Swimming - W | 3/14/2015 9:15:00 AM

BURNABY, BC – Simon Fraser University will send a team of 11 athletes to the NCAA Div. II National Championships that begin this week in Indianapolis, IN, and for the first time ever, the Clan will have a male swimmer competