The Seattle University swim teams leave Tuesday morning for San Antonio, Texas, and the 2015 Western Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships, where they will be looking for fast swims over the four-day meet.
The meet begins Wednesday, Feb. 25, at 6 p.m. local time with the 200 medley relay and the 800 freestyle relay. The women’s team set a new school record in the 200 medley relay last year, but the other three school records have stood for at least three years, giving the relay squads something to shoot for.
The competition begins in earnest Thursday, Feb. 26, with preliminaries at 10:30 a.m. Central time and finals at 6 p.m. local time. Madi Lydig (Spokane, Wash.) is seeded 10th in the women’s 500 freestyle, while Blaise Wittenauer-Lee (Portland, Ore.) comes into the meet seeded 13th in the women’s 200 individual medley. Paige Treff (Orland, Calif.) and Tanner Schelling (Boise, Idaho) look to challenge for one of the top spots in their respective 50 freestyle preliminaries, and the night will conclude with the 200 freestyle relay.
On Friday, Feb. 27, the action again begins with morning preliminaries at 10:30 a.m. followed by evening finals at 6 p.m. Wittenauer-Lee is seeded fourth in the women’s 400 individual medley, with Bethany Gehrke (Lynnwood, Wash.) seeded ninth in the same event. Jack Baldoni (Applegate, Calif.) is seeded ninth in the men’s 100 butterfly, the same position currently held by Kristin Hoffman (Mercer Island, Wash.) in the women’s 200 freestyle.
Wittenauer-Lee is also seeded eighth in the women’s 100 breaststroke, while Schelling is seeded fifth in the men’s 100 breaststroke thanks to his “B” cut time earlier this season. Bart Wanot (Federal Way, Wash.) is seeded 13th in the men’s 100 backstroke, the last individual swimming event before the night concludes with the 400 medley relay.
The meet wraps up Saturday, Feb. 28, starting with the morning preliminaries at 10:30 a.m., followed by the 1650 freestyle beginning at 3 p.m. and the rest of the finals at 6 p.m. Gehrke is seeded fifth in the women’s 1650 freestyle, and Nick Connors (Richland, Wash.) is seeded 11th in the men’s 1650 freestyle. Lydig is seeded third in the women’s 200 backstroke, while Wanot is seeded 14th in the men’s 200 backstroke.
Schelling looks to challenge for one of the scoring spots in the men’s 100 freestyle, while Wittenauer-Lee enters the meet seeded fifth in the women’s 200 breaststroke. Gabe Wheeler (Round Rock, Texas) hopes to make an impact on the men’s 200 breaststroke, and Kyle Moline (Mercer Island, Wash.) comes into the week seeded 13th in the men’s 200 butterfly. The meet concludes with the 400 freestyle relay.
Live results for the entire meet will be available through a link on the schedule pages for both men’s and women’s swimming on GoSeattleU.com. Live video of the finals sessions will be streamed online by the WAC Digital Network (www.wacsports.com/watch).