Tigers Preparing For Challenges From Cardinal and Longhorns

Quality depth and the potential to do well in the point-rich relays are Auburn's strengths as the Tigers prepare for the NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships. For the first time in history, the meet will be held on the Auburn campus at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center with the action beginning Thursday morning on March 26th and running through Saturday night on the 28th.

With the strength of Auburn's relays, Auburn won the 1997 title with only one individual first place-- then freshman, Brett Hawke.

The defending national champion Tigers will go into the competition ranked second behind Pac 10 Conference champions Stanford, who finished as runnerup behind the Tigers in last year's event in Minneapolis, Minn. The Cardinal is swimming very well this season and Auburn will have to be near peak performance to capture another NCAA title.

Auburn comes into the nationals as the SEC champion after putting on a very strong performance in Gainesville, Fla., last month to easily outscore fourth-ranked Georgia, fifth-ranked Tennessee and number 12 Florida. Auburn scored 858.5 points, Georgia had 690.5, Tennessee 515 and Florida scored 468.

Georgia is a darkhorse for the nationals after finishing third last year, however, the teams most likely to keep Auburn from repeating as champions are top-ranked Stanford and Texas, the 1996 national champ, which is coached by former Auburn head coach Eddie Reese.

Marsh, who also coaches the sixth-ranked women's team that is competing in nationals at Minneapolis this week, took over a program that did not score at nationals and has steadily moved the Tigers back into the nation's swimming elite. In 1991, the Tigers finished 20th at the NCAA Championships and sixth in the SEC, however, a goal had been set to become conference champions by 1994 so the Tigers were just beginning.

The next season, Auburn improved to 15th nationally, but was still sixth in the conference. "Those swimmers had a lot to do with the success we are having today," Marsh says. "They laid the groundwork that has built this program into one that can contend for national titles."

A great leap forward came in 1993. Auburn jumped from sixth to second in the powerful SEC and to sixth nationally. The Tigers have been in the Top 10 since. In 1994, Auburn won its first SEC title and was fourth nationally. The next major goal became the national title.

The Tigers repeated as conference champs in 1995 and moved up to third nationally that season. In 1996, the Tigers gave Texas a serious run for the national crown before finishing second as the Longhorns used home-pool advantage to pull out a victory. Last season, Auburn stormed to the title, jumping on the competition early and never letting up in one of the more impressive performances in NCAA men's swimming history. Auburn is hoping that home pool advantage will help them this year. The meet is expected to be a sellout prior to opening day, even with the addition of temporary seating to accommodate overflow crowds. A new sound system has been installed that will make the meet more enjoyable for fans.

Despite losing a trio of Olympians in seniors John Hargis, Nick Shackell and Scott Tucker, Auburn is still talented and has a serious chance to repeat even though the Tigers rely heavily on freshman and sophomores. "Our goal is to be in a contending position each year at the NCAA meet," Marsh says. "

The defending national champion Tigers don't have any individuals currently ranked number one nationally any event, however, four AU relay teams are currently rated first and a fifth has the nation's second fastest time. Sophomore Brett Hawke, who is ranked in the Top 10 in three individual events, is the defending national champ in the 50 free. He is also a standout on the relay teams.

Auburn has posted a time of 1:17.32 in the 200 freestyle relay with Texas A&M number two at 1:18.7. Auburn is also first in the 800 freestyle relay at 6:28.40 with Michigan second at 6:30.88. Auburn is number one in the 200 medley relay at 1:26.69 with Tennessee number two at 1:27.65. The Tigers are also first in the 400 medley relay in 3:10.36 with Ohio State number two at 3:11.74.

A trio of Tigers enter the championships ranked second in their individual events. Sophomore Matt Busbee is second in the 50 free at 19.54, Michael Bartz is second in the 100 backstroke in 47.19 and Lionel Moreau is second in the 200 individual medley in 1:46.93. Busbee and Bartz are key swimmers on the relay teams.

Other Tigers ranked in the Top 10 individually in more than one event in addition to Hawke include senior Adam Jerger, junior Brock Newman, junior Tom Klement and junior Lionel Moreau. Juniors Romain Barnier and Tom Klement and freshmen Jeff Somensatto and David Denniston have qualified in one individual event. Freshman Oswaldo Quevedo has come on strong and is a member of the SEC champion 400 freestyle relay and sophomore Eithan Urbach, who was seventh at the World Championships in Australia earlier this year in the 200 backstroke, gives the Tigers a chance to score big points in that event plus the 100 backstroke. Sophomore Aaron Ciarla swims in the 200 freestyle relay and is a threat in the 50 as an individual.

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