H2O Frogs To Compete At American Short Course Championships
3/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
March 4, 2005
THIS WEEK - The TCU swimming and diving team will send its underclassmen to Austin, Texas, on Saturday for the American Short Course Championships held at the Lee and Jamail Texas Swimming Center. Prelims begin at 9:00 a.m. with finals following at 6 p.m.
THE FIELD IN AUSTIN - Olympians Natalie Coughlin, Ian Crocker, Nate Dusing, Mark Gangloff, Brendan Hansen, Rhi Jeffery, Klete Keller, Michael Phelps, Aaron Peirsol and Neil Walker will compete against each other and highlight a field that includes the top NCAA swimmers at the short-course championships.
MEN WIN FOURTH STRAIGHT C-USA INVITATIONAL - The men's team won its fourth straight C-USA Invitational title. Senior Craig Chapman was named the Co-Swimmer of the Meet as he won the 100 and 200-backstroke and was runner-up in the 500-freestyle. He also was swam the lead leg in the 800-freestyle relay that finished second.
In addition to Chapman, Yousif Del Valle (200-free), Aran Bean (100-breast) and Cameron Allred (200-breast) were all conference champions. Overall, 13 Horned Frogs were all-conference honorees.
TWO-TIME SWIMMER OF THE MEET - Craig Chapman took home C-USA Invitational Swimmer of the Meet honors for the second straight year last week in Houston. This season, however, the senior shared the award with freshman Adam Madrassey of Louisville. In 2004, Chapman was the outright recipient of the award.
WOMEN FINISH SECOND AT C-USA CHAMPIONSHIPS - The women's squad finished second at the C-USA Championships with 719.5 points behind only Tulane (729). The team race came down to the final event of the competition, and the 400-freestyle relay consisting of Erica Tate, Aimee Moreau, Karen Sandifer and Rikki Covey finished with the second fastest time in school history at 3:25.74 seconds but were the runner-ups to the Green Wave.
The Frogs set school and meet records in the 200 and 800-freestyle relays with times of 1:33.01 and 7:25.96, respectively. Leann Cathcart (50-free), Moreau (100-back) and Covey (200-back) were also conference champs. Overall, nine female swimmers were all-conference honorees.
SIX SCHOOL RECORDS GO DOWN - The Frogs have broken six school records this season with four coming last weekend in Houston at the C-USA Championships/Invitational.
Leann Cathcart, Karen Sandifer, Aimee Moreau and Erica Tate notched the best time in the 200-freestyle relay when they finished in 1:33.01. In the opening leg of the event, Cathcart clocked a 23.24 seconds in the 50-free, which is also the fastest time in the record books by 1/100th of a second over former Frog Erin Irons.
The 800-freestyle relay consisting of Rikki Covey, Emily Duerringer, Tara Sullivan and Karen Sandifer smashed the school record by more than six seconds when they finished with a time of 7:25.96.
In the 500-freestyle, Covey broke teammate Keleigh Wentworth's record when she touched the wall in 4:56.19.
Earlier this season, Erica Tate broke a 14-year old school record in the 100-butterfly when she finished in 55.41 seconds at the UT-Invite. Kelly McCain topped his own school mark in the 1-meter diving with 336.60 points.
NCAA "B" QUALIFIERS - The Frogs have eight members on their team that have posted NCAA "B" qualifying marks this season. Of the eight, six are swimmers and two are divers.
On the men's team, Yousif Del Valle (200-free) and Craig Chapman (200-back) have met the standards in the pool, while Kelly McCain (1, 3, platform) has qualified in all three diving events.
For the women, Leann Cathcart and Erica Tate have posted "B" times in the 50-free and also teamed together along with Aimee Moreau and Karen Sandifer in the 200-freestyle relay. Tate, meanwhile, has also qualified in the 100-fly. In diving, Kelly Seely has met the standards in both the 1 and 3-meter springboard events.
FROGS IN THE POWER RANKINGS - Both the men and women's swimming and diving teams are ranked in the top-10 in the Mid-Major Power Polls. The women's squad is the third rated team in the poll, while the men are seventh.
The mid-major poll is comprised of the conferences that do not benefit from the large television contracts or revenue from football or basketball. They are all the schools in the non-BCS leagues.
YET ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL DUAL SEASON - The Frogs combined to finish with a 18-5 dual record this season. The highlight of the season was on Jan. 21 when the Horned Frogs defeated LSU at the University Recreation Center. TCU headed into the final event, the 200-freestyle relay, needing to win to beat the SEC-foe, and they did just that.
The women's squad reached 10 wins for the fourth straight year as they finished with a 11-2 record, while the men's team ended with a 7-3 mark.
THE SYBESMA FILE - In 26 years as the head coach of the TCU swimming and diving program, Richard Sybesma has won more than 300 duals. With the 18 wins this season, Sybesma now has a 318-229-3 (.581) record with the H2O Frogs.
Players Mentioned
