June 24, 2008

OMAHA, Neb. - Five University of Maryland swimmers will compete next week at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials to be held at the Qwest Center.

Rising senior Dong Kim will compete in the men's 50-meter and 100-meter freestyles, with teammate Eric Cullen, also a rising senior, to swim in the 100 breaststroke.

Three rising juniors on the women's side will make the trip to Omaha, with Jen Vogel entered in the 100 butterfly and Patty DeScenza and Nina Rossi swimming in the 200 butterfly.

"We're looking forward to it," said Terrapin head coach Sean Schimmel, who joined the staff last month. "Hopefully we'll swim our best times of the year and get some second swims."

Schimmel said that swimming in the Trials will give the Terps some experience in competing against some of the top athletes in the world.

"Our goal in going is to compete at the highest level," said Schimmel, who joined Maryland in May after coaching at LSU. "It's good to compete in a high-pressure meet like this. This will help our athletes grow and be more prepared coming into our season."

Kim set a school record at the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships with a 100-yard freestyle mark of 44.09, timed in the leadoff leg of the 400 freestyle relay. He qualified for the 50-meter freestyle with a 23.14 mark at the Yellow Jacket Long Course Invitational just after the ACCs and is ranked 42nd in the 50 free coming into the Trials.

Kim's time of 51.22 in the 100-meter freestyle, posted in April at the Toyota Grand Prix at Ohio State, is tied for 71st on the psych sheet for the Trials.

Cullen also hit his qualifying mark at Ohio State, going 1:03.81 in the 100-meter breaststroke. He is ranked 38th coming into the Trials in that event.

Vogel had Maryland's best mark of the year in the 100-yard butterfly and was Maryland's top female scorer at the 2008 ACC meet. She earned her invitation to the Olympic Trials on May 30 at the Charlotte UltraSwim with a 100-meter mark of 1:02.29.

DeScenza also hit her qualifying mark for the 200-meter butterfly in Charlotte, going 2:16.29 to rank 88th on the psych sheet. Rossi went 2:16.69, matching the Olympic Trials qualifying standard in August 2006 at the YMCA Nationals.

For more information about the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, go to www.usaswimming.org.

2008 U.S. OLYMPIC SWIMMING TRIALS
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Prelimaries at noon ET; Evening sessions at 7:45 p.m. ET

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SWIMMERS

Sunday, June 29
Women's 100-Meter Butterfly - Vogel
Men's 100-Meter Breaststroke - Cullen
(Semifinals in evening session, finals on June 30)

Wednesday, July 2
Men's 100-Meter Freestyle - Kim
Women's 200-Meter Butterfly - DeScenza & Rossi
(Semifinals in evening session, finals on July 3)

Friday, July 4
Men's 50-Meter Freestyle - Kim
(Semifinals in evening session; final on July 5)