No. 2 Men’s Swimming and Diving set for NCAA Championships

Wednesday, March 22

Indianapolis, Ind.

5 p.m. CT

University of Texas

NCAA Championships

No. 2 Men’s Swimming and Diving set for NCAA Championships

03.19.2017 | Men's Swimming and Diving

Longhorns seek third straight NCAA team title this week in Indianapolis.

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WHAT: Twelve-time NCAA champion No. 2 Texas aims for its third consecutive national team title this week at the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships.

Swimming Qualifiers
Jack Conger (4^th appearance, 50 free, 100 & 200 butterfly)
P.J. Dunne (2^nd appearance, 500, 200 & 100 free)
Will Glass (4^th appearance, 100 & 200 fly)
Townley Haas (2^nd appearance, 500, 200 & 100 freestyle)
Max Holter (2^nd appearance, 100 & 200 fly)
Tate Jackson (2^nd appearance, 50 free, 100 fly, 100 free)
Will Licon (4^th appearance, 200 IM, 100 & 200 breaststroke)
Jeremy Nichols (1^st appearance, 50 & 100 free)
Jeff Newkirk (1^st appearance, 500, 200 & 100 free)
Brett Ringgold (3^rd appearance, 50 & 100 free, 100 fly)
Jonathan Roberts (3^rd appearance, 200 & 400 IM, 200 backstroke)
Joseph Schooling (3^rd appearance, 50 free, 100 & 200 fly)
John Shebat (2^nd appearance, 50 free, 100 & 200 back)
Clark Smith (3^rd, 500, 200 & 1,650 free)
Sam Stewart (2^nd appearance [1 w/Auburn, 1 w/Texas], 200 & 400 IM, 200 breast)

Diving Qualifiers
Mark Anderson (4^th appearance, 1m, 3m & platform)
Grayson Campbell (1^st appearance, 1m & 3m)
Jacob Cornish (1^st appearance, platform)

WHEN/WHERE
Wednesday, March 22, 6 p.m. ET (800 freestyle relay only)
Thursday, March 23-Saturday, March 25 (10 a.m. prelims/12:30 p.m. diving prelims/6 p.m. finals)
IUPUI Natatorium – Indianapolis, Indiana
Hosted by IUPUI and the Indiana Sports Corporation
Full championship schedule can be found here.

CHAMPIONSHIPS INFORMATION
http://www.indianasportscorp.org/events/events-calendar/ncaa-swimming-diving

LIVE RESULTS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/ncaa/swimming/index.htm

LIVE DIVING SCORES: www.DiveMeets.com

LIVE VIDEO
Wednesday & Thursday finals + Thursday-Saturday prelims
http://iupuijags.com/watch/?Live=480

Friday & Saturday finals
www.espn3.com

QUICK HITS

Texas heads to Indianapolis as the two-time defending NCAA champion and a 12-time overall national champion. The Longhorns are tied with Michigan for No. 1 all-time with 12 NCAA team titles.
Texas returns 12 of the 19 Longhorns who competed at the 2016 NCAA Championships and delivered UT's 12^th NCAA team title with 541.5 points.
Texas won six individual events at the 2016 NCAA Championships and returns all three swimmers responsible for those six titles.
- Senior Will Licon, the 2015 Big 12 Swimmer of the Year, returns as the defending NCAA champion in the 200 IM and 200 breaststroke, and he also has an NCAA title in the 400 IM to his credit from 2015. The El Paso native set NCAA, American and U.S. Open records in the 200 breaststroke a year ago.
- Joseph Schooling successfully defended his NCAA titles in the 100 and 200 butterfly events. Schooling, who defeated Michael Phelps on his way to gold in the 100m butterfly at the Rio Olympics, broke his own NCAA records while winning both events a year ago in Atlanta.
- Sophomore Townley Haas won his first NCAA individual title last year in the 500 freestyle (4:09.00) and followed that effort with NCAA, American and U.S. Open records in the 200 freestyle (1:30.46). He became the first swimmer to clear 1:31 in the event.
Texas returns seven of the eight swimmers who accounted for its three NCAA relay titles last season. Joseph Schooling and Jack Conger both competed on the 200 and 800 freestyle relays in addition to the 400 medley relay. Will Licon and John Shebat competed on the 400 medley relay, while Brett Ringgold swam on the 200 freestyle relay. Townley Haas and Clark Smith joined Conger and Schooling on the 800 freestyle relay.
Head coach Eddie Reese, now in his 39^th year with the Longhorns, ranks No. 1 all-time among men's swimming and diving coaches with his 12 NCAA crowns. He passed former Ohio State coach Mike Peppe for No. 1 all-time last season.
Texas boasts more NCAA team titles (12) and NCAA top-two finishes (23) than any other men's swimming and diving program since head coach Eddie Reese's arrival in Austin in 1978. Texas has registered 30 top-three finishes at the NCAA Championships with Reese at the helm of the program.
Reese is the only college swimming coach to win NCAA team titles in four separate decades (1981, '88, '89, '90, '91, '96, 2000, '01, '02, 2010, '15, '16).
Texas has finished no worse than second at eight of the last nine NCAA Championship meets.
Texas has won 123 NCAA individual titles (No. 4 all-time). That total includes 60 NCAA individual swimming titles, 44 NCAA swimming relay crowns and 19 NCAA diving titles.
Texas has won NCAA titles in all 18 swimming events and two of the three diving events contested annually at the NCAA Championships.

NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving team titles since 1978-79 (Reese's first at season at Texas)

Texas – 12
Auburn – 8
Stanford – 7
California - 5
Michigan - 2
Florida - 2
Arizona - 1
UCLA - 1
NCAA top-two finishes since 1978-79 (Reese's first at Texas)
Texas – 23
Stanford – 17
Auburn – 11
California – 10
USC – 4
Michigan – 3
Florida – 3
Arizona – 2
UCLA – 2
SMU – 1

CAREER NCAA INDIVIDUAL TITLES AMONG CURRENT LONGHORNS
4___Will Licon (2015 400 IM & 200 breast; 2016 200 IM & 200 breast)
4___Joseph Schooling (2015 100 & 200 fly; 2016 100 & 200 fly)
2___Townley Haas (2016 500 & 200 free)
1___Clark Smith (2015 500 free)

CAREER NCAA RELAY TITLES AMONG CURRENT LONGHORNS
5___Jack Conger (2015 200 FR & 400 MR; 2016 800 FR, 200 FR & 400 MR)
4___Joseph Schooling (2015 400 MR; 2016 800 FR, 200 FR & 400 MR)
2___Will Licon (2015 400 MR, 2016 400 MR)
1___Townley Haas (2016 800 FR)
1___Brett Ringgold (2016 200 FR)
1___John Shebat (2016 400 MR)
1___Clark Smith (2016 800 FR)

NCAA RECORDS
400 Medley Relay – John Shebat, Will Licon, Joseph Schooling, Jack Conger, 3:00.68
800 Freestyle Relay – Jack Conger, Townley Haas, Clark Smith, Joseph Schooling, 6:08.03
200 Breaststroke – Will Licon, 1:48.12
100 Fly – Joseph Schooling, 44.01
200 Fly – Joseph Schooling, 1:37.97
200 Free – Townley Haas, 1:30.46
1000 Free (not an NCAA Championships event) – Clark Smith, 8:33.93

AMERICAN RECORDS
200 Free – Townley Haas, 1:30.46
200 Breaststroke – Will Licon, 1:48.12
1000 Free – Clark Smith, 8:33.93
200 Butterfly – Jack Conger, 1:38.06

MORE ON TEXAS' NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFIERS
Jack Conger
Seventeen-time All-America senior Jack Conger makes his fourth consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships. The Rio Olympics gold medalist in the 4x200m freestyle relay holds the meet's top seed in the 200-yard butterfly (1:39.17) and owns the American record in the same event (1:38.06). Conger holds the third seed in the 100 butterfly (44.56) and the No. 12 seed in the 50 freestyle (19.20).

Will Licon
Twelve-time All-America senior Will Licon joins Conger as a four-time NCAA Championships qualifier. The six-time NCAA champion from El Paso set NCAA and American records in the 200-yard breaststroke at the 2016 NCAA Championships, and he could become UT's first three-time NCAA champion in that event since Brendan Hansen, who won the event all four years as a Longhorn.

Licon, the only current college swimmer with NCAA titles in three different individual events (200 IM, 400 IM and 200 breast), won the 400 IM as a sophomore and both the 200 IM and 200 breaststroke as a junior. He holds the top seed in the 200 breaststroke (1:49.89), the No. 2 seed in the 100 breaststroke (51.15) and the No. 10 seed in the 200 IM (1:42.35).

Will Glass
Five-time All-America Will Glass returns for a fourth NCAA Championships appearance. The Mobile, Alabama, native is seeded 26^th in the 100 butterfly (46.05) and 31^ST in the 200 butterfly (1:43.52). Glass helped Texas make history in 2015 as one of an NCAA record six swimmers from the same school in an individual final (100 butterfly).

