Three Swimmers Earn Invite To NCAA Championships

March 1, 2017

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Committee announced Wednesday that three Arkansas swimmers have qualified for the 2017 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Senior Mary Margaret Soderberg (200 breaststroke), junior Chelsea Tatlow (200 butterfly) and freshman Ayumi Macias (1650 freestyle) all received invites to the Championships.

“I am excited and proud of all three ladies who qualified,” said head coach Neil Harper. “They have all worked hard and done a great job this year applying new techniques and believing in their ability. They have all been pushed by their teammates every day, so their success so far is also shared with the entire team. What is really encouraging is that last year, none of these ladies made this meet individually. We had three or four more that were close to qualifying this year so the progress is quite evident and the future is bright. They are already working hard again for the NCAA Championships and our goal is to improve once again on our personal bests.”

Soderberg is having a strong senior campaign after her 200 breast performance at the SEC Championships. Swimming a 2:11.36 in the prelims, Soderberg advanced to the B final where she broke her personal best for the second time that day, finishing 12th overall in a ‘B’ cut of 2:10.54. Soderberg’s finals time is the fastest on the team this season, while her prelim time ranks second. She has four of the top-five times on the team this season in the 200 breast and ranks third on the school’s top performers list in the event.

Making her third consecutive NCAA Championship appearance, Tatlow was a member of the quartet last season for the Razorbacks that finished 24th overall in the 800 freestyle relay. Tatlow enters the Championships holding the three-fastest times on the team in the 200 fly, including the second-fastest in school history (1:55.82) that she hit at the NCAA Last Chance meet to win the finals.

Macias is the second freshman (Tatlow) to qualify for the NCAA Championships as an individual in nine years. The distance swimmer will compete in the 1650 freestyle, where she holds the top-two times on the team in the event this year. Setting her personal best at the Georgia Tech Invitational in November, Macias touched second in 16:08.86. Her personal best places her fourth on the school’s top performers list.

A total of 322 participants (281 swimmers and 41 divers) will compete in the championships. Swimmers qualified for the championships by meeting the established minimum time for the events in which they entered. The complete list of swimmers competing in the championships is available at www.usaswimming.org/ncaa. Selected divers will be announced Sunday, March 12, following the Zone Diving Meets that are held March 6-11.

ESPN3.com will stream the championships finals sessions live on Friday and Saturday. Wednesday’s evening session, Thursday’s sessions along with the morning sessions on Friday and Saturday will be streamed live on NCAA.com and www.indianasportscorp.org/ncaasd. Additionally, ESPNU will air a two-hour broadcast via tape delay at 7 p.m. Eastern time, Tuesday, March 28. Live results for the championships will be available on NCAA.com.

For more information on Arkansas Swimming and Diving, follow @RazorbackSD on Twitter.