Swimming & Diving

Minnesota's men's swimming and diving team will have at least one competitor in 20 of the 21 events at this year's NCAA Championships, which start today in Atlanta. The Gophers send 12 individuals to the meet, and only Auburn with 18, Stanford and California with 15 and Texas with 14 will have more competitors in the field.

One can imagine that a diver could be sidelined by chronic back pain caused by years of having to torque and tighten the body's muscles before impact with the water at 30 mph. But can you imagine being forced into a back brace for five months, unable to fully enjoy your summer break? That's what Minnesota's junior diver Holly Jakits went through to get ...

As the water evaporated from the swimmers after conference swimming and diving championships, teams already had begun preparing individuals for the NCAA Championships. As was the case for Minnesota's men's swimming and diving team. The Gophers automatically qualified three of their five relay teams for the NCAA Championships in Atlanta, which are March 23 to 25, and their other two relay teams qualified for NCAA consideration with their times.

For Minnesota’s women’s swimming and diving team, Saturday’s 100-yard freestyle finals at the Big Ten Championships were extremely encouraging. The Gophers didn’t have the greatest showing in the event, finishing freshmen Stacy Busack and Meredith McCarthy in sixth and eighth place, respectively.

Last year a sixth-place finish was considered a solid season for Minnesota’s women’s swimming and diving team. This year, improvement is in sight as the Gophers travel to compete at the 2006 Big Ten Championships which begin at 6 tonight in Columbus, Ohio.

The competition at this weekend's Minnesota Challenge won't provide much of a challenge to Minnesota's men's swimming and diving team. Instead, the eighth-ranked Gophers will create their own challenge " improving on things they've seemed to have no trouble with this season.