Clark Smith
Three-time All-America senior Clark Smith brings the No. 2 seed in the 1,650 freestyle (14:32.77) and the No. 4 seed in the 500 freestyle (4:11.11) into his third NCAA Championships appearance. The Rio Olympics gold medalist in the 4x200m freestyle relay became UT's first NCAA champion in the 500 freestyle two years ago. The Denver native, who holds the American record at 1,000 yards, is UT's record holder in the 500 and 1,650 freestyle events.

P.J. Dunne
Senior P.J. Dunne qualified for the NCAA Championships for the second time in as many years with his No. 28 seed in the 200 freestyle (1:34.13).

Joseph Schooling
Eight-time NCAA champion junior Joseph Schooling brings NCAA records in the 100 and 200-yard butterfly events to his third NCAA Championships. The Rio Olympics gold medalist in the 100m butterfly shared CSCAA Co-Swimmer of the Meet honors with California's Ryan Murphy and Florida's Caeleb Dressel at the 2016 NCAA Championships.

Schooling swept the NCAA titles in the 100 and 200 butterfly in his previous two NCAA Championships and has helped the Horns to back-to-back NCAA records and national titles in the 400 medley relay. Additionally, he helped UT to NCAA titles in the 200 and 800 freestyle relays and anchored the Horns to NCAA and U.S. Open records in the latter event.

Brett Ringgold
Former club teammates Brett Ringgold and Jonathan Roberts join Schooling as three-time NCAA Championships qualifiers. Last season, Ringgold helped the Horns to their second consecutive NCAA title in the 200 freestyle relay and earned his first individual All-America honor in the 100 freestyle. He holds the 16^th seed in the 100 freestyle (42.39) and the 17^th seed in the 50 freestyle (19.29).

Jonathan Roberts
Roberts, an All-American for Texas in the 500 freestyle and the 400 IM, set lifetime bests in the 200 IM, 400 IM and 200 backstroke last month at the Big 12 Championships. He holds the sixth seed in the 400 IM (3:40.26), eighth seed in the 200 backstroke (1:39.87), and the 33^rd seed in the 200 IM (1:44.49).

Headed by Rio Olympics gold medalist Townley Haas, Texas will send seven members of its sophomore class to Indianapolis.

Townley Haas
Haas won NCAA titles in his first three finals swims as a true freshman and set NCAA records in two those swims at the 2016 NCAA Championships.

Haas, who placed fifth overall in the 200m freestyle and helped the U.S. to gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay at the Rio Olympics, recorded the fastest 800-yard freestyle relay split ever (1:30.52) while helping Texas to NCAA and U.S. Open records in that event at the 2016 NCAA Championships.

Haas followed that swim the next night by threatening the American record in the 500 freestyle, which he won in 4:09.00. One night later, he broke every record in the book in the 200 freestyle, as he became the first swimmer ever to clear 1:31 in an individual 200 freestyle with his breakthrough mark of 1:30.46.

John Shebat
John Shebat returns for his second NCAA Championships after leading off UT's NCAA record-setting 400 medley relay a year ago. Shebat is seeded seventh in the 200 backstroke (1:39.74) and 18^th in the 100 backstroke (45.72).

Jeff Newkirk
Jeff Newkirk qualifies for his first NCAA Championships with the No. 23 seed in the 500 freestyle (4:15.99) and the No. 25 seed in the 200 freestyle (1:34.02).

Max Holter
Max Holter qualified for a second straight NCAA Championships as a No. 19 seed in the 200 butterfly (1:42.74).

Tate Jackson
Tate Jackson earns a second straight NCAA Championships bid with his No. 17 seed in the 100 freestyle (42.40).

Sam Stewart
Sam Stewart earns his second straight NCAA Championships appearance and first as a Longhorn after transferring in from Auburn. The Mississippian is seeded 25^th in the 400 IM (3:44.42).

Jeremy Nichols
Jeremy Nichols qualified for his first NCAA Championship meet with his 25^th seed in the 100 freestyle (42.65).

Divers Mark Anderson, Grayson Campbell and Jacob Cornish
Senior diver Mark Anderson and freshman divers Grayson Campbell and Jacob Cornish have earned NCAA Championships bids, as well. Anderson will compete on all three boards – one-meter, three-meter and platform, while Campbell will compete on the two springboards. Cornish will compete on platform after earning his bid at the NCAA Zone Diving Meet at Missouri.

