Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG, Va. -- The Virginia Tech men’s swimming and diving teams will look to build on their first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference Championship this week, as the H2Okies send a program-record 13 competitors to the NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Austin, Texas on March 27-29.
Tech, which will send 10 swimmers and three divers to compete at the University of Texas, will be represented in diving by senior Ryan Hawkins, junior Kyle Butts and freshman T.J. Shinholser. Hawkins, making his fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships, and Butts competed at the event last season, while Shinholser will be making his debut at the championships.
The H2Okies’ swimming contingent will consist of 10 competitors, topping the previous record of seven set last season. Junior Morgan Latimer and senior Emmett Dignan are the only two Tech competitors who will compete this week after swimming in the event last year.
The other eight H2Okies (juniors Harrison Cefalo, Collin Higgins, C.J. Fiala and Owen Burns, sophomore Lucas Bureau and freshmen Brandon Fiala, Robert Owen and Jan Switkowski) will all be making their NCAA Championships debut in Austin this week.
Latimer and Switkowski will lead the way for Tech, as both will swim in three individual events across the week. Latimer will hit the pool for the 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly and 100 backstroke, while Switkowski will compete in both the 200 and 500 freestyle, as well as the 200 butterfly.
Cefalo, Higgins, Brandon Fiala and Owen will all compete in at least one individual event each, though all entries are subject to change. The H2Okies will also be racing in all five relay events this week, as C.J. Fiala, Dignan, Bureau and Burns will fill out yet-to-be-determined relay teams for Tech.
Last season, Tech earned its second-straight top-20 finish at the NCAA Championships, taking 20th with 52 points after finishing 18th the season before. Eight different H2Okies earned at least one All-American honor in 2013.
Competition will begin on Thursday morning with trials at 11 a.m., starting with the 200 freestyle relay, while finals will start at 7 p.m. Thursday evening. The 1-meter diving event will also be held on Thursday. All times are Central Standard Time (CST).
Live streaming will be available for the entirety of the event, with both Friday and Saturday’s finals appearing on ESPN3, while live results are available throughout the week. Links to the championship homepage and live results can be found above.