Geneva, OH - On the first day of the 2014 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship the Simon Fraser University swimming and diving team has it's first All-American of the year as
Nicole Cossey (Innisfail, AB) finished sixth in the 50-yard freestyle.
In the morning session, Cossey qualified for the final of the competition by finishing with the fifth best time of the preliminary race at 23.16 seconds.
Cossey would go on to swim the final in a time of 23.21 to finish sixth and earn All-American honours by virtue of finishing in the top eight.
"I didn't get a good start in the race but felt stronger through the finish," said Cossey. "I am happy for the first day of the competition and feel I can make some improvement through the relays and the 100-yard free on Saturday."
She finished the race less than a quarter of a second behind the fourth and fifth place swimmers and earned 13 points for the Clan in the team competition.
It is the second trip to the NCAA Championship for the junior as she represented the Clan last year in SFU's first season of eligibility, also earning All-American status with a seventh place finish in the same race.
Cossey and the Clan will be back in action at the championships on Thursday.
She is part of the 200-yard freestyle relay team that will kick off Thursday's session.
Carmen Nam (Hong Kong, China) will race for the Clan in the 400-yard individual medley while
Lauren Swistak (Port Moody, BC) and
Alexandria Schofield (Coquitlam, BC) will compete in the 100-yard butterfly.
Grace Ni (Prince George, BC), Schofield, Swistak and Cossey will be trying to qualify for the championship race in the final preliminary race of the morning session, the 400-yard medley relay.
The preliminary session will get underway at 7:30 a.m. PST while the championship sessions begins at 3:00 p.m. PST.
Fans can stream the session live on NCAA.com.
