Auburn Tigers swimming and diving

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The Auburn Tigers swimming and diving program is Auburn University's most successful athletic program. The mens and womens teams have combined for 12 NCAA national championships. The men have won seven (1997, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) while the women have won five (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007). Current head coach David Marsh will step down at the end of the 2006-2007 season. He will be replaced by former Auburn and Stanford University head coach Richard Quick.

Contents 1 History 2 Men's Swimming and Diving 3 Women's Swimming and Diving 4 NCAA National Team Championships 5 Individual NCAA Champions 5.1 Men 5.2 Women 6 Auburn Olympians & Other International Events 7 Notable Former Auburn Swimmers 8 References

[edit] History

Auburn's swimming and diving program got off to a modest start in 1932. Swimming in the basement of the Alumni Gym (which no longer exists on campus) the Tigers swam in a small pool which only had room for three lanes. Swimmers were timed and results were telegraphed to other schools for comparisons. The first real competitions were held in 1936, with ten swimmers competing. The Tigers first swam in the SEC Championships in 1940 and placed 5th. With the outbreak of World War II, Auburn stopped all intercollegiate sports and swimming was not reinstated after the war due to inadequate facilities.

The team was reinstated in 1947, and reentered the SEC Championships by 1948. Auburn's new pool was built in 1970 as the SEC swimming teams started to gain recognition nationally. Auburn finished 3rd in the SEC and 17th in the NCAA meet in 1974, the highest finish in school history at that time. The Tigers climbed up to second in the NCAA's by 1978, in which Auburn captured the first individual NCAA champion in school history, Scott Spann won the 200 IM and the 100 yard breaststroke. Women's swimming was added as a SEC and NCAA sport (before 1982 it was an AWIA sport) in 1982, after the women's Auburn team was already competing. The women finished fourth in that year.

In 1990, Auburn hired David Marsh who would take the Tigers to new heights. He led the 1994 Men to an SEC title, the first in school history. That same year, the Tiger women won the 200 yard medley relay, becoming the first team outside of Stanford, Texas, or Florida to win a NCAA title in a relay at the NCAA meet. The men would go on to win the 1997 National Title, the first team in Auburn history to win a National NCAA title. The women swimmers became the first Auburn women to win an NCAA title in 2002. The women would then win the SEC title in 2003 for the first time, with the men also winning an SEC Championship (their 7th consecutive) it marked the first time the mens and womens SEC championships were held by the same school. Later that year, the Auburn teams combined to sweep the NCAA titles, another first as no other coach had led teams to the NCAA titles in the same year as David Marsh had done. Other teams had won both in the same year, but never with the same coach. Auburn had established itself as a national swimming power.^[1]

[edit] Men's Swimming and Diving

On top of their seven national titles, the Auburn men have dominated the SEC. Since their first SEC Championship in 1994, Auburn has won 13 out of the last 14 SEC titles, including 11 straight since 1996. Only Tennessee has broken Auburn's streak. Between January 11th 2001 and January 11th 2007 Auburn did not lose a single dual meet (meets in between 2 or 3 teams only). The only team to beat Auburn during that time period was arch swimming rival Texas.

The 2006 Men's Swimming and Diving Senior Class, consisting of Kurt Cady, George Bovell, Eric Shanteau, and Doug Van Wie finished as the only senior class in AU History for any sport to go undefeated their entire college career. They never lost a Dual, SEC, or NCAA Meet.

The 2007 Men's SEC Championship team dominated the conference competition, winning by 114.5 points over the second place Florida. The men's team won 11 individual conference titles, including sweeping all diving and relay events.

Like the conference, Auburn's men dominated the 2007 NCAA championship meet. The Tigers scored 566 points in the meet, easily outdistancing second place Stanford who scored 397 points, a difference of 169. On the very first swim of the meet, the 200 yard freestyle relay, the Tigers set a new NCAA record in the prelims which they then broke in the championship final (1:14.71). Auburn would go on to set NCAA records in four more events, the 50 Free (Cesar Cielo, 18.69), 100 Free (Cesar Cielo, 41.17), the 400 Free relay (2:46.56), and the 200 Medley Relay (1:23.37). Cesar Cielo became the first Auburn swimmer since Rowdy Gaines to win the 100 Free national title, and the first Auburn swimmer to win the 100 and 50 free in the same NCAA meet. Auburn diver Steven Segerlin repeated his 2006 Platform diving championship and won the 3M Springboard title to go with his third place in the 1M Springboard. Auburn was awarded for its dominance by sweeping the post meet awards, David Marsh was named NCAA Division I Men's Swimming Coach of the Year, head diving coach Jeff Shafer was named NCAA Division I Men's Diving Coach of the Year, Cesar Cielo was named NCAA Division I Men's Swimmer of the Year and Steven Segerlin was named NCAA Division I Men's Diver of the Year.^[2][3]

