University of Tennessee Athletics
Six Swimmers Qualify for NCAAs
March 11, 2015 | Swimming & Diving
March 11, 2015
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.--As Liam Stone and Mauricio Robles qualified for several diving competitions this week, the NCAA announced the swimmers who have been invited to the 2015 NCAA Championships in Iowa City, Iowa, from March 26-28.
Six swimmers will represent the Vols at NCAAs, three more than last year's total. Tristan Slater (200-yard individual medley, 200 Breast), Sam McHugh (200 Fly, 400 IM, 500 Free), Evan Pinion (500 Free, 1650 Free), Sean Lehane (100 Back, 200 Back), David Heron (1650 Free) and Peter John Stevens (100 Breast) all qualified for individual events.
Meanwhile, all five Tennessee relays qualified for a spot at the NCAA Championships, led by the fourth-fastest time (one minue, 24.09 seconds) in the 200 medley relay in the country after winning the gold medal at the SEC Championships.
Joshua Romany, Gustav Aberg Ledjstrom, Troy Tillman and Jacob Thulin will join the Vols in Iowa, having competed on several of the relay teams. Thulin also was selected as an alternate in the 100 Fly after swimming a 46.38 time.
After completing his first season with 21 individual wins and a silver medal in the 200 Fly at the 2015 SEC Championships, McHugh enters NCAAs with three events in which he qualified. The freshman from Chattanooga finished the season with two times in the top-10.
His 3:40.64 time in the 400 IM is seventh in the country, which he swam at SECs when he finished fourth in the A final at Auburn University. His silver medal performance in the 200 Fly that same week gave McHugh the eighth-fastest time in the country in the 200 Fly.
Lehane qualified for both backstroke events by swimming a pair of times that placed the junior in the top-20 in the NCAA. His 1:39.65 time in the 200 Back is the third-fastest time in the country, which Lehane swam at the SEC Championships, where he won the gold medal in the event.
Similar to the women's selections, Tennessee will feature a pair of distance freestylers, who both qualified for the 1650 freestyle. Pinion (14:42.04) swam the fifth-fastest time in the country after winning the event at the 2014 Nike Cup in Chapel Hill.
Pinion owns the No. 1 spot on UT's record board in the event in both the 1000 and 1650 freestyles. No. 2 on both of those lists is teammate David Heron, who qualified for the NCAAs by swimming a 14:55.82 in the 1650 freestyle at the SEC Championships in Auburn.
NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships
Tennessee Selections - Race (Time, National Rank)
Sean Lehane - 100 Back (46.19, 19th); 200 Back (1:39.65, 3rd)
Sam McHugh - 200 Fly (1:42.01, 8th); 400 IM (3:40.64, 7th); 500 Free (4:16.91, 27th)
Peter John Stevens - 100 Breast (51.88, 4th)
Evan Pinion - 500 Free (4:16.37, 20th); 1650 Free (14:42.04, 5th)
David Heron - 1650 Free (14:55.82, 21st)
Tristan Slater - 200 IM (1:43.50, 13th); 200 Breast (1:54.99, 28th)
