Men's swimming team takes their turn in NCAA's

The meet, which starts today and runs through Saturday, features former and future Olympians.

For Arizona, the swimmer with the best chance at a national championship is co-captain Ryk Neethling, a sophomore from South Africa.

He was the only swimmer to win a Pacific 10 Conference championship, which he won two weeks ago in the 1,650- and 500-meter freestyle events. In winning the 1,650 free, Neethling broke the conference record set in 1984.

Neethling also finished sixth in the 200 free at the Pac-10 meet. He currently holds the nation's fastest time in the 500 free, as well as the second fastest in the 1,650.

Freshman Ben Anderson, who finished seventh in the 200 butterfly at the conference meet, has a good chance to win points for the Wildcats, currently ranked 10th in the Speedo Americas College Swimming Coaches Association top 25 poll.

The national championships will be a learning experience for Arizona, as seven of its nine swimmers competing are either freshmen or sophomores. The two seniors leading the squad are Chris Counts and Glenn Flint.

"Everybody has swam well and raced really hard," Counts, a co-captain, said. "We have had some good races, and that shows how hard we've worked."

UA head coach Frank Busch will not have as high expectations for the men as he did for the women, mainly because of the squad's youth. He does, however, expect good performances, especially from his freestylers.

Along with Neethling, freshman Jay Schryver is another one of Busch's fine young freestylers. Schryver finished second in the 200 free and second in the consolation final of the 500 free at Pac-10s.

"The men are young, but we have high anticipations," Busch said. "We're a good team, and we'll show it at NCAAs."

Sophomore All-American Matt Allen, who is swimming in the backstroke events, will also be worth watching in Auburn. In the consolation finals at the conference championships, Allen finished second in the 100 back and sixth in the 200 back.

Rounding out UA's participants are Chris Bundy, Scott Gaskins and Rob Henikman.

No matter where the Wildcats finish, Busch is certain to be proud of his team. The men were the women's team's biggest fans, supporting them in their national championship run. Now, the men hope to be on the other end.

"Our guys haven't rolled over, we've swam well," Busch said. "This is a special group of people who have made sacrifices to get where they want to go."