Bailey Competes in First Day of NCAA Swimming Championships

College Station, Texas --- Freshman Lauren Bailey swam the prelimiaries of the 400-meter freestyle in 4:15:51 to place 57th at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at the Student Recreation Center on the campus of the Texas A&M University Thursday. It was Bailey's first attempt at the short-course distance in freestyle this season. Though performing at a high level, she did not qualify for the finals.

Bailey, who was competing in the first national championship event of her career, placed ahead of nine other swimmers. Her swim marked the first time Nebraska had a competitor at the NCAA meet since 2001, when NU had six swimmers in the championships and finished 23rd in the team standings.

Freshman Kalyn Keller of Southern California took the top spot in the 400-meter freestyle prelims with an NCAA-record time of 4:03.81. Keller broke the previous collegiate record of 4:04.09 set by Christina Teuscher of Columbia in 2000.

Bailey returns to the pool on Friday, March 19, when she competes in the 400-meter individual medley. She made the cut for the NCAA meet in the 400-meter IM with a time of 4:17.57 to win the Big 12 title. Bailey was the only swimmer not competing for Texas or Texas A&M to win an individual Big 12 title this season.

After making the cut in one event, she is allowed to compete in all events that she provisionally qualified, meaning she will also see action at the NCAA Championships on Saturday, March 20, with a swim in the 1,500-meter freestyle.