June 10, 2008

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Four more UC Santa Barbara swimmers qualified for the 2008 United States Olympic Trials this past weekend at the Janet Evans Invitational in Los Angeles, bringing the total count to 13 current Gaucho athletes that will compete at the trials that will take place June 29 through July 6 in Omaha, Nebraska.

On the men's side, a total of seven Gauchos will race for their chance to join Team USA at the 2008 Beijing summer games. Junior Chris Good has qualified in the 200-meter backstroke and the 400-meter individual medley. Teammate Travis Jepson will swim in the 200-meter breast.

Bradley Matsumoto will compete in both the 50 and 100-meter freestyle events, along with former Gaucho Jason Lezak. Lezak, who was a gold medalist at the 2004 Olympics, holds the American record in the 100 free (48.17). Scott Vogelgesang will join the two in the 100 freestyle.

Chris Wiggin has qualified to swim in the 100 and 200-meter butterfly races and Danny McClary will swim in the 100 fly. They will be joined by former Gaucho Pat Cary who has qualified for both fly distances and who owns the 13th best mark nationally in the 200 fly (1:59.06).

Brooks Felton rounds out the list of UCSB men competing in this year's trials. He will swim in the 400-meter freestyle.

On the women's side, six UCSB swimmers will be heading to Nebraska. Junior Katy Freeman has qualified for both the 100 and 200-meter breaststroke events and will enter the competition with the 17th fastest time in the 200 (2:30.94). Joining Freeman in both breaststroke events will be freshman Sara Nicponski.

The Gauchos will have plenty of representation in the 100 butterfly, as Naomi Javanifard, Katie Ure, and Erin Yamamoto have each qualified for the event.

Rounding out the list is Anne Marie May, who has qualified to swim in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 25.95, the 34th best mark nationally.

Thirteen Gauchos qualified for the trials in 1988, but this year, there are 13 current UCSB swimmers as well as four alumni, making it the most successful attempt in program history.

In international Gaucho news, junior Jeff Sudbury will represent Canada at the 2008 Tri-Nations Cup, which will be held in Quebec City. The inaugural competition will showcase Canada's 2012 Olympic potential hopefuls. The Canadian swimmers will be competing against athletes from Great Britain and France on August 1-3.