Feb. 21, 2012

Columbia, Mo. - The 2012 Big 12 Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Championships will take place Feb. 22-25 at the Mizzou Aquatic Center in Columbia, Mo. This is the third year that the Tigers will host the event, after serving as the championship site in 2006 and 2009. This will also be Mizzou's final Big 12 meet and will feature elite swimmers from around the world.

The Missouri men's team is ranked 25th and has been bolstered this season by some new faces. School records have been set by newcomers freshman Eegan Groome (500 Free, 1000 Free, 1650 Free), freshman Igor Kozlovskij (100 Breast), and freshman Mack Darragh (200 Fly). Mizzou swimmers have also met Olympic Trials qualifications, including freshman Sam Tierney (100 Breast in 1:02.04, 200 Breast in 2:18.54). In diving David Bonuchi has had an exceptional season, placing first in both the 1mtr diving event and the 3mtr diving event at the Mizzou Invitational.

The men's team will be competing against the Texas Lnghorns and the Texas A&M Aggies for the title. The Longhorns have won all 15 Big 12 championships and have won 32 consecutive conference titles dating back to the Southwest Conference.

Big12Sports.com will have each day's preliminary action, as well as the finals on Wednesday. FSN will provide the remaining coverage from the four-day event. For more information or to view live stats from the Big 12 Championship, check back at MUTigers.com. The schedule of events for the Big 12's championships is as follows:

Wednesday Feb. 22

Prelims (4:30 PM)- 1 M Diving Prelims

Finals (6:00)- 200 Medley Relay, 1 M Diving Finals, 800 Free Relay

Thursday Feb. 23

Prelims (10:00 AM)- 500 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free, 400 IM,

           (1:00 PM)- 1 M Diving-Women

Finals (6:00 PM)- 500 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free, 1 M Diving-Women, 400 Medley Relay

Friday Feb 24

Prelims (10:00 AM)- 200 Free Relay, 400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back

           (10:30 AM)- 3 M Diving-Men (1:30 PM)- 3 M Diving-Women

Finals (5:00 PM)- 3 M Diving-Men (6:00 PM)- 200 Free Relay, 400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back, 3 M Diving-Women

Saturday Feb. 25

Prelims (10:00 AM)- 200 Back, 100 Free, 100 Breast, 200 Fly, 400 Free Relay

           (12:30 PM)- Platform Diving-Women (3:00 PM)- Platform Diving- Men

Finals (5:00 PM)- Platform Diving-Women

        (6:00 PM)- 200 Back, 100 Free, 1650 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, Platform Diving-Men, 400 Free Relay