Swimmers Open BIG EAST Championships on Wednesday

Swimmers Open BIG EAST Championships on WednesdaySwimmers Open BIG EAST Championships on Wednesday

Feb. 12, 2007

BIG EAST Championships

Date: Wed., Feb. 14 - Sat., Feb. 17, 2007
Site: Nassau County Aquatics Center, Long Island, N.Y.
Tickets: $28/$17 for all-sessions
Live Results: www.BIGEAST.org
Records: Men: 5-7; Women: 2-10

FOR STARTERS:
The University of Cincinnati men's and women's swimming and diving teams take on the rest of the BIG EAST Conference at the 2007 BIG EAST Swimming and Diving Championships starting on Wednesday, Feb. 14. The meet, hosted by St. John's at the Nassau County Aquatics Center, runs through Saturday, Feb. 17. The 18 Bearcats men who qualified are out to improve on a fifth-place finish last year. The women have 14 qualifiers and finished seventh in the 2006 league meet.

LAST TIME AT BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIPS:
The UC men's and women's swimming and diving teams finished fifth and seventh, respectively, at the 2006 BIG EAST Championships. One day after winning the 100 butterfly, senior Ann Degenstein won the 200 butterfly title, breaking a school record and improving her ranking to sixth nationally in the event. Gerdien de Jong placed fourth in the 50 free. For the men, Marcel Kleiner placed third in the 50 and 200 free, while David Gustavsson and Bjorn Mates placed fifth in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke, respectively. Three Bearcats finished in the top six in the men's 100 freestyle. Kleiner was the top finisher, placing second. Gustavsson and Ryan Yearwood finished in fifth and sixth.

LAST TIME OUT:
Nine event wins led the UC women to a 123-116 win at Wright State on Jan. 27. Despite two event wins by Jeremy Peter, the Bearcats men fell, 140-83. Paola Rivas won both the 500 and 1,000 free races and Randi Vogel placed first in the 200 back and 400 IM. Gerdien de Jong won the 100 free and anchored the winning teams in the 400 free relay and 400 medley relay. Younger sister Elinore de Jong won the 50 free race and was second in the 100 free. For the men, Peter won the 200 breast and 400 IM races. Steve Marshall and Jakub Carda finished just behind Peter in the 200 breast as UC swept the top three spots. Bjorn Mates was the only other winner for the men, taking the 200 back. Marcel Kleiner placed second in the 50 and 100 free races.

NCAA CATS:
Senior Gerdien de Jong reached the NCAA `B' standard in the 100 free at the Miami Invitational with a time 50.87 seconds to win the event. So far, UC's only other NCAA qualifier is the 400 freestyle relay team that reached the `B' standard in a school-record time of 3:23.95 at the Miami Invitational. The team that set the record was made up of Gerdien de Jong, Alex Doyle, Elinore de Jong and Randi Vogel.

BIG WINNERS:
UC has participated in 11 meets this season and Marcel Kleiner and Bjorn Mates have come home with 11 individual event wins each. Kleiner's have all been in the freestyle, where he has won the 100 free five times, the 50 free four times and the 200 free twice. Mates has won the 200 back six times, while also posting wins in the 100 back, 100 fly, 200 free and 200 IM. On the women's side, Randi Vogel has won seven races in five events, Gerdien de Jong has won four 100 free titles and two in the 50 free and Annelie Jonsson has won four 200 breast races.

READY TO SCORE:
The Bearcats own a top-five seed in eight individual events. Marcel Kleiner is the fifth-seed in both the 50 and 100 free, while Jakub Carda is second in the 400 IM and Jeremy Peter is fifth in the 400 IM. Gerdien de Jong is fourth in the women's 100 free and fifth in the 50 free and Randi Vogel is fourth in the 200 back and fifth in the 100 back.