UNLV SWIMMING SENDS SEVEN TO NCAA MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Rebels have eyes set on possible top-25 finish
UNLV is sending a total of seven swimmers, one off the school record, to this week’s 2014 NCAA Men’s Swimming Championships that are being held in Austin, Texas on Thursday-Saturday. The three-day meet will take place at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center on the University of Texas campus, with preliminaries beginning at 9 am (PT) each day and the finals starting at 5 pm (PT). The night finals on the second and third days of both championships will be streamed live on ESPN3.com, while there will be live video provided of the prelims all three days as well as Thursday’s finals.
The Rebels, coming off their ninth conference championship in the past 10 years after winning the WAC title in February, will be represented by four swimmers in individual events, while another three will compete in the relays. Leading the group are a pair of sophomores, Dillon Virva and Tom Paco-Pedroni, with three individual events each.
Virva, the highest seeded Rebel, is tied for sixth in the 50 free event, which will be held on the meet’s first day. Virva will also compete in the 100 fly (seeded 30th) and the 100 free (48th), which will be held on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Paco-Pedroni meanwhile will swim in the 50 free (37th), 100 free (18th) and the 200 free (52nd), which will be held on Friday.
In addition to Virva’s 100 fly and Paco-Pedroni’s 200 free swim on Friday, two more Rebels will be in action, with Henrique Machado competing in the 100 back (28th) and David Szele, an Honorable Mention in 2013, swimming in the 100 breast (26th). Machado will also swim on Saturday in the 200 back (42nd).
The three Rebels coming to swim on UNLV’s four relays in the meet are Samuel Lameynardie, Guilherme Passos and Giacomo Gremizzi. The final lineups are not set for the relays, but the expected quartet for the 200 free relay on Thursday is Virva, Paco-Pedroni, Passos and Lameynardie. UNLV will swim another relay on the first day of the meet, the 400 medley, which will consist of Machado, Szele, Virva and Paco-Pedroni.
Friday will be the 200 medley relay, made up of the same lineup as the 400 event (Machado, Szele, Virva, Paco-Pedroni). The meet will conclude on Saturday with the 400 free relay, with the lineup expected to comprise of Lameynardie, Paco-Pedroni, Virva and Gremizzo, though changes could be made to any relay at anytime prior to their swims. The rankings for the four relays coming into the championships are: 200 free (10th), 400 medley (19th), 200 medley (17th), and the 400 free (15th).
The Rebels’ best finish all-time at the NCAAs is 19th at the 2011 championships, while they tied for 29th at last year’s meet.
Links to live results and live video for the championship meet will be available at UNLVRebels.com.
2014 NCAA Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships
Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center
Austin, Texas
UNLV Schedule
Thursday, March 27
200 Free Relay – (Dillon Virva, Tom Paco-Pedroni, Guilherme Passos, Samuel Lameynardie)
50 Free – Dillon Virva, Tom Paco-Pedroni
400 Medley Relay – (Henrique Machado, David Szele, Dillon Virva, Tom Paco-Pedroni)
Friday, March 28
200 Medley Relay – (Henrique Machado, David Szele, Dillon Virva, Tom Paco-Pedroni)
100 Fly – Dillon Virva
200 Free – Tom Paco-Pedroni
100 Breast – David Szele
100 Back – Henrique Machado
Saturday, March 29
200 Back – Henrique Machado
100 Free – Dillon Virva, Tom Paco-Pedroni
400 Free Relay – (Samuel Lameynardie, Tom Paco-Pedroni, Dillon Virva, Giacomo Gremizzi)