SSC Swimming Championship Set to Begin Wednesday
ORLANDO, Fla. - The 2013 Sunshine State Conference Swimming Championship will begin Wednesday, at the Long Center in Clearwater, Fla. Competition will continue through Saturday. The event will be streamed live courtesy of TampaSpartans.tv.
Seven SSC member institutions will field teams in the swimming championship. Florida Southern, Florida Tech, Lynn, Nova Southeastern, Rollins, Saint Leo, and Tampa will vie for the league titles. The 2013 meet will mark the first for Lynn, which is in the midst of its inaugural year of NCAA Division II women's swimming. The other six institutions competed in last year's championship. Nova Southeastern won both the men's and women's title in 2012.
Competition at the Long Center will begin at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 13, with timed finals in the 1,000 freestyle and the 800 freestyle relay.
On Thursday, Feb. 14, preliminaries will be conducted at 10 a.m. in the 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, and the 50 freestyle. At 6 p.m., finals will be held for each of those events. The 200 freestyle relay and 400 medley relay will also be contested Thursday evening.
Friday, Feb. 15, will feature a busy morning of preliminary races at 10 a.m. The 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, and 100 backstroke will hit the pool, with finals for all events taking place at 6 p.m. on Friday. Additionally, the 200 medley relay will be held in Friday's final session.
Saturday's final day of competition will begin with 10 a.m. preliminaries in the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, and the 1,650 freestyle. The fastest swimmers in those events will advance to Saturday's finals at 5 p.m., which will also feature the 400 freestyle relay.
Prior to Saturday's final session at 5 p.m., each team's senior student-athletes will be recognized.
The 2012 SSC Championship, which was also conducted at the Long Center, proved to be a fast affair, with new meet records established in 26 of 38 events. A total of 29 NCAA Division II automatic qualifying times were amassed by participating individuals and relay teams.
The 2013 meet also promises to be a competitive one. Three SSC women's teams are ranked in the latest College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) poll. Tampa is ranked seventh, while Florida Southern is 13th, and Nova Southeastern is 18th. In the men's CSCAA poll, Florida Southern is 3rd, Tampa is slated 10th, Nova Southeastern is 13th, and Saint Leo ranks 14th.
Heading into the conference championship, three SSC swimmers have already qualified for the NCAA Division II Championship. Nova Southeastern's Erin Black has notched automatic qualifying times in the 200, 500, and 1,000 freestyle events. Florida Southern's Jeb Halfacre has secured a spot in the 200 backstroke. Saint Leo's Pawel Trenda posted an automatic qualifying time in the 400 individual medley.
The Long Center is located at 1501 N. Belcher Road in Clearwater, Fla. Admission is $8 per session, with an all-session pass that includes a championship program and all heat sheets available for $45. SSC students are admitted free of charge with a valid institutional ID.
Results from each session and a finals recap will be posted on the SSC Swimming Championship Central page throughout the four-day event. Live video will be available courtesy of TampaSpartans.tv.