A LOOK BACK AT THE 2016 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

Texas' nine NCAA individual and relay titles for the meet were the most for the Longhorns at an NCAA Championship since 2001, when UT won an NCAA-record 11 events. The 2016 Longhorns became the fifth team in NCAA history to win nine or more events at a single NCAA Championship meet and the first team since the aforementioned 2001 Longhorns.
Texas opened the NCAA Championships by winning the first four events for the first time in school history. Its victories in the first three events marked the first time Texas had completed that feat, as well.
Texas opened the meet by winning its NCAA-leading 13^th national title in the 800-yard freestyle relay, as Jack Conger, Clark Smith, Townley Haas and Joseph Schooling set NCAA, U.S. Open, NCAA Championship meet, school and Big 12 records in 6:08.03.
The Longhorns won their second straight national title in the 200 freestyle relay and sixth in school history, as Brett Ringgold, Joseph Schooling, Jack Conger and John Murray took the win in 1:14.88, good for school, Big 12 and pool records.
Townley Haas delivered UT's second consecutive NCAA title in the 500 freestyle in 4:09.00.
Will Licon became UT's third NCAA champion in the 200 IM and its first since Austin Surhoff in 2010. Licon is the only Longhorn ever to win NCAA titles in both the 200 and 400 individual medleys.
Texas capped the second night of the NCAA Championships by lowering its own NCAA, U.S. Open and NCAA Championship meet records in the 400 medley relay, where UT won its second straight national title and 13^th overall (No. 1 all-time). John Shebat, Will Licon, Joseph Schooling and Jack Conger won the relay in 3:00.68
Townley Haas made a clean sweep of the record book in the 200 freestyle, as he set NCAA, American, U.S. Open, NCAA Championship meet, school, Big 12 and pool records at 1:30.46. He became the first swimmer ever to clear the 1:31 mark in the event. One year later he remains the only swimmer ever to break 1:31.
Joseph Schooling set NCAA, U.S. Open, NCAA Championship meet, school, Big 12 and pool records in the 100 butterfly in 44.01. It broke the seven-year-old NCAA, U.S. Open and NCAA Championship meet record of 44.18 held by Stanford's Austin Staab. (Tom Shields has since claimed the 100 butterfly U.S. Open record)
Will Licon set NCAA, American, U.S. Open, NCAA Championship meet, school, Big 12 and pool records in the 200-yard breaststroke at 1:48.12. Licon finished the meet with NCAA individual titles in the 200 IM and 200 breaststroke to go with a runner-up finish in the 400 IM.
Joseph Schooling set NCAA, U.S. Open, NCAA Championship meet, school, Big 12 and pool records on his way to victory in the 200-yard butterfly at 1:37.97. Schooling has won all four butterfly races he has contested in his two NCAA Championships appearances.
Jack Conger lowered his American record in the 200-yard butterfly with his runner-up finish in the event at 1:38.06.

SEASON NOTES
HORNS HOOK 38^TH CONSECUTIVE CONFERENCE TITLE
No. 2 Texas swept the remaining seven events and closed out its 38^th consecutive conference title (Feb. 25) at the Big 12 Championships.

Texas won its 21^st Big 12 title and 38^th consecutive league crown with 1,081 points while West Virginia finished second with 870 points. TCU took third with 702 points.

Sophomore John Shebat was selected as the Outstanding Men's Swimmer of the Meet while senior Mark Anderson was named as the Men's Diver of the Meet. Eddie Reese was selected as the Men's Swimming Coach of the Meet while Diving Coach Matt Scoggin was named the Men's Diving Coach of the Meet.

SCHOOLING SMASHES THIRD INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL RECORD AT BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Olympic gold medalist and six-time NCAA champion Joseph Schooling rewrote the Longhorns' eight-year-old school mark in the 50-yard freestyle last month on day two (Feb. 23) at the 2017 Big 12 Championships.

Schooling, the reigning Olympic champion in the 100m butterfly who holds NCAA records in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly events, added a third individual school record to his collection when he clocked 18.76 seconds to win the 50 freestyle final. The mark eclipsed the previous school and Big 12 mark of 18.84 set by two-time U.S. Olympian Jimmy Feigen at the 2009 NCAA Championships in College Station.

ROBERTS, SHEBAT CLEAR BACKSTROKE BARRIER AT BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sophomore John Shebat and junior Jonathan Roberts became the fourth and fifth Longhorns to clear the 1:40 mark in the 200 backstroke, as Shebat took the win in 1:39.74, good for the No. 3 time in the nation this season. Roberts followed closely behind at 1:39.87, as both Longhorns went well under the NCAA automatic-qualifying mark.

SMITH TABBED NATIONAL SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
CollegeSwimming.com selected Texas All-America senior Clark Smith as its National Division I Men's Swimmer of the Week Jan. 17 after the Rio Olympics gold medalist won all four of his events at Auburn and Georgia.

