Swim & Dive Sends Four to NCAA Championships

Thursday, March 15

Columbus, Ohio

10 a.m./6 p.m.

Rutgers University

NCAA Championships

Mar 14 | Women's Swimming & Diving

Two swimmers and two divers take on the nation in Columbus, Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio (March 14, 2018) – Rutgers swimming and diving will be represented by four student-athletes at the NCAA Championships, hosted by Ohio State at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion from March 15-17.

Senior diver Addison Walkowiak leads the group with her fourth career appearance on the national stage, while junior swimmer Francesca Stoppa makes her third trip. Junior diver Rachel Byrne will compete for the second time, and freshman swimmer Sveva Schiazzano earned the invitation in her debut season after joining the team in January.

Championship Central | Parking Map | Live Results | Psych Sheet | Tickets

NCAA DIVISION I SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS \| RUTGERS SLATE
Thursday, March 15	Friday, March 16	Saturday, March 17
3-Meter Diving (Walkowiak & Byrne) Prelims at 11:30 a.m. Consolation Finals right after Finals at 6 p.m.	3-Meter Diving (Walkowiak) Prelims at 11:30 a.m. Consolation Finals right after Finals at 5 p.m.	Platform Diving (Walkowiak & Bynre) Prelims at 12:15 p.m. Consolation Finals right after Finals at 6 p.m.
500 Freestyle (Schiazzano) Prelims at 10 a.m. (1^st event) Finals at 6 p.m. (2^nd event)	100 Butterfly (Stoppa) Prelims at 9 a.m. (2^nd event) Finals at 5 p.m. (2^nd event)	1,650 Freestyle (Schiazzano) Early heats at 3:45 p.m.
		200 Butterfly (Stoppa) Prelims at 10 a.m. (4^th event) Finals at 6 p.m. (5^th event)

FOLLOW LIVE
Click here for live results from the NCAA Championships
Click on the links below for live streaming broadcasts from Buckeye Vision and WatchESPN.

NCAA DIVISION I SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS \| STREAMING
Thursday, March 15	Friday, March 16	Saturday, March 17
Prelims	Prelims	Prelims
Diving	Diving	Diving
Finals	Finals	1,650 Freestyle
		Finals

HOW THEY GOT THERE
Walkowiak won the 1-meter diving event at the NCAA Zone A Championships at Rutgers with a 12-dive total score of 625.55, punching an automatic ticket to nationals in the event. She also scored an automatic qualifier on 3-meter with a runner-up finish at zones, and a consolation invitation on platform via a ninth place performance on platform diving last week at the zone meet.

The school record holder in both 1- and 3-meter diving, she holds six-dive high scores this season of 340.25 on 1-meter, 369.05 on 3-meter and a five-dive high score of 290.95 on the platform.

Byrne booked her trip to the NCAA Championships on the final day of zones, finishing in second place on the platform with a 10-dive score of 489.45. She will also compete on the 1-meter boards at nationals due to her eighth place finish at the Zone A Championships, a B standard score of 522.00.

Stoppa holds the school standard in both 100- and 200-yard butterfly, and will compete in both events on the national stage this week. Her B standard time of 1:55.95 clocked at the Big Ten Championships ranked 36^th in the nation and earned Stoppa her second consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships. She will also swim the 100-yard event via her B cut time of 53.17 seconds set at the Texas Invitational.

Schiazzano joined the program in January and quickly prepared to post an NCAA B standard at the Big Ten Championships in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 16:11.92. That mark broke 16-year-old program records for the mile and the 1,000, and currently ranks 33rd on the NCAA psych sheet. The Rutgers rookie will also compete in the 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA Championships thanks to her B cut time of 4:46.35 from the Big Ten meet.

CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Walkowiak is seeking redemption this season after bowing out of the NCAA Championships in 2017 with an injury suffered during the prelims on the 1-meter boards on the opening day of diving. She qualifies in all three events for the third straight year, having placed 23^rd on 3-meter, 25^th on 1-meter and 26^th on platform at the 2016 NCAA Championships as a sophomore.

Byrne competed in platform last season as a sophomore and placed 29^th in the nation.

Stoppa placed 34th in the nation in the 200 as a sophomore in 2017, and 18th as a freshman in 2016.

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY
Rutgers swimming and diving has added an 18-time NCAA All-American and three-time NCAA Division II National Champion to the coaching staff with the hire of Katia Alyabyev, a member of three NCAA Division II national championship teams while at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. There she was an 18-time NCAA All-American and three-time national record holder. She also qualified for both the United States and Russia Olympic Trials in 2012, and swam her way to the Russian Olympic Trials finals in 2008.

HAIL TO THE CHIEFS
Rutgers Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Patrick Hobbs announced on Dec. 6 the promotions of Frederick Woodruff and Jon Maccoll each to the position of co-head coach of the Scarlet Knights' swimming and diving program. Woodruff, in his 25th year as head diving coach for Rutgers, continues to run the diving program, while Maccoll, who began his first season with the Scarlet Knights in October as the assistant swimming coach, takes over as the head swimming coach. Read more here.

Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersAthletics) and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding Rutgers swimming & diving, follow the program on Twitter (@RUSwimDive) and on Instagram (ruswimdive). The team is also on Facebook (facebook.com/RUSwimDive).

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