By Rachel Ewart, Swimming World College Intern
The 2015 NSISC Conference Championships begins this week with a total of nine teams competing. In comparison to the last few years, this conference meet is much larger and more competitive with the addition of four new teams. Many swimmers are looking to break records, grab best times and qualify for NCAAs.
Here are the top five races to watch at the NSISC Conference Championships:
WOMEN’S 50 FREESTYLE
With a total of 65 women competing in this event, it is bound to be a close race. Junior Peggy de Villiers is seeded first with a time of 23.50, while Junior Kelsey Leeson and sophomore Chole Bennett are separated by .01 trading de Villers (Leeson 23.83, Bennett 23.84). Then there are an additional 18 women seeded with 24s which will make for a tight race.
MEN’S 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY
The men’s 200 Individual Medley should be a solid race with Junior Matteo Fraschi seeded first at 1:48.21. Fraschi’s seed time is currently the Delta State pool record which he set this December. However, it should be a good fight for a high placing in this race as Freshman Max Pendall (1:51.51), Junior Guy Buls, (1:52.16) and Senior Vlad Zinca (1:52.94) are seeded with close times. These talented swimmers will have to push hard as they battle to the win.
WOMEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY
With the top nine seeds under 1:00, the women’s 100 butterfly could make for a great competetion. The top three seeds, all have 56s: Sophomore Anastasia Klyarovskaya is top seed (56.39), Senior Jeanne Miller (56.43) is second, while Junior Peggy de Villiers is third (56.61). These talented ladies could produce some amazing swims and could possibly make the national’s cut (54.71).
WOMEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE
The top four seeds of this race have already qualified for ‘B’ cuts and gone under 2:20. Melanie Tombers is first with a 2:18.73, while Paulina Szydlo (2:19.57), Anna Macht (2:19.59) and Kellyn Craig (2:19.71) all have almost identical seed times. The NSISC record is 2:18.71, which could easily be broken. Additionally, the ‘A’ cut in this event isn’t too far away either at 2:14.90. It will be interesting to see if either of these times will be accomplished by one of these breaststrokers. This race has some extremely talented ladies and it should be exciting to see who will step up for the win.
MEN’S RELAYS
This year the men of NSISC have some incredible competition, especially in the medley relays. The men’s 200 medley relay should be a great race- Delta State’s A relay has a talented group of men that are seeded with a 1:28.40, which is nearly a second away from the ‘A’ cut (1:27.42). St. Cloud State’s A relay and Delta State’s B relay should be a close race as well since their seed times are only one tenth apart. The men’s 400 medley relay should also be exciting; Delta State’s A relay is seeded first at 3:13.28, which is also close to the ‘A’ cut 3:12.39. St. Cloud and Henderson State’s relays also have great potential to perform well in this race.
Additional Information
The meet’s excitement is not limited to just these few races, there are many talented athletes who have trained hard all year long and have potential to excel beyond their expectations.
The NSISC Conference meet begins Wednesday, February, 18 and ends Saturday, February 21. The meet will be hosted at Delta State University’s pool in Cleveland, Mississippi. The Psych sheets and live results will be available at here.
Theres no excuse to why DSU couldnt put together an A relay for the 200 medley relay for men