June 25, 2012
OMAHA, Neb. -
Led by 11-time Olympic medalist Natalie Coughlin, and with California and U.S. Olympic head coach Teri McKeever looking on, a talented collection of Golden Bears will compete at the U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials that run from Monday, June 25, through Monday, July 2. From decorated alumnae to current Bears and incoming freshmen - including such luminaries as Dana Vollmer, Caitlin Leverenz and Elizabeth Pelton - Cal will be well-represented at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha.
Coughlin headlines a star-studded Cal cast that includes alumnae such as fellow Olympic gold medalist Vollmer, 2009 NCAA champion Madison Kennedy, two-time NCAA 100-yard breaststroke champion Jessica Hardy, two-time 100-yard butterfly NCAA winner Amanda Sims, and 2009 and 2011 NCAA champ Erica Dagg. The list of alumnae swimming at trials now includes two-time 50 freestyle NCAA champ Liv Jensen and three-time NCAA winner Shelley Harper, who completed their Cal careers as integral members of the 2012 NCAA championship team.
In all, 12 members of the 2012 championship squad will swim in Omaha. Leading the way is 2012 Honda Sports Award winner for Swimming Leverenz, who narrowly missed out on making the 2008 U.S. Olympic team. Two-time 100 backstroke NCAA champ Cindy Tran, 2011-12 sophomores Melissa Bates and Mikkel-Ane Stipe as well as 2011-12 freshmen Kaylin Bing, two-time Pan Am Games gold medalist Catherine Breed, Melanie Klaren, Casey Mims, Taylor Nanfria and Caroline Piehl will also seek Olympic berths at trials.
Six incoming freshmen - Pelton, Rachel Bootsma, Rachael Acker, Lauren Driscoll, Alicia Grima and Kelly Naze - will join the elder Bears in Omaha.
Fans can watch the Trials via a combination of live streaming on USASwimming.org and taped telecasts on NBC Sports. All but the fastest heats of preliminaries will be webcast live at USASwimming.org June 25-July 1. The fastest two-four heats of preliminaries will be broadcast on tape delay by the NBC Sports Network. Finals will air live on NBC as well as on NBCOlympics.com at 8 p.m. in the Eastern Time zone and at 7 p.m. in the Central Time zone. Finals will air tape delayed in the Mountain Time zone at 7 p.m. and at 8 p.m. in the Pacific Time zone.
For a complete breakdown of Olympic Trial coverage on NBC, please visit this NBCOlympics.com page.
Results will be available at OmegaTiming.com.
For more information on Olympic Trials - including the event schedule, selection procedures, psych sheets, ticket info and more - please visit the meet webpage on USASwimming.org.
Bears Competing at the U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials
June 25-July 2 in Omaha, Neb.
Former Bears (9)
Natalie Coughlin
Erica Dagg
Jessica Hardy
Shelley Harper
Liv Jensen
Madison Kennedy
Samantha Shellem
Amanda Sims
Dana Vollmer
Current Bears (10)
Melissa Bates
Kaylin Bing
Catherine Breed
Melanie Klaren
Caitlin Leverenz
Casey Mims
Taylor Nanfria
Caroline Piehl
Cindy Tran
Mikkel-Ane Stipe
Incoming Freshmen (6)
Rachael Acker
Rachel Bootsma
Lauren Driscoll
Alicia Grima
Kelly Naze
Elizabeth Pelton
