Complete psych sheet
Five former Potomac Valley swimmers earned spots to compete at the NCAA Men's Division I Championship meet, set to take place Mar 22-24, at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center, in Seattle, Wash.
The NCAA selection committee made a deep cut this year, placing the official cut at the top 17-18 swimmers in each individual event. Last year the cut off was 20-23 swimmers per an event, not including invited swimmers. This year's mark is significantly lower number than that used in the women's championship meet, which took the top 30-31 per an event.
Michigan's Sean Fletcher (James Madison High School/Curl-Burke) enters his second NCAA championship seeded sixth in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 46.10 seconds. He earned invitations in the 100 backstroke and 50 freestyle.
Fletcher is trailed by Duke senior Ben Tuben (Thomas Jefferson/Potomac Marlins) who is seeded 13th in the 100 butterfly with a 46.69. Tuben was also invited in the 50 freestyle.
Princeton senior Jon Christensen (Jefferson HS/Curl-Burke) seeded eighth with a 52.86 and 17th in the 200 breaststroke in 1:55.96. Harvard freshman Chuck Katis (Langley HS/Curl-Burke) is 15th in the 100 breaststroke event with a 53.17. Both earned invitations in the 200 individual medley. Katis was also invited in the 200 breaststroke.
Virginia’s Brady Fox (Georgetown Prep/RMSC). Fox is seeded 14th in the 200 backstroke (1:42.80), and received an invitation in the 100 backstroke event.
Senior Eric Friedland (Walter Johnson/RMSC), the reigning NCAA champion in the 200 breaststroke, received invitations to swim the 100 and 200 breaststroke and 200 individual medley for the Texas Longhorns.
In the team competition, the defending NCAA Champion California Golden Bears lead all teams with 18 total athletes. They also qualified four of a possible five relays, including the top seed in the 400 freestyle relay.
Arizona and Stanford are tied for second with 17 selected athletes a piece. Texas is third with 15, followed by Louisville (13), Michigan (12), Auburn (11), and Florida (11).