In this summer’s Olympic Games, there may be Terrapin swimmers competing against the likes of gold medalist Michael Phelps.
The Terps have five swimmers -seniors Dong Kim and Eric Cullen, and juniors Jen Vogel, Patty DeScenza and Nina Rossi – competing in the U.S. Olympic trials for a chance to compete in the summer games in Beijing.
“If any of them have the ability to swim at that elite level and make the team from the Olympic trials, I think it would take a pretty elite level of performance that’s unmatched throughout the world and throughout America,” new head coach Sean Schimmel said. “What we are really looking for these athletes to perform during this week is to go into the Olympic trials and compete with the best in America and have their best times and place as high as possible. That’s what we are looking for.”
On the men’s side, Kim is competing in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyles and Cullen is competing in the 100-meter breaststroke. Meanwhile, Vogel is in the 100-meter butterfly, and both DeScenza and Rossi are in the 200-meter butterfly for the women.
None of the Terps have qualified for the summer games so far. Vogel finished No. 93 with a time of 1:02.30 minutes in the women’s 100-meter butterfly, and Cullen finished No. 46 with a time of 1:04.04 minutes in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke.
Yesterday, Kim finished No. 105 in the men’s 100-meter freestyle with a time of 51.75. DeScenza finished No. 34 and Rossi finished No. 92 in the women’s 200-meter butterfly with times of 2:14.58 and 2:20.53, respectively. The Terps will finish up at the trials on Friday when Kim competes in the men’s 50-meter freestyle.
Since world competitions use the metric system, it tweaked the conditions to which the Terps are accustomed.
Last season, in the slightly shorter 100-yard butterfly, Vogel’s best time was 54.81 seconds, while Cullen’s best time was 54.66 seconds in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Although no Terps have qualified yet, just reaching the trials is quite an accomplishment. According to Schimmel, it is the toughest meet in the world and it would likely take world records just to qualify for the games.
“I think that right now, the Olympic trials in the U.S. is one of the fastest meets in the world,” Schimmel said. “It’s even faster than the Olympics because there is more depth in American swimming. Having the ability to make those time standards is really at the top of the game. Being able to perform at that level, getting to go to these trials and compete against the best swimmers in the country, which is also the best swimmers in the world, it’s really being at the highest level of success in the sport of swimming.”
Schimmel’s assessment of the competition is right on point, as several world records have already been broken in just three of the week-long trial dates.
While qualifying for the games might seem to be a lofty expectation, Schimmel is confident that the experience of being at the trials in heated competition should help the Terps improve as a team.
“We have five really solid athletes competing with people at the top of their game,” Schimmel said. “It’s a great quirk to have on our team. We have people on our team to build our program around them and get more depth on our team. We are trying to build a swimming and diving program to a level of success that is really going to reflect the University of Maryland’s tradition of success. That’s competing at an elite level for championships. Competing at the Olympic trials is only going to help us get there.”
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