Huskers Send Diving Duo to Nationals

NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships
Dates: Wednesday, March 20 - Saturday, March 23 (9 a.m. / 5 p.m. CT)
Location: Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center, Austin, Texas
ESPNU Live Stream (March 22-23, 5 p.m. CT)

Three Meter Diving Trials: Friday, 11:30 a.m. (CT) 
Three Meter Diving Finals: Friday, 5 p.m. (CT)
Platform Diving Trials: Saturday, 11:15 a.m. (CT)
Platform Diving Finals: Saturday, 5 p.m. (CT)

Nebraska divers Abigail Knapton and Jessica Warak travel to Austin, Texas for the 2019 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, March 20-23.

Knapton and Warak are led by head diving coach Natasha Chikina. The native of Kazakhstan has guided the Huskers to 35 NCAA Zone Diving appearances in the last 12 years. Coach Chikina is a two-time Olympic qualifier, competing in Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000). It marks the third consecutive season that Chikina has helped Knapton qualify for the NCAA Championships and marks the sixth straight season the Huskers have had a diver qualify for the NCAA Championships under Chikina. It also marks the second time in Husker history that two female divers will compete side by side at nationals.

 

Knapton, a junior out of Omaha Marian High School, has tallied 24 top-five finishes this season, including 14 event titles. Knapton qualified for the NCAA meet after claiming a victory in the platform dive and ninth in the three-meter dive at the Zone D Diving Championships last week in Austin, Texas. She will compete in the three-meter (Friday) and the platform dive (Saturday) at the NCAA Championships. 

At the 2019 Big Ten Championships, Knapton broke her personal best on the one-meter board during preliminaries. In finals, Knapton captured a sixth-place finish on the one-meter board, while adding a fifth-place finish on the three-meter board.  Knapton dominated the platform board by earning the highest round placing of the evening in round two to place her at fourth overall. This was Knapton’s first year placing in the top eight, and she placed in the top eight in all three events.

 

Knapton earned her second All-America honor with an eighth-place finish in the platform dive at the 2018 NCAA Championships and finished in 22nd on the three-meter board. At the 2017 Championships. Knapton placed 30th on the three-meter board and fourth on the platform board. Knapton was named Nebraska's first freshman All-American diver, while becoming the Huskers' first first-team All-American in history on the platform. She joined Amy Aarsen as the only All-Americans in Husker history on the platform, as Aarsen notched 14th-place finishes on the event at the 1988 and 1990 NCAA Championships. Aarsen, who was a three-time All-American at Nebraska, was the only multi-time diving All-American in NU history prior to Knapton's arrival.

A standout freshman, Jessica Warak will make her NCAA Championship debut in the platform dive. Warak is coming off a ninth-place finish at the Zone D diving meet in the platform. At the 2019 Big Ten Championships, Warak placed 12th with a score of 294.10 in one meter. She added a 19th-place conference finish on the three-meter board, while taking 18th in platform.

A total of 41 women will compete in the NCAA Diving Championships. Divers were determined by performances at the Zone Diving Meets March 11-16.

Texas first hosted the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships in 1988 after winning their fifth consecutive NCAA title. Texas hosted the NCAA women's meets again in 1992, 1995, 2002 and 2011. he TSC has hosted events such as the 1980 U.S. Olympic Diving Trials, the 1981 AIAW National Championship, the 1988 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials and the 2001 U.S. World Championship Trials.   

The 2019 NCAA Championships begin with preliminaries at 9 a.m. and finals at 5 p.m. each day. ESPN3 will provide live streams for finals on Wednesday and Thursday, while ESPNU will live stream finals on Friday and Saturday evening. All sessions not streamed on ESPNU will be streamed live at https://texassports.com. Live results will be available on NCAA.com. Check back in to Huskers.com for updates.

 

Championship Schedule
Wednesday, March 20 
5:00 p.m. Day 1 Finals 
800 Freestyle Relay – timed final

Thursday, March 21
9:00 a.m. - Day 2 Swimming Trials
500 Freestyle
200 Individual Medley 
50 Freestyle

11:30 a.m. - One-meter Diving Trials 
15 minutes following trials 
Consolation Finals (9-16)

5:00 p.m. - Day 2 Finals 
200 Freestyle Relay 
Consolation 200 Freestyle Relay
Final 500 Freestyle Consolation
500 Freestyle Final 
200 Individual Medley Consolation 
200 Individual Medley Final 
50 Freestyle Consolation 
50 Freestyle Final 
One-meter Diving Finals 
400 Medley Relay Consolation
400 Medley Relay Final

Friday, March 22 
9:00 a.m. - Day 3 Swimming Trials
400 Individual Medley 
100 Butterfly 
200 Freestyle 
100 Breaststroke 
100 Backstroke

11:30 a.m. - Three-meter Diving Trials 
15 minutes following trials 
Consolation Finals (9-16)

5:00 p.m. - Day 3 Finals 
400 Individual Medley Consolation
400 Individual Medley Final 
100 Butterfly Consolation 
100 Butterfly Final 
200 Freestyle Consolation
200 Freestyle Final 
100 Breaststroke Consolation 
100 Breaststroke Final 
100 Backstroke Consolation 
100 Backstroke Final 
Three-meter Diving Finals 
200 Medley Relay Consolation 
200 Medley Relay Final

Saturday, March 23
9:00 a.m. - Day 4 Swimming Trials 
200 Backstroke 
100 Freestyle 
200 Breaststroke 
200 Butterfly

11:15 a.m. - Platform Diving Trials 
15 minutes following trials 
Consolation Finals (9-16)

3:45 p.m. (approx.) 1,650 Free (early heats)

5:00 p.m. - Day 4 Finals 
1,650 Freestyle 
200 Backstroke Consolation
200 Backstroke Final 
100 Freestyle Consolation
100 Freestyle Final 
200 Breaststroke Consolation 
200 Breaststroke Final
200 Butterfly Consolation 
200 Butterfly Final
Platform Diving Finals 
400 Freestyle Relay Consolation
400 Freestyle Relay Final