OMAHA, Neb. – Penn State swimmers concluded a week of competition at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska, Saturday. A total of 13 of competed in 13 different events against the nation’s top swimmers and many former Olympic medalists.
Their participation extended the Penn State women’s team’s streak of having at least one U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier in each trials since 1984, and at least seven in each since 2000, while the men have now been represented in each since 2004. The event serves as the sole selection meet for the U.S. Olympic Swim Team competing at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, and featured approximately 1,800 swimmers.
Although none were able to punch their tickets to Rio, teammates Shane Ryan and John Nunez will represent the Nittany Lions in the pool at the Olympics, as Ryan and Nunez qualified for the games with Ireland and the Dominican Republic, respectively.
Ally McHugh highlighted the first day of competition Sunday with the Nittany Lions’ highest placing of the day, as she completed the 400-meter medley in 4 minutes, 56.26 seconds. Casey Francis followed in 5:02.91.
Four on the men’s side also competed Sunday, with Matt Stasiunas jumping into the pool first in the 400m freestyle and completing the heat in 4:04.88. Three competed in the 100m breaststroke, led by Andy Schuehler in 1:03.58. Mike Kwasnik followed in 1:03.99 and Gunther Cassell trailed in 1:04.48.
Stasiunas returned to the pool Monday to lead the Lions in the 200m free in 1:52.04, and he was followed closely by teammate Ryan O’Neill. Tim Maurer completed the 100m backstroke in 57.06, and competed again Thursday in the 200m medley, finishing in 2:06.14.
On the women’s side, Francis returned to the pool Monday in the 400m free. Katelyn Sowinski led the Lions in the event with a time of 4:21.32, while Francis touched the wall after 4:26.20. Sowinski competed in a team-high three different events, also competing in the 200m butterfly (2:19.06) Wednesday and the 80m free (9:02.54) Friday.
Tuesday featured three from the women’s side, as Tommie Dillione completed the 200 free in 2:05.02, while Katie Rowe and McHugh swam in the 200m medley in 2:20.00 and 2:20.53, respectively.
Cassell and Shuehler finished their trials Wednesday in the 200m breaststroke, touching in 2:19.10 and 2:24.10, respectively. Cassell’s 59th-place finish was the highest of the week for Penn State.
Kaitlin Jones and Katie Saloky rounded out the trials for the Blue and White Saturday in the 50m free. Saloky led the way in 26.19 seconds, while Jones touched in 26.86.