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Women Prepare for Big Ten Championships
2/18/2019 6:07:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving
The No. 22 Minnesota women's swim and dive team is headed to Bloomington, Ind. for this season's Big Ten Championships, hosted by Indiana. The Gophers will take part in four days of competition on Feb. 20-23 as they look to match or improve upon their fourth place finish at last season's conference Championships
The four-day meet kicks off on Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. CT as two relays take place. On days two, three and four the meet will adopt a prelims/finals structure as all teams will swim a preliminary session in the morning at 10 a.m. CT with the finals session following at 5:30 p.m. CT.
Fans can follow the live results for the week's swimming events here, whereas the live diving results will be available here. For the full schedule of events during the championships, take a look at the complete schedule.
Those interested can watch a live stream of the 2019 Big Ten Championships via BTN Plus on BTN2Go. Complimentary access to BTN2Go is available to viewers who connect to the internet through a B1G University network. Otherwise fans may sign up for the pay-per-view webcasts.
Last year at Big Ten Championships the Gophers notched a fourth-place finish with an overall score of 1,049 points. Sarah Bacon earned Co-Diver of the Championship and All-Big Ten First Team honors after becoming the 1-meter springboard Big Ten Champion. Six other Minnesota swimmers earned All-Big Ten Second Team accolades, and the Gophers earned two medals, set a new school record and recorded numerous personal records on top of their other successes.
This week's meet brings together some of the best programs in the country, let alone just the conference. The strength of the Big Ten means that the Gophers are exposed to some of the best competitors in the country early in the season and are able to prepare for the pressures of championship season with focus and determination.
"The Big Ten has made such an incredible transition in the past few years where you're really looking at a conference that should have three or four teams in the top ten in the country," remarked head coach Kelly Kremer. "We've seen a lot of these teams throughout the dual meet season. It's just such a deep and awesome conference in which to swim and dive. My expectations are that our team is up there competing with the best of them."
After impressive performances throughout their dual meet season, the Gophers are feeling confident with their progress throughout 2018-19 and their position heading into this week's competition.
The Gophers will be strong competitors as they have posted five different times that rank in the top 10 times in the nation for their respective events as well as 15 times that rank in the top five in the Big Ten. Sophomore Mackenzie Padington has the fastest time in the conference in the 500-yard freestyle, having recorded a time of 4:37.01 at the Hawkeye Invite this past November. It will undoubtedly be a battle all week long.
"On the women's side Michigan has a really good chance to be in the top two or three in the country," said Kremer. "So, we just have a loaded conference from top to bottom with the depth of this conference. We feel really good about where we are at in terms of qualifying people for NCAAs even at this point. So we're going to use this week's meet to hopefully get a few more people in and sharpen up a bit as we get ready for NCAAs."
Lindsey Kozelsky has already secured her spot at NCAAs in March thanks to her having swam an A cut time of 58.70 in the 100-yard breaststroke back at the ACC/B1G Challenge last November. Many of her teammates such as senior Chantal Nack and junior Tevyn Waddell have also put themselves in good position to qualify with their numerous B cut swims.
In the diving well, Bacon looks to defend her 1-meter title from 2018 while junior Kristen Hayden hopes to bring in crucial points for Minnesota throughout the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform competitions.
Be sure to tune in to watch all the action from this year's conference championships or follow @GopherSwimDive on Twitter and Instagram or like us on Facebook for updates on your favorite swimmers and divers.
The four-day meet kicks off on Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. CT as two relays take place. On days two, three and four the meet will adopt a prelims/finals structure as all teams will swim a preliminary session in the morning at 10 a.m. CT with the finals session following at 5:30 p.m. CT.
Fans can follow the live results for the week's swimming events here, whereas the live diving results will be available here. For the full schedule of events during the championships, take a look at the complete schedule.
Those interested can watch a live stream of the 2019 Big Ten Championships via BTN Plus on BTN2Go. Complimentary access to BTN2Go is available to viewers who connect to the internet through a B1G University network. Otherwise fans may sign up for the pay-per-view webcasts.
Last year at Big Ten Championships the Gophers notched a fourth-place finish with an overall score of 1,049 points. Sarah Bacon earned Co-Diver of the Championship and All-Big Ten First Team honors after becoming the 1-meter springboard Big Ten Champion. Six other Minnesota swimmers earned All-Big Ten Second Team accolades, and the Gophers earned two medals, set a new school record and recorded numerous personal records on top of their other successes.
This week's meet brings together some of the best programs in the country, let alone just the conference. The strength of the Big Ten means that the Gophers are exposed to some of the best competitors in the country early in the season and are able to prepare for the pressures of championship season with focus and determination.
"The Big Ten has made such an incredible transition in the past few years where you're really looking at a conference that should have three or four teams in the top ten in the country," remarked head coach Kelly Kremer. "We've seen a lot of these teams throughout the dual meet season. It's just such a deep and awesome conference in which to swim and dive. My expectations are that our team is up there competing with the best of them."
After impressive performances throughout their dual meet season, the Gophers are feeling confident with their progress throughout 2018-19 and their position heading into this week's competition.
The Gophers will be strong competitors as they have posted five different times that rank in the top 10 times in the nation for their respective events as well as 15 times that rank in the top five in the Big Ten. Sophomore Mackenzie Padington has the fastest time in the conference in the 500-yard freestyle, having recorded a time of 4:37.01 at the Hawkeye Invite this past November. It will undoubtedly be a battle all week long.
"On the women's side Michigan has a really good chance to be in the top two or three in the country," said Kremer. "So, we just have a loaded conference from top to bottom with the depth of this conference. We feel really good about where we are at in terms of qualifying people for NCAAs even at this point. So we're going to use this week's meet to hopefully get a few more people in and sharpen up a bit as we get ready for NCAAs."
Lindsey Kozelsky has already secured her spot at NCAAs in March thanks to her having swam an A cut time of 58.70 in the 100-yard breaststroke back at the ACC/B1G Challenge last November. Many of her teammates such as senior Chantal Nack and junior Tevyn Waddell have also put themselves in good position to qualify with their numerous B cut swims.
In the diving well, Bacon looks to defend her 1-meter title from 2018 while junior Kristen Hayden hopes to bring in crucial points for Minnesota throughout the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform competitions.
Be sure to tune in to watch all the action from this year's conference championships or follow @GopherSwimDive on Twitter and Instagram or like us on Facebook for updates on your favorite swimmers and divers.
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