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Mustangs Fresh Off NIC Championship

DALLAS (SMU) - Head men’s swim coach Eddie Sinnott and head diving coach Jim Stillson will lead four participants to Minneapolis, Minn., Mar. 24-26, to take part in the 2005 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships being held at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. The SMU men’s swimming and diving team is coming off its fifth-straight NIC swimming championship and ninth-straight conference title overall. The Mustangs look to improve upon last year’s 24th-place finish at the NCAAs.

Senior co-captain Beau Sydes and fellow senior Camilo Becerra, along with junior Per Nylin and sophomore Ian Clark will represent SMU in 10 different events. Becerra, Nylin and Clark are all repeat performers in the NCAAs, while Sydes will be making his first appearance.

At the 2004 Championships, Becerra and Nylin were members of SMU’s All-American 200 medley, 200 free and 400 free relay teams. Clark swam in the 200 and 400 IM in 2004.

The 2005 NCAA men’s swimming & diving championships begin Thurs. Mar. 24, and continue through Sat., Mar. 26. Prelims begin at 11 a.m. each morning followed by event finals at 7 p.m. For complete results visit www.ncaasports.com.

Read that the Men struggled in first day, scoring no points. I just hope that the events were not their stongest and they will do better in the next two days. Any comment from those who know.

None of the relay teams qualified for the NCAA's which really hurts your team points. In day 2 prelims as of 3:30 ET, Bacerra and Nylin each qualified for consolation bracket in one event. So absent a disqualification in the finals we should get some points from those events. It looks like Sydes had a really bad day on Thursday, he was about 50 points below his qualifying score at the NCAA diving regionals. I note that the 50 free is a hard event to depend on any points. The difference between Between 16-26 was 17 one hundreths of a second.

On the first day, Camilo placed 27th in the 50 Free with a 19.9. Great time but two dozen were faster.

Also, Ian Clark placed 29th with a 1:48.74 in the 200 IM. Not too bad either.

The meet gets faster and faster. The Men's team needs getter depth and qualify relays to get in the mix.

I checked the event pre-lims for Day 2 and saw that Clark was 12 in one event and Bacerra was 16 in another, putting them in the consolation finals. Should lead to some points. Did not see Nylin's name though.

My bad, Nylin missed in his event. Hopefully, I was sensing Saturday kharma. I agree with Water Pony, we need greater depth and we need to really ramp up our times in the relays. I guess the nicer facilities at the some of the schools is the main issue. If we want to stay competitive, I guess we'll need to invest in a new aquatic center before too long, as much as I like the charm of Perkins.

No swimming qualifiers in day three. Maybe Sydes can pull something out in the platform (his qualifying score was #23). Looks like a 30th place finish or there abouts.

Auburn's third straight NCAA Championship. SMU ends up 30th.

Return to Glory? Return to Top Ten? We need a new facility. Women are going great with their 7th Place but two Top Ten Teams need competitive (not necessarily World Class) facilities.

Ian Clark placed 14th place in the 400 Individual Medley with a time of 3:50.15

Camilio Becerra placed 15t in the 100 Fly with a 47.36

Got that right Water Pony. Our swim teams have long deserved better than 'ol Perkins. Sure, it is fun and homey, but not the stuff the programs deserve. I don't expect facilities to rival ut or indiana, but come on.

I was working @ the '84 Games, and remember seeing first hand Lundquist and Prado. Great Ponies both. Miss those days.

Go Ponies!

Thanks, No Cal,

Needless to say, I am not fair and balanced on this issue. If we are Division 1 and expect to be competive, Mu Sigma Deta (Mustang Swimmers & Divers) needs a "House" that permits us to recruit, train and compete at the Highest Level.

With the reduction of Men's sports, sorry Track & Field, we must be committed to the ones we have. Swimming lacks the means to be a Top Ten Men's Team and the Women may struggle to sustain their success.

With two teams, SMU's facilities have to be first class.