Select team members to compete at U.S. Nationals

Select members of the men's swimming team begin competition at the Phillips 66 National Swimming Championships meet in Minneapolis today through Friday.\nThe 4-day event features top collegiate competition as well as more than 15 competing olympian and world champion swimmers. Hoosier competitors include sophomore backstroker Matt Leach, freshman freestyler Richard Bryant, freshman butterflier Murph Halasz and sophomore sprinters Claes Andersson and Dale Ramsy. The team will compete with the Indiana Aquatics club team and are accompanied by IU swimming coach Kris Kirchner. \nIU alumni and former Hoosier, Don Gold, will also compete for the Indiana Aquatics squad. Leach will compete in the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke events as well as the 200-meter individual medley. His 2:03.96 seed time in the 200-meter event was the sixth-fastest, earning him a place in the top heat.\nBryant will swim the 200-meter freestyle as well as the 400-meter freestyle. His seed time is the ninth fastest in the 400-meter race. Halasz, who broke the school record for the 200-yard butterfly at the Indiana Open March 9, will compete in the 200-meter variety of his stroke at nationals. His seed time is the fifth fastest, placing him in the top heat for the race. Halasz will also compete in the 100-meter butterfly and the 200-meter individual medley. \nSprinters Andersson and Ramsy, who both qualified to compete at the NCAAs in the 50-yard freestyle, will each race the 50-meter freestyle. They are seeded in the 18th and 19th positions respectively. Kirchner has been impressed with the improvement his corps of sprinters has undergone throughout the year. \n"Our sprinters have improved so much that I think they shocked some people," Kirchner said in a press release. "I mean Claes dropped from last year's 20.6 to 19.93, Dale made a huge drop from 21.3 to 20.02."\nGold, who graduated from IU last year, holds the school record in the 100-yard freestyle and will\ncompete in three events. He is seeded No. 6 in the 100-meter freestyle, No. 33 in the 200-meter freestyle and No. 9 in the 50-meter freestyle. Olympians competing in the meet include Chad Carvin,\nJosh Davis, Nate Dusing, Scott Goldblatt, Jason Lezak, Tom Malchow, Aaron Peirsol, Chris Thompson, Scott Tucker, Neil Walker and Tom Wilkens.\nThis meet marks the 40th anniversary of the U.S. nationals competition. The meet will be held at the University Aquatic Center on the University of Minnesota campus, an eight-lane, 50-meter pool.