Swanepoel rounds out the finals' competitors.
The day's finals begin tonight at 7:00 p.m. Central Time. In addition to these three events, conference champions will be crowned in the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard Medley Relay. Check back to BigTen.org for live results and continuing coverage of the 2005 Big Ten Men's Swimming and Diving Championships.
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