Swimming & Diving Teams Sending Eight Competitors to NCAA Nationals

OFFICIAL PSYCH SHEET

St. Louis, Mo., March 8, 2011 — The Washington University in St. Louis men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will send a total of eight student-athletes to compete at the 2011 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving championships, its was announced Tuesday by the NCAA.

This year’s NCAA Championship will take place Wednesday-Saturday, March 23-26, at the University of Tennessee Allan Jones Aquatic Center in Knoxville, Tenn. The Washington University men’s swimming & diving team finished 10th at last year’s national meet, securing its second-straight top-10 finish and sixth in program history. The WUSTL women finished 23rd last year.

Seniors David Chao and Kartik Anjur, junior Chris Valach, sophomores Mark Minowitz and Brendan Morin and freshman Brian Carpenter will represent the Washington University men at the NCAA Championships, while freshmen Grace Murray and Chi Pham will compete for the women’s squad.

Chao, a 10-time All-American, provisionally qualified to compete in the 100-yard freestyle (45.53) and is seeded 12th heading into nationals. He will also compete in the 50-yard freestyle (20.93) and the 200-yard freestyle (1:41.24). Anjur, who earned three All-America citations last year, will swim in the 200-freestyle (1:41.86) and the 100-yard backstroke (51.02).

Valach, who was an All-American in the 800-free relay as a freshman, will compete in the 200-yard butterfly (1:51.95), the 500-yard freestyle (4:35.65) and the 1,650-yard freestyle (16:01.52). Morin will round out the men’s individual competitors by competing in the 100-yard butterfly (49.87).

The Washington University men’s team will also compete in three relay events. Chao, Anjur, Morin and Carpenter will swim in the 200-medley relay, where the Bears are seeded 16th with a time of 1:32.80. Chao, Anjur, Minowitz and Morin are seeded 11th in the 400-freestyle relay (3:03.71) and Chao, Anjur, Minowitz and Valach rank 10th in the country in the 800-free relay (6:48.74).

Pham automatically qualified for two events at this year’s championships and will compete in three swims overall. She is ranked sixth in Division III in the 200-yard individual medley (2:05.36) and also automatically qualified for the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 56.88, which ranks 11th in the field. Pham also will compete in the 100-butterfly (1:00.10).

Murray qualified for the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 17:23.79, which places her 17th in the field. She will also swim in the 500-freestyle (5:06.26) and 200-butterly (2:08.63).