Six Swimmers Claim Individual Bids to Men's NCAAs
3/7/2018 1:48:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Swimming & Diving
INVITES BY SCHOOL | PSYCH SHEET
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Six members of the Mizzou men's swimming team earned invitations to the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, the NCAA announced on Wednesday. Juniors Mikel Schreuders (Oranjestad, Aruba) and Jacob Wielinski (Mounds View, Minn.), sophomores Nick Alexander (Crestwood, Mo.), Daniel Hein (Sycamore, Ill.) and Giovanny Lima (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and freshman Carter Grimes (Las Vegas, Nev.) will all represent the Tigers at the Championships, March 21-24, at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis, Minn.
Five of Missouri's six swimmers earned individual bids for the first time in their careers.
Missouri is also eligible to swim all five relays: the 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 800 free relay, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay. The Tigers' relay-only swimmers will be announced at a later date.
Schreduers will make his second individual appearance at the NCAA Championships after qualifying in the 200 free. The junior, who is the 14-seed in the event, earned finishes of 23rd in the 200 free and 27th in the 50 free at last year's Championships. He is also eligible to race the 50 and 100 free.
Also claiming an invitation in the 200 free was sophomore Giovanny Lima for the first individual NCAA Championships berth of his Tiger career. He enters the meet as the 24-seed in the 200 free and can also swim the 200 fly and 500 free.
Earning his first bid is junior Jacob Wielinski, who enters the Championships seeded 11th in the 1650 free. Wielinski, who is in his first season at Mizzou after transferring from North Dakota, earned runner-up honors in the 1650 free at last month's SEC Championships. He can also swim the 500 free and 400 IM at the meet.
Hein punched his first individual NCAA bid in the 100 back, where he enters the meet as the 22nd seed in the event and is eligible to swim the 200 back as well. While he did not earn an individual invite to the 2017 NCAA Championships, Hein earned two All-America first team honors as part of Missouri's 200 and 400 medley relays as a freshman last season.
Alexander claimed an invite in the 200 back to qualify for his first Championships. He swam a personal-best swim on 1:41.18 at Mizzou's Last Chance Meet to nab the final berth in the event. Alexander can also compete in the 200 and 400 IM.
Also earning a bid was Grimes, who earned the invite in his first season of collegiate swimming. The freshman qualified for the Championships in the 400 IM, where he enters as the 21st seed, and can also swim the 200 fly and 200 IM at the meet.
Players Mentioned
