Swimmers say strong finish a possibility

At last year's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in Seattle, Georgia's men's team came in seventh place - the Bulldogs' best finish in a decade.

But as coach Jack Bauerle recently pointed out, there is a big difference between last year's team and this year's squad, which begins competition today at nationals in College Station, Texas.

First and foremost, Georgia will be without the three competitors who collected four individual titles in 2008. Sebastien Rouault won the 1,650- and 500-yard freestyle events, Gil Stovall captured the 200 butterfly title and diver Chris Colwill finished first in the 1-meter springboard competition.

The optimistic Bauerle realizes his charges may not duplicate last year's success, but believes the Bulldogs - who had a 5-4 dual meet mark and went 2-3 against Southeastern Conference foes - can still place in the top 10 at the three-day meet.

"We lost Sebastien, Chris and Gil - all three Olympians," said Bauerle, whose Lady Bulldogs finished second behind California last week at the women's NCAA Championships. "Sebastien was a double winner at the NCAAs and those are gigantic points. On the last day, we even outscored the best of teams because of those guys. So we lost three NCAA champions and three of our best kids ever. Even without them, I think we'll still be pretty good."

Although Rouault, Stovall and Colwill have departed, Georgia has showcased new leaders in Troyden Prinsloo, Neil Versfeld and Mark Dylla, among others.

At last year's NCAA Championships, Prinsloo finished second to Rouault in the 1,650 freestyle and Dylla finished second to Stovall in the 200 butterfly. Versfeld won the 100 and 200 breaststroke events at the SEC Championships in February, setting a national mark in the 200 with a time of 1:52.07.

"We want to go in and do the best we can," said Dylla, who will compete in the 200 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly, 200 and 400 medley relays and the 800 free relay. "I think we have a chance to have three individual champions, just like last year.

"I'd like to surprise some people and have three new champions this year. Troy and I were right behind Gil and Sebastien last year. Hopefully, we can finish what we started."

"Mark, Troy and Neil - these guys are the class of their fields," said Bauerle, who had 10 swimmers qualify for nationals. "Neil just set an NCAA record, the fastest swimmer ever in 200 (yards). Obviously we're putting a little bit of pressure on him to do what he needs to do. It's a great group, but we'll have to have a couple of upsets."

Prinsloo, who swam for his native South Africa in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, said international competition has certainly boosted his confidence.

"To me, this feels like a different competition because this is short course and the Olympics is long course," said Prinsloo, who will swim the 500 and 1,650 freestyle events. "And there's a different vibe with just the guys being there. It's a totally a different experience. But being in the Olympics definitely helps."

Versfeld, who also swam for South Africa in the Olympics, agreed that international competition provides valuable seasoning, but added the NCAAs are an entirely different competitive entity.

"You learn so much from that (Olympic) experience that coming in to this you have a lot more confidence and you know what to expect," said Versfeld, who will swim the 100 and 200 breaststroke and the 400 and 200 medley relays. "Handling the pressure became a lot easier, obviously, after something like that. But the NCAAs are definitely up there. It's a meet like no other.

"From top to bottom, there are no slow swimmers there. It's the best of the best from the colleges in the U.S. It's extremely fast and intense."

One area where Georgia won't get any help this year is in diving, as no Bulldogs qualified for the NCAAs.

"It will tough to improve on what we did last year," Dylla said. "We all know that. We'll have to swim lights-out like we did last year. Replacing (Colwill) is almost impossible - he scores almost 60 points, so we've got to come up with 60 points from somewhere.

"It's going to be a dogfight, no question, but we'll stay confident."

Rate This Article: - Excellent Good Average Poor Terrible

Comment on "Swimmers say strong finish a possibility"

Your Name

Your Comments

Verification Code: XFWV75
Enter Code:

Related News: