GCC Swimming for Dummies

Drew Snyder’s Guide to the 2009 NCAA Championships

Whether you’re an avid Grove City swim fan or just following GCC swimming for the first time, here’s the stuff you need to know while you’re watching this year’s results.

Day 1 – 500 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free, 200 Medley Relay
Grove City has made great strides in the distance events this year, including NCAA provisional qualifier Josh Kim winning the 1650 (mile) Freestyle at PACs. Our 2008-09 team roster holds the top 4 times in college history in the 500 free, led by All-American Chip Cressman with the school record. Unfortunately, we don’t have anyone swimming in the 500 Free at NCAAs this year, but look out for some major GCC representation in the years to come. Freshman phenom Ben Bowser will be swimming in the 200 IM, where he comes into the meet ranked 17th. With only a half-second separating Bowser from making the top 8 – look for him to make a splash in this event and possibly attain his first All-American citation. [Note: The top 16 swimmers from the morning preliminary sessions qualify to swim at night (1-8 in Championship Final, 9-16 in Consolation Final) and anyone who places in the top 16 earns All-American status.] In Wednesday’s final event, the 50 Yard Freestyle, Grove City has a tradition of dominance. At the 2006 championships in Minneapolis, Caleb Courage finished 3rd. The very next year in Houston, he finished 2nd behind his teammate – Tim Whitbeck, who won his first national title. This year, they come into the meet ranked 2nd and 3rd, and are considered the favorites to win. Look for both of them to break the NCAA record that was set by Alex Sweet at last years championship meet in Miami, OH. Freshman Kirk Gagliardo will be representing GCC in the 50 as well. At the 2007 championships in Houston, Grove City finished 6th in the 200 Medley Relay before they were disqualified for an illegal exchange. This year’s lineup of Cam Coppelli, Clay Beckner, Peter Larsen, and Tim Whitbeck look to move up into the top 8 and bring home some hardware in the first relay event of the meet.

Day 2 – 200 Free Relay, 400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 400 Medley Relay
In a sweet twist of fate, GCC’s Tim Whitbeck, Caleb Courage, and Drew Snyder return to Minneapolis where they finished 2nd nationally in the 200 Free Relay. Then-senior Ben Haring has been replaced by freshman Kirk Gagliardo as this foursome looks to steal the national title away from the favorite, Kenyon College. Grove City will be swimming right next to Kenyon in the preliminary heats, and the NCAA record could be broken by both teams that morning. Ben Bowser starts off a very busy day with the 400 IM followed immediately by the 100 Fly. He is the current school record holder in both events, but he may not end the day with both of those records, as senior Peter Larsen looks to take back the 100 fly record that used to belong to him before Bowser broke it at PACs. The 200 free is loaded with underclassmen, as Kirk Gagliardo, Nick Hamilton, and Nate Nielsen represent the Wolverines in this event. A lot of the major national talent scratched out of this event before the meet, leaving a lot of open spots and a chance for GCC swimmers to possibly move into the final heats. Grove City ends the day with the 400 medley relay, made up of Caleb Courage, Bennett Keefer, Ben Bowser, and Tim Whitbeck. Grove City’s entry time is an aggregate time (that is, a compilation of individual times added together rather than an actual time they went in a meet) so look for them to drop two or three seconds and move into the top eight in this event.

Day 3 – 200 Fly, 100 Back, 100 Breast, 800 Free Relay
Though Ben Bowser attained a qualifying time in the 200 fly during PACs when he broke the school record, he will not be competing in this event at NCAAs because you can only swim 3 individual events. In the 100 back, Caleb Courage, Tim Whitbeck, and Cam Coppelli all look to score some points for the Wolverines. Caleb is making his first NCAA swim in the 100 back, and has a solid chance to make top 8 in the event. The 100 breast will be swum by Bennett Keefer and Clay Beckner. Bennett is the current school record holder in the event, but we’ll have to wait and see which one of them will have the record at the end of the day. Just like the 500 free, Grove City’s current roster has the 4 faster 200 free swimmers in school history. The 800 free relay of Kirk Gagliardo, Nick Hamilton, Nate Nielsen, and Caleb Courage comes into the meet ranked 9th, and they only need to displace one team to bring home hardware in the event. The only thing standing in their way is the fact that the 800 free relay is a timed-final event, which means they have to swim it in the morning and wait until after finals that evening to see if they beat anyone.

Day 4 – 100 Free, 200 Back, 200 Breast, 400 Free Relay
Grove City is paced in the 100 free by two-time national champion Caleb Courage. He won his first national title in this pool in 2006, and looks to end his career with another national title and a national record as well. He is joined by Tim Whitbeck, who finished 10th in this event last year and should finish in the top 8 this year. Peter Larsen and Kirk Gagliardo will be rounding out Grove City’s field of sprinters – these four swimmers are the four fastest 100 free swimmers in Grove City history. Cam Coppelli will be swimming the 200 back, and looks to break the only school record that is not held by a current member of the team. Bennett Keefer broke the school record in the 200 breast at PACs, only to have it taken away by his teammate Ben Bowser. On Saturday, he’ll have the opportunity to take back the record in his last swim of the season. Grove City is smoking fast in the 400 free relay, and has a great chance to win a national title in the last event of the meet. The foursome of Kirk Gagliardo, Peter Larsen, Tim Whitbeck, and Caleb Courage will almost definitely break the NCAA record in this event, by we’ll just have to wait and see if it’s enough to bring home the title. Check the team scores after this event- Grove City should end the meet with their highest NCAA finish ever.



Unbelieveable Underclassmen - Grove City is represented by some unbelieveable freshmen and sophomores. Every member of this year's NCAA team holds at least one school record.





Unfinished Business - Grove City's Drew Snyder, Caleb Courage, and Tim Whitbeck look to improve upon their 2nd place finish at the 2006 NCAA Championships, also held at the University of Minnesota.


Check back tomorrow for links to live results and a recap from the days events.