The NCAA Championships for men’s swimming and diving will start this Wednesday in Indianapolis at the IU Natatorium. The races will go until Saturday. Virginia will send six swimmers to compete in a variety of relays and individual events. Let’s take a look at who they are and which events they’ll swim.
Swimmers & Expected Events
- Matt Brownstead: 50 free, 100 back, 100 free, 200 medley relay, 200 free relay, 400 medley relay, 400 free relay
- Noah Nichols: 100 breast, 200 breast, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay
- Tim Connery: 200 IM, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay, 400 free relay
- August Lamb: 200 medley relay, 200 free relay, 400 free relay
- Connor Boyle: 200 free relay, 400 medley relay, 400 free relay
- Simon Lins: 200 free relay
Virginia has four different relays competing in the NCAA Championships. All four are either freestyle or medley relays. The Cavaliers finished 6th in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:23.44 and fourth in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:03.78 at the ACC Championships a month ago. The 200 medley relay team will compete in the finals on Wednesday, while the 400 medley relay will compete on Friday. Both finals will be held at 6 p.m. following preliminary qualifying in the mornings.
The 200-yard freestyle relay team will compete Thursday with the finals again at 6 p.m. In the ACC Championships, this relay team came in second to NC State with a time of 1:15.20. The Wolfpack are loaded with strong freestyle swimmers and raced an impressive 1:14.44. The 400-yard freestyle relay is the final event in the entire NCAA Championships and will be Saturday at 6 pm. Virginia’s team came in fourth at the ACC’s with a time of 2:49.64.
In terms of individual events, Brownstead will be competing in the most races with three total. The 50-yard freestyle trials will be Thursday, while the the 100-yard backstroke trials will be Friday and the 100-yard freestyle trials will be Saturday. All prelims are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.. The senior has had a strong career at Virginia that includes being a three-time ACC champion (200 free relay in 2022, 50 free and 100 free in 2021). At this season’s ACC Championships, Brownstead finished third in the 50 free (18.86), fifth in the 100 free (41.85) and second in the 100 back (45.26).
Nichols, a senior like Brownstead, will be swimming in two individual events: the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke. Nichols has won back-to-back ACC Championships in the 100 breast. He raced a 50.89 at this year’s championships, which is currently tied for the fastest time this season with Liam Bell from University of California. The trials for the 100 breaststroke will be Friday. He also finished fifth in the 200-yard breaststroke finals at the ACC Championships with a time of 1:53.06. The trials for this event will be Saturday.
The final individual swimmer is Connery. The junior will be competing in the 200 IM after finishing third in the ACC Championships. His time of 1:41.86 set a new school record. The trials for the 200 IM will be Thursday.
UVA finished 15th overall in the 2023 NCAA Championships. The Hoos featured eight All-Americans last season, which included Boyle, Brownstead, Connery, Lamb, and Nichols.
