UNLV SWIMMING AND DIVING SPLITS UP FOR CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS WEEK
Rebel men and women swimming in MPSF and Mountain West championships
The UNLV men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will begin their challenge for their conference championships on Wednesday, though the teams will be doing it from different time zones, as the 25th-ranked Rebel men will be at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championships on Feb. 20-23 in Monterey Park, Calif, as the conference meet is being held at East Los Angeles College. The UNLV women meanwhile will be in San Antonio, Texas, as the Mountain West Championships which will take place at the Palo Alto Aquatics Center on the same days. The UNLV men’s divers will also be at a third site, with the Air Force Academy hosting the diving events of the MPSF Championships.
The two conference championships will have both a live webstream video of the races and live official results, which can be accessed through links on the UNLVRebels.com site. In addition, the Mountain West women’s championships can be followed though the Meet Mobile on their handheld devices and tables, which can be downloaded from the Apple Store or Google Play.
UNLV swimming and diving weekly release
All About The Rebel Men
• UNLV ended the regular season with eight straight wins to post an 8-1 dual meet record, and are ranked 25th in the latest CSCAA Top 25 poll.
• UNLV is looking to start a new conference championship streak after seeing its seven-year streak (all in the Mountain West) snapped in its first year in the MPSF after finishing second to BYU by just 11.5 points.
• UNLV comes into this week’s meet with the top seed in the following events: 100 free (Samuel Lameynardie) 100 fly (Cody Roberts), 200 fly (Balint Batka), 100 breast (David Szele), 100 back (Henrique Machado), 200 IM and 400 IM (Giacomo Gremizzi), 200 and 400 medley relays and the 200 and 800 free relays.
• Roberts currently ranks fourth in the nation in the 100 fly, Gremizzi is sixth in the 400 IM, and Szele is 12th in the nation in the 100 breast. The 400 medley relay ranks seventh, the 200 medley is eighth and the 800 free relay is 11th.
All About The Rebel Women
• The Rebels are looking to move up in the standings after placing fourth in 2011 and third in 2012. UNLV has won one MW team championship, in 2005.
• Junior Jessica Heim will be looking to defend two MW titles, as she was the 2012 champion in the 500 free and the 1650 free
• UNLV comes into this week’s championships as the top seed in six events: Rachel Dixon in the 50 free, Katelyne Herrington in the 100 fly, Carmen Robb in the 100 back, Jessica Heim in the 1650 free, and in both the 200 free and 200 medley relays. Robb is also currently 10th in the nation in the 100 back, while the 200 medley relay holds the nation’s 16th fastest time.
• UNLV was predicted to finish third in the Mountain West preseason poll, behind San Diego State (first) and Boise State (second).