March 25, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – South Carolina senior swimmers Kyle Cormier and Nicholas Walkotten travel to Aggieland this weekend to compete for the Gamecocks in the NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships at Texas A&M University. Both athletes will compete in three events each in an attempt to earn points for the Gamecocks and add to their already-impressive collection of All-America certificates.
Cormier, a native of Pensacola, Fla., sat out last season while rehabbing an injury and training for the Olympic Trials. But he has come back with a vengeance this year, setting three individual school records and holding spots on three more record-setting relay teams. Cormier earned an invitation to this year’s championships with his time of 1:34.09 in the 200-yard freestyle, which was good enough for a bronze medal at the SEC Championships. Cormier, who was an All-American in both 2006 and 2007 as part of South Carolina’s 800 freestyle relay team, will also swim the 200 individual medley and the 100 freestyle by virtue of his NCAA provisional qualifying times in those events.
Walkotten makes his second NCAA Championships appearance for South Carolina and his third overall, earning an invitation in the 200-yard butterfly with his time of 1:43.55. The senior from Hudsonville, Mich., is also set to compete in the 100 butterfly and the 100 backstroke after setting school records in both of those events as well. Walkotten competed last year in the 100 and 200 fly, earning a 21st-place finish in the 200 and a 24th-place showing in the 100.
This year is the third NCAA Championships appearance for Cormier. He competed in the 800 FR, 100 free and 200 free at the 2007 championships, and in the 800 FR, 400 FR and 200 IM at the 2006 meet. Walkotten competed in the aforementioned events last season, his first at South Carolina, and earned All-America honors as a sophomore at Indiana University in 2006.
The competition gets underway Thursday as Cormier will make his first run at All-America status with the 200 individual medley. Prelims get underway at 10 a.m. Central time with finals set for 7 p.m. Central. Live results are available through aggieathletics.com.
