June 18, 2008

ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio swimming and diving team will be well represented at the 2008 United States Olympic Team Trials in Omaha, Neb., later this month with Chelsey Bower, Amanda Cecere and Rachel Heim all making the trip for the Bobcats. The team trials run from June 29-July 7 at the Qwest Center.

"We're very excited about heading to the team trials," said head coach Greg Werner. "There are four women from the MAC that have qualified, and we have three of them, which is something we are very proud of." 

Cecere, just a freshman last season, won the MAC title in the 200-yard butterfly (meters is used for Olympic competition while yards is used in collegiate swimming) setting a new pool and MAC Championship record in the process. Her time of 2:00.01 was just a half of a second off the MAC all-time record of 1:59.51.

Heim (San Diego, Calif.) finished the 100-meter butterfly in 1:01.94 – 1:02:39 is the qualifying mark – at the Bobcat Spring Fling on May 16-17 in Athens. The event featured male and female swimmers from around the country attempting to meet Olympic team trial qualifying standards. Her qualifying mark places her 85th in the field of 143. Bower also met the qualifying standard at the Ohio State Toyota Grand Prix but lowered her time at the Spring Fling.

Heim, also a freshman with the Bobcats during the 2007-08 season, took the MAC title in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 55.17.

Both Heim and Cecere were named to the CollegeSwimming.com 2008 Division I Mid-Major All-America Honorable Mention Swimming team.

Bower (Bethel Park, Pa.) qualified for the team trials in the 50-meter freestyle, also at the Bobcat Spring Fling. Bower’s time of 26.17 in the 50-meter freestyle at the Spring Fling beat the qualifying standard of 26.39. Her 26.17 seed time ranks her 56th amongst the 97 competitors.

Bower, a sophomore last season, placed sixth in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.76. She was named to the 2008 Academic All-MAC Team.

"They have all worked so hard and improved alot to get their times below the qualifying standards," Werner said. "They are very excited and ready to go."

Just one other MAC team will be sending a student-athlete to the Olympic Team Trials to bring the total representing the MAC at the Olympic Team Trials to four.

With former Olympians and world record holders such as Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin trying to earn their way to Beijing, each day of the 2008 United States Olympic Team Trials will be televised. See schedule below.

Date                          Time                         Network
Sunday, June 29         8:00-9:00 pm ET         NBC
Monday, June 30         8:00-9:00 pm ET         USA
Tuesday, July 1           8:00-9:00 pm ET         USA
Wednesday, July 2      8:00-9:00 pm ET         USA
Thursday, July 3          8:00-9:00 pm ET         USA
Friday, July 4              8:00-9:00 pm ET         NBC
Saturday, July 5          8:00-9:00 pm ET         NBC
Sunday, July 6            8:00-9:00 pm ET         NBC