[edit] Women's Swimming and Diving

Auburn's womens team has won five of the last six national titles (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007) and the SEC Champions four out of the last five years (2003, 2004, 2005, 2007). Only Georgia has finished ahead of Auburn for both those championships. In 2005, Auburn lost to Georgia by two points at the NCAA championships and in the SEC Championships in 2006. The second place finisher at the SEC championships went on to win the national championship while the SEC champion won national runner-up for those two years. The 2007 SEC Championships saw the close competition between the Dogs and Tigers come to an end, as Auburn beat Georgia by 228 points while Georgia finished 5th in the NCAA championships to Auburn's first place finish. At the 2007 SEC Championships the women posted a school record for individual conference titles won at 12, at took home 19 All-American honors for the National Championships.^[4]

[edit] NCAA National Team Championships

The Tigers have won a combined 12 NCAA National Championships. When looking at all time results with men's and women's championships combined, the Auburn Tigers rank second behind Texas and Stanford who have 16 combined championships. The Auburn women rank third all time with 5 National titles behind Stanford (8) and Texas (7). The Auburn men rank fifth all time with 7 NCAA titles behind Michigan (11), Ohio State (10), USC and Texas (9 each), and Stanford (8). With their 2007 National title, Auburn's men joined Michigan and Indiana as the only teams to win five national tiles in a row.^[5][6]

Auburn Tiger Team NCAA National Championships
Year	Team	National Champion	Score	Runner-up	Score	Location
1997	Men	Auburn	496.5	Stanford	340	Minneapolis, Minnesota
1999	Men	Auburn	467.5	Stanford	414.5	Bloomington, Indiana
2002	Women	Auburn	474	Georgia	386	Austin, Texas
2003	Women	Auburn	536	Georgia	373	Auburn, Alabama
2003	Men	Auburn	609.5	Texas	413	Austin, Texas
2004	Women	Auburn	569	Georgia	431	College Station, Texas
2004	Men	Auburn	634	Stanford	377.5	Long Island, New York
2005	Men	Auburn	491	Stanford	414	Minneapolis, Minnesota
2006	Women	Auburn	518.5	Georgia	515.5	Athens, Georgia
2006	Men	Auburn	480.5	Arizona	440.5	Atlanta, Georgia
2007	Women	Auburn	535	Arizona	477	Minneapolis, Minnesota
2007	Men	Auburn	566	Stanford	397	Minneapolis, Minnesota

[edit] Individual NCAA Champions

[edit] Men

Auburn Tiger Men's Individual NCAA Championships
Athlete	Number of Championships	Event(s)	Year(s)
Jakob Andkjaer	One	400 yard Freestyle Relay	2007
Romain Barnier	One	400 yard Freestyle Relay	1999
Micheal Bartz	Five	200 Medley Relay (2), 400 Medley Relay (3)	1997, 1999
Fred Bousquet	Six	50 Free (3), 200 Free, 400 Free, 200 Medley Relay	2003, 2004, 2005
George Bovell	Five	200 IM (2), 200 Free Relay (2), 400 Free Relay	2003, 2004, 2006
Matt Bricker	One	Platform Diving	2005
Matt Busbee	3	200 Free Relay	1997, 1999, 2000
Greg Busse	1	200 Free Relay	2000
Aaron Ciarla	Seven	50 Free, 200 Free Relay (3), 400 Free Relay, 200 Medley Relay (2)	1997, 1999, 2000
Cesar Cielo	Six	50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free Relay (2), 200 Medley Relay, 400 Free Relay	2006, 2007
Dave Denniston	Three	200 Breast, 200 Medley Relay, 400 Medley Relay	1999
Bill Forrester	Three	400 Free Relay, 800 Free Relay (2)	1978, 1981
Rowdy Gaines	Eight	50 Free, 100 Free (2), 200 Free (2), 400 Free Relay, 800 Free Relay (2)	1978, 1979, 1980, 1981
Mark Gangloff	One	200 Medley Relay	2004
Caesar Garcia	Two	Platform Diving (2)	2003, 2004
Derek Gibb	Three	200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay, 200 Medley Relay	2004
Oliver Gumbrill	One	400 Free Relay	1996
John Hargis	Two	200 & 400 Medley Relay	1997
Brett Hawke	Nine	50 Free, 200 Free Relay (2), 400 Free Relay (2), 200 Medley Relay (3), 400 Medley Relay	1997, 1998, 1999
Kurt Jachimowski	One	200 Individual Medley	1995
Adam Jerger	Three	200 Medley Relay (2), 400 Medley Relay	1997, 1998
Bryan Lundquist	Three	200 Free Relay (2), 400 Free Relay	2006, 2007
Dave McCagg	Three	400 Free Relay, 800 Free Relay (2)	1978, 1981
Lionel Moreau	One	200 Individual Medley	1999
Rick Morley	Three	400 Free Relay, 800 Free Relay (2)	1978, 1981
Brock Newman	Six	200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay (3), 400 Medley Relay (2)	1996, 1997, 1999
Oswaldo Quevedo	One	200 Free Relay	2000
Jose Richa	One	1 Meter Springboard Diving	1987
Steven Segerlin	Three	3 Meter Springboard Diving, Platform Diving (2)	2006, 2007
Nick Shackell	Three	200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay (2)	1996, 1997
Scott Spann	Three	100 Breast, 200 IM (2)	1977, 1978
Matt Targett	Three	200 Free Relay (2) 400 Free Relay	2006, 2007
Scott Tucker	Two	400 Free Relay (2)	1996, 1997
Doug Van Wie	One	200 Medley Relay	2004
Ryan Wochomurka	Two	200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay	2004

