Experienced women head to NCAAs

The Minnesota women’s swimming and diving team will head down to the University of Texas next week for the NCAA Championships with a significant asset — experience.

Of the 12 athletes making the trip, six will be competing in their third championships and five in their second, leaving only one rookie.

“They’re going to the meet with expectations. They’re not going to experience the meet; they’re going there to perform and to really have an opportunity to do something athletically at the meet,” co-head coach Kelly Kremer said of his team’s experience. “I think that experience is vital.”

One of the team’s veterans is senior Jillian Tyler.

Tyler is coming off a historic Big-Ten championships in which she became just the 12th swimmer in conference history to win the Big Ten championship four consecutive times when she won the 100-yard breaststroke.

The All-American finished fourth nationally in the event at last year’s NCAA Championships with a time of 59.63, a far cry from the school record of 58.08 she clocked at this year’s Big Ten championships. In addition to being a school record, that time is also the fastest recorded in the nation this season.

“Jill has had such an outstanding career at Minnesota. At NCAAs, she’s consistently been up there,” Kremer said. “It’s not a surprise that Jill’s sitting where she is, and we’re just excited to see how she can close out her career, hopefully on a really high note.”

Tyler isn’t the only Minnesota athlete looking to do well at nationals.

Junior Ashley Steenvoorden is seeded fifth in the 500-yard freestyle. The 2011 Big Ten champion placed 18th at last year’s nationals with a time of 4:42.70. She’s already clocked a time of 4:37.66 this season.

Kremer said the team has been using the last month to learn from the conference championships and sharpen up in preparation for nationals.

“I think we’re going to see a group of athletes that’s going to really enjoy the experience and have a great time; and usually, when athletes are having fun doing what they’re doing, they perform at a really high level,” he said.

“I’m expecting to see us have a great, great meet.”

While the swimming championships won’t kick off until next Thursday, the NCAA Diving Championships are set to start tomorrow.

Junior Kelci Bryant is the defending national champion at the 3-meter dive.  If she were to repeat, it would be yet another title to add to her résumé. The former Olympian has put together quite a winter, winning the 1-meter dive and placing sixth in the 3-meter at the USA Diving Winter Championships.

Senior Drew Brown, meanwhile, will represent the men’s team at the diving championships this weekend. The All-American finished 13th at last year’s nationals in the 1-meter dive. He’s coming off a Big Ten championships at which he was the runner-up in the 3-meter dive.