Smith, the son of former Longhorn and U.S. Olympic swimmer Tori Trees and former NCAA champion Texas swimmer John Smith, collected the second honor of his career from CollegeSwimming.com, his first since Dec. 15, 2015.

Smith opened the Longhorns' victory over Auburn (Jan. 12) by winning the 1,000-yard freestyle in 9 minutes, 6.65 seconds. He added a victory in the 500 freestyle, an event in which he claimed the 2015 NCAA title, in 4:27.26.

Smith took on a traditionally-strong Georgia distance contingent two days later in the Bulldogs' home pool and came away with two more wins. He claimed the 1,000 freestyle in 8:57.86, nearly 14 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor from UGA, before adding a one-two Texas finish alongside fellow U.S. Olympian Townley Haas in the 500 freestyle at 4:19.70.

LICON SELECTED AS BIG 12 SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
The Big 12 Conference announced Jan. 18 the selection of Texas All-America senior Will Licon as the league's Men's Swimmer of the Week.

The six-time NCAA champion won five of his six individual events in the Longhorns' impressive road wins at No. 12 Auburn and No. 7 Georgia. The El Paso native produced a sweep of the 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke and 200 IM events in the Horns' win at Auburn and also helped UT win the 200 medley relay.

At Georgia, Licon won the 100 and 200 breaststroke events and defeated UGA Olympian Chase Kalisz in both events. And, it took a U.S. Olympian, Jay Litherland, to knock off Licon in the 400 IM. Licon also helped spark UT's two-second win in the 200 medley relay with his 24.06 breaststroke split.

CONGER, SMITH & LICON POST TOP NATIONAL MARKS AT TEXAS INVITE
Texas seniors Jack Conger, Clark Smith and Will Licon posted top national times in December at the annual four-day Texas Invitational in Austin.

Smith, a former NCAA champion in the 500 freestyle, clocked the nation's top time in that event in 4:11.20. He added a mark of 14:32.77 for the nation's top mark in the 1,650 freestyle. The American record holder at 1,000 yards, Smith holds the nation's No. 6 time in the 1000 at 9:02.29.

Conger wrapped the Texas Invite with a top national mark of 1:40.24 in the 200 butterfly, an event in which he holds the American record. He also posted the nation's No. 3 time in the 100 butterfly at 44.94.

Licon, the two-time defending NCAA champion in the 200 breaststroke, held the top national time in that event at 1:50.76, over two seconds ahead of the nation's second-fastest swim in the event. The El Paso native set NCAA, American and U.S. Open records in the 200 breaststroke at the 2016 NCAA Championships.

TEXAS QUARTET STRIKES GOLD IN RIO
Returning Longhorns Townley Haas, Jack Conger, Clark Smith and Joseph Schooling followed up on their tremendous individual 2015-16 college seasons with gold medals at the Rio Olympics.

Schooling won Singapore's first Olympic swimming medal and broke Michael Phelps' Olympic record on his way to gold in the 100m butterfly in Rio de Janeiro. Schooling, the 2016 Co-National Swimmer of the Year, won the event in 50.39, well under Phelps' Olympic mark of 50.58 from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Phelps joined South Africa's Chad Le Clos and Hungary's Laszlo Cseh in a tie for silver well behind Schooling at 51.14. Schooling became the first current or former Longhorn to win an individual Olympic gold medal since 2008 when Aaron Peirsol won gold in the 100m backstroke.

Haas, who posted a pair of unprecedented swims as a freshman at the 2016 NCAA Championships, joined Smith and Conger in winning gold for the U.S. in the 4x200m freestyle relay.

Haas joined Conor Dwyer, Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps in the event's final and clocked a staggering 1:44.14 on the relay's second split, by far the fastest split among the 32 relay legs swum in the final. In fact, only James Guy of Great Britain joined Haas under 1:45 in the final. The Americans took the gold in 7:00.66 while Great Britain and Japan settled for silver and bronze, respectively.

Conger and Smith earned gold medals by competing in the event's preliminary round in Rio. Conger swam the relay's fastest split in the preliminary round at 1:45.73. With the three Longhorns in the relay pool, it marked the eighth consecutive Olympic Games in which at least one Texas men's swimmer represented the United States in the 4x200m freestyle relay. UT swimmers have helped the U.S. win four consecutive gold medals in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay.

With the four gold medals from current Longhorns in Rio, coupled with Texas-Ex Jimmy Feigen's gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay, the UT men account for 47 gold medals, 16 silver medals and nine bronze medals at the Olympic Games.