March 23, 2010

2010 Men's Swimming and Diving NCAA Championships Home Page

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern juniors Sean Mathews (St. Louis, Mo./Lafayette) and Alex Tyler (Birmingham, Mich./Birmingham Groves) are set to compete in the 2010 NCAA Championships March 25-27 in Columbus, Ohio.

Both swimmers have great opportunities to score points at the meet, with Tyler qualifying at the 15th overall seed in the 200 IM and Mathews as the 17th in the 200 fly. The top 16 finishers in each event earn points for their school, with the top eight being named first-team All-Americans and the next eight picking up honorable mention All-America accolades.

"My main goal is to be a (first-team) All-American, so that means finishing in the top eight," Tyler said. "Another one of my goals is for Sean and I to get Northwestern ranked in to the top-25 at the NCAA meet, which is what we have been trying to do all year."

Each swimmer is making his first appearance at the NCAA Championships meet, with this year marking the 10th-consecutive season with at least one Wildcat in the field. NU finished in the top-13 in the nation every year from 2004-08.

"We have had a presence at nationals for a while," Mathews said. "People like Matt Grevers, Mike Alexandrov, Kyle Bubolz and then last year with Eric Nilsson going, we have always had someone at that meet. Our goal this whole year has been to make the meet, and now that we have made it we've readjusted our goal. Alex and I both want to score points."

In addition to the 200 IM, Tyler also will swim as the 26th seed in the 400 IM and the 34th seed in the 200 breast. Mathews is the 47th overall seed in the 100 fly, as well.

For more information on the 2010 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, link to NCAA.org.