Swimmers Advance To Finals On Last Day At NCAAs
Saturday, March 27, 2004 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Four athletes advanced in individual events while No. 5 Florida also placed a relay in the finals during preliminaries on the final day of competition at the 2004 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday at the Nassau County Aquatic Center.
Seniors Chris Kellam (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.), Carlos Jayme (Goias, Brazil), junior Adam Sioui (Ontario, Canada) and sophomore Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) all advanced to finals in individual events, while the 400-meter freestyle relay team of senior Scott Schultz (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla), Jayme, Lochte, and Sioui also moved on to the finals.
Florida enters the last wave of events in sixth place with 177 points – just 20 behind Michigan for fifth. Auburn leads the meet with 435 points. The Gators will be looking for their fifth consecutive top-10 finish and the 30th top-10 finish in school history.
Jayme ensured that he would break the all-time Florida record for most All-America honors by making the championship finals in the 100-meter freestyle for the fourth straight season – the first time in school history a Gator has earned All-America honors in that event four times. In addition, Jayme will earn an All-America honor in the 400-meter freestyle relay, giving him 26 for his career – two better than the previous record of 24 held by Stephen Clarke. During Saturday's prelims, Jayme swam the ninth-fastest time in the world this year and a school-record time of 47.56, which was the third best of the day.
Kellam advanced to the finals of the 200-meter backstroke for the fourth time in his career in becoming just the third Gator to accomplish that feat in school history. Kellam swam the fifth-best time in prelims (1:54.77), which also was the second best in school history.
Florida placed two swimmers in finals of the 200-meter butterfly. Sioui advanced for the third straight season with a school-record time of 1:56.02, which was the sixth best of the prelims. Lochte made the consolation finals with the 14th-best time (1:57.39).
Florida's 400-meter freestyle relay team of Schultz, Jayme, Lochte and Sioui set a school record with the second-best time of prelims (3:14.29).
Timed finals of the 1,500-meter freestyle begin at 4:47 p.m. with the last heat to be swam during finals, which begin at 7 p.m. Live results can be found at www.nliac.com
Top 10 Standings
1. Auburn 435
2. Stanford 248.5
3. Texas 246
4. Arizona 225
5. Michigan 197
6. Florida 177
7. California 170.5
8. Tennessee 125
9. Northwestern 93
10. Minnesota 82
Complete Florida Results
Saturday preliminaries
200-meter backstroke
5. Chris Kellam, 1:54.77
20. Kris Wiebeck, 1:57.94
100-meter freestyle
3. Carlos Jayme, 47.56
41. Scott Schultz, 49.91
200-meter breaststroke
26. Bill Mrazek, 2:14.26
200-meter butterfly
6. Adam Sioui, 1:56.02
14. Ryan Lochte, 1:57.39
17. Gabriel Mangabeira, 1:57.66
400-meter freestyle relay
2. Schultz, Jayme, Lochte, Sioui, 3:14.29