^[7]

[edit] Women

Auburn Tiger Women's Individual NCAA Championships
Athlete	Number of Championships	Event(s)	Year(s)
Jenni Anderson	Two	200 Medley Relay	2003, 2004
Allison Bock	One	200 Medley Relay	1994
Maggie Bowen	Nine	200 IM (3), 400 IM (3), 400 Free Relay, 800 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay	2001, 2002, 2003
Mimi Bowen	Two	100 Fly, 200 Medley Relay	1997
Stephanie Bowers	One	200 Medley Relay	1994
Eileen Coparropa	Two	400 Free Relay, 200 Medley Relay	2003, 2004
Kirsty Coventry	Seven	200 Back (2), 200 IM, 400 IM, 400 Free Relay, 800 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay	2003, 2004, 2005
Rachel Goh	Two	100 Back (2)	2006, 2007
Margaret Hoelzer	Seven	200 Free (2), 400 Free Relay, 800 Free Relay, 200 Medley Relay (2), 400 Medley Relay	2003, 2004, 2005
Heather Kemp	Two	200 Free, 800 Free Relay	2003
Kristie Kruger	One	200 Medley Relay	1994
Annemieke McReynolds	One	200 Medley Relay	1997
Keri Reynolds	One	200 Medley Relay	1994
Becky Short	Three	400 Free Relay, 200 Medley Relay, 400 Medley Relay	2003
Marina Smith	One	1 Meter Diving	1993
Laura Swander	Two	200 Medley Relay (2)	2003, 2004
Katie Taylor	One	200 Medley Relay	1997
Anne Wenglarski	One	200 Medley Relay	1997

^[8]

[edit] Auburn Olympians & Other International Events

Auburn has sent many swimmers to the Olympic games and other international competitions Auburn Swimmers compete for their home countries in events such as the Goodwill Games, Pan-Pacific Games, World University Games and the FINA World Championships, which is similar to the World Cup in soccer, where Auburn Swimmers have won as of 2006 18 gold medals.

In the most well know international swimming competition, the Olympics, 30 Auburn swimmers and divers have competed for 14 countries with 8 swimmers taking home medals. Auburn coaches David Marsh and Jeff Shaffer as well as incoming coach Richard Quick have all coached US teams in the Olympics as well. The two most successful Auburn Olympians are Rowdy Gaines and Kirsty Coventry. Gaines competed in the 1980 Moscow games and the 1984 Los Angeles games, where in the latter he won three gold medals in the 100 Freestyle and in the 400 Free relay and the 400 Medley Relay for the United States of America. Coventry became the first Auburn woman swimmer to medal in an Olympics in the 2004 Athens games when she won gold, silver and bronze in the 200 backstroke, 100 backstroke, and the 200 Individual Medley respectfully. She was the first athlete ever to medal in the Olympics for her native home, Zimbabwe. In total for the 2004 Athens games, Auburn sent 12 athletes to the games with five medals, an Auburn record-tying performance for a single Olympics.^[1]

[edit] Notable Former Auburn Swimmers

• Rowdy Gaines
• Kirsty Coventry
• Hayley Peirsol

[edit] References