University of Tennessee Athletics
Vol Facts: Orange Meets Red, White and Blue
November 05, 2014 | Swimming & Diving
Nov. 5, 2014
Amid the chaos and excitement surrounding Tennessee's regular-season home opener last Friday against Indiana and Kentucky, UT Swimming and Diving and Tennessee Aquatics received a bunch of good news from one USA Swimming. Last week marked the announcements for several national team rosters and this year's editions feature some splashes of orange, where several UT swimmers will compete around the world, just with more red and blue to complement the white, rather than orange.
Naperville Native Heads North of the Border
The United States was among the first countries to announce its roster for the 2015 Pan-American Games, set to be held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada this upcoming July. The USA certainly packed the lineup with star power, featuring the likes of Olympic gold medalists Natalie Coughlin, Cullen Jones, Darian Townsend, Matt McLean, Nick Thoman and Allison Schmitt.
There is one name on the list, however, that fans in Tennessee and Illinois in particular will recognize...you just got to scroll down to where it says the 200 Backstroke. Next to that event is where Vol fans would find Sean Lehane's name.
The Naperville, Ill., native made the roster after swimming a 1:59.01 in the 200 Back A final to earn seventh place in the event. Of course, Vol fans have already been aware of the level of competition that Lehane has been swimming with as of late. This season alone, Lehane has earned six victories, exactly half of those coming in the 200 Back (at Queens, UNC and at home against IU/UK).
Lehane's Not the Only One, Though
Lehane will not be the lone representative heading with the Pan-Am team into Canada this summer. Brad Craig was also named to the USA roster in what has been an impressive season so far for the Vol for Life. The breaststroker that helped UT to success when he swam at the Allan Jones from 2007 to 2011 has already been named to the roster for the 2014 Short Course National Team, which will compete in Doha, Qatar, in December.
Craig earned his spot on the Pan-Am roster for the both the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke by earning a fourth-place finish (1:00.82) in the 100 A final and a second-place finish (2:12.78) in the 200 B final at the Phillips 66 Nationals in Irvine, Calif.
One More Breaststroker Made the Cut
It was mentioned earlier this season in September, but another roster which was officially released last week was the 2015 World University Games national team roster, in which 46 17-23-year-olds will head to Gwangju City, South Korea, in July.
Listed among the 46 was Lady Vol standout Molly Hannis. On a roster which has nine swimmers with a relation to the University of California alone, Hannis--a senior from Santa Rosa, Calif.--serves as Tennessee's lone representative, having qualified in the 200-yard breaststroke. Hannis earned her spot in Irvine, Calif., by finishing fourth (2:29.06) in the event, one spot ahead of fellow USA teammate Andee Cottrell (Louisville) and two spots ahead of Notre Dame's Emma Reaney.
Also featured on the World University Games roster are several talents from schools which UT has encountered already this season, including Matt Josa (Queens), James Wells (Indiana), Christina Bechtel (Kentucky), Lilly King (Indiana), Emma Nunn (North Carolina) and Lindsay Vrooman (Indiana).
Buongiorno! Ciao! Benvenuti in Italia!
As if Hannis, Craig and recent National Team Coach selection Tyler Fenwick hasn't already had a superb season thus far, Wednesday marked the beginning of yet another adventure for the three Tennessee swimmers and coach. Craig, Hannis and Fenwick left Tyson-McGhee Airport earlier today and will be arriving in Milan, Italy, where they will then head to the city of Bolzano--an hour south of the Austrian border in the Dolomite Mountain range, part of the mighty Alps.
The trip won't be just for sightseeing and taking in the beautiful vistas and living la dolce vita. Bolzano serves as the annual home of SwimMeeting, an international competition which will also be where American olympians Coughlin and Ryan Lochte will be competing. The schedule is set for this Saturday and Sunday, with the many events spanning the two days. The men's and women's 50-meter breaststroke will take place Saturday morning, Italian time, while the 100-meter breaststroke will take place Sunday morning, also Italian local time (six hours ahead of the U.S. east coast).
Kredich to Qatar
Craig won't be the only Tennessee representative heading to the Middle East this winter. In just a few weeks time now, the US Short Course National Team will head to the capital city of Doha, located in the country of Qatar on the Arabian Peninsula, for the 2014 25-meter FINA Swimming World Championships.
As a part of the recent additions to the roster made public via a press release Thursday morning, the coaching roster also will bleed a little orange, as UT Head Coach Matt Kredich was named an assistant coach under head coaches David Marsh (SwimMAC Carolina) and Ray Looze (Indiana University).
According to the release, 36 Americans--20 women and 16 men (including UT's Craig)--will participate in the championship. The roster for Team USA can be found at usaswimming.org. The event will take place over the five-day period and will consist of 34 individual events and 12 relays, all equating to 138 medals up for the taking.
The trip to Qatar, scheduled for December 3-7, directly merges with the 2014 Winter Nationals in Greensboro, N.C, which means that Kredich will not make the trek to the Tar Heel State with the team....which is fine. December in the Middle East sounds quite a bit warmer anyways.
