Bailey Invited to Compete at NCAA Championships

Lincoln -- University of Nebraska freshman swimmer Lauren Bailey will travel to College Station, Texas, to compete in the NCAA Championships next week.

Bailey was formally invited to compete at nationals on Wednesday, March 10 after provisionally qualifying for nationals in three different events this season. Bailey has been training for more than a week while waiting to hear whether or not she would be invited to compete in the contest. Bailey made a large step for the program as she is the first swimmer to represent Nebraska at nationals since 2001 when six individual swimmers represented NU and placed 23rd as a team.

After training for an entire season, Bailey made her provisional cut for the championships at the Big 12 Championships in Austin, Texas. Her swim in the 400-yard individual medley, which she finished in a time of 4:17.57, made her NU’s only champion of the meet as well as the only swimmer to finish in first place that was not a member of either Texas or Texas A&M’s teams. Though 33 swimmers were chosen to compete at nationals in the 400 IM, her swim placed her 34th on the list for NCAA qualifiers, making her first alternate in the 400-yard individual medley.

Besides the 400 IM, Bailey will also be competing in two other events. After getting season-best swims and provisional cut times earlier this season, Bailey will also be swimming in the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyle races.

Bailey will be competing at the NCAA Championships on Thursday, March 18, beginning at 10 a.m. The contest continues through Saturday, March 20.