Lincoln -- University of Nebraska freshman swimmer Lauren Bailey will travel to College Station, Texas, to compete in the NCAA Championships March 18-20. Bailey was formally invited to compete at nationals on Wednesday, March 10 after provisionally qualifying for nationals in three events.
Bailey had been training for more than a week while waiting to hear whether or not she would be invited to compete at nationals. 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 NCAA 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 beginning on Thursday, March 18 at 10 a.m. The contest continues through Saturday, March 20.
Zone Diving Recap
Nebraska sophomore diver Amie Buoy traveled to Houston, Texas, March 12-14 to compete at Zone Diving Championships. Buoy was the only Husker to represent NU at the meet. On Friday, March 12 Buoy competed in the women’s one-meter championships. Buoy earned a score of 491.90, to finish seventh place among the 20 divers to compete in the one-meter springboard contest. On Saturday, March 13, Buoy competed in the three-meter championships where she earned a sixth place finish out of 19 divers with a score of 469.25.
Big 12 Championship Recap
The Nebraska swimming and diving team opened the Big 12 Championships on Feb. 25 with a pair of sixth place finishes in relay events.
The Huskers moved up to fifth place on the second day of the championships. The team was led by Bailey who had a solid swim in the 400-yard individual medley when she finished the race in a time of 4:17.57 for a first-place finish, making her the only first-place finisher who was not a member of either the Texas or Texas A&M’s squads.
In the diving well, Buoy placed third on the three-meter springboard with a score of 498.60.
The Huskers saw a strong conclusion to the meet as Bailey earned another season-best swim by finishing second in the 1,650-yard freestyle in a time of 16:42.72, improving her time from the Nebraska-Omaha meet by more than three seconds (16:45.04).
The Huskers placed fourth overall in the Big 12 Championships. Head coach Pablo Morales was named co-swimming coach of the meet.