University of Minnesota Athletics
Richards, Two Relays Earn All-America Honors
3/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Minnesota earned All-America honors in three events this evening to kick-off the 2011 NCAA Championships held at University Aquatic Center. The Gophers are in 13th place as a team with 37 points.
The Gophers opened the night by finishing seventh in the 200 freestyle relay, giving the program 10 straight All-America honors in the event. Michael Richards led off the Gophers in a strong 19.14 and put Minnesota in fourth place. Curt Carlson followed in 19.44 while Zach Bolin was third in 19.35. Freshman Derek Toomey anchored in an impressive 19.28 and Minnesota touched the wall in 1:17.24. The Gophers improved .34 seconds off their prelims time. Stanford took the title with a time of 1:15.26, holding off California’s effort of 1:15.34. The All-America honor was the first in Toomey’s career while it was the third for Bolin, ninth for Richards and 11th for Carlson.
Richards returned to the blocks for the consolation final of the 50 freestyle where he finished first and ninth overall with a time of 19.39. Richards chased down Auburn’s Drew Modrov in the final 10 yards to touch him out by just .02 seconds. The Gophers picked up nine points and sat in 10th place at the time. The ninth place finish marked the 10th All-America award for Richards and improved on his 10th place finish as a junior. Richards also became Minnesota’s first two-time All-American in the 50 free since Del Cerney in 1991 and 1992.
“I am pretty happy. We took advantage of our point scoring opprtunities,” head coach Dennis Dale said. “(Richards) came back with a nice swim in the 50 to win the consolation and leading off our 200 free relay. That was a great time leading off. We think we could have been a couple places higher in the event but overall it was a good job. We were so good at Big Tens, I knew it would be tough to duplicate that kind of time. However, we came back at night in a very wavy pool and improved our time.”
To end the night, Minnesota finished seventh in the consolation final of the 400 medley relay and 15th overall. Minnesota’s team of Nadav Kochavi (48.82), Ivan Gutesa (52.21), Kyler Van Swol (47.00) and Zach Bolin (43.32) turned in a time of 3:11.32. It marked the first All-America award for Van Swol and Gutesa, the fourth for Bolin and the third for Kochavi.
In 1-meter diving, senior Drew Brown placed 26th with a score of 294.20.
The NCAA Championships continue tomorrow with prelims at noon and finals at 7 p.m. Minnesota is hosting the NCAA Championships for the sixth time at University Aquatic Center.
The Gophers opened the night by finishing seventh in the 200 freestyle relay, giving the program 10 straight All-America honors in the event. Michael Richards led off the Gophers in a strong 19.14 and put Minnesota in fourth place. Curt Carlson followed in 19.44 while Zach Bolin was third in 19.35. Freshman Derek Toomey anchored in an impressive 19.28 and Minnesota touched the wall in 1:17.24. The Gophers improved .34 seconds off their prelims time. Stanford took the title with a time of 1:15.26, holding off California’s effort of 1:15.34. The All-America honor was the first in Toomey’s career while it was the third for Bolin, ninth for Richards and 11th for Carlson.
Richards returned to the blocks for the consolation final of the 50 freestyle where he finished first and ninth overall with a time of 19.39. Richards chased down Auburn’s Drew Modrov in the final 10 yards to touch him out by just .02 seconds. The Gophers picked up nine points and sat in 10th place at the time. The ninth place finish marked the 10th All-America award for Richards and improved on his 10th place finish as a junior. Richards also became Minnesota’s first two-time All-American in the 50 free since Del Cerney in 1991 and 1992.
“I am pretty happy. We took advantage of our point scoring opprtunities,” head coach Dennis Dale said. “(Richards) came back with a nice swim in the 50 to win the consolation and leading off our 200 free relay. That was a great time leading off. We think we could have been a couple places higher in the event but overall it was a good job. We were so good at Big Tens, I knew it would be tough to duplicate that kind of time. However, we came back at night in a very wavy pool and improved our time.”
To end the night, Minnesota finished seventh in the consolation final of the 400 medley relay and 15th overall. Minnesota’s team of Nadav Kochavi (48.82), Ivan Gutesa (52.21), Kyler Van Swol (47.00) and Zach Bolin (43.32) turned in a time of 3:11.32. It marked the first All-America award for Van Swol and Gutesa, the fourth for Bolin and the third for Kochavi.
In 1-meter diving, senior Drew Brown placed 26th with a score of 294.20.
The NCAA Championships continue tomorrow with prelims at noon and finals at 7 p.m. Minnesota is hosting the NCAA Championships for the sixth time at University Aquatic Center.
Players Mentioned
Dist. Free
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Breast/IM
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Fly
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Sprint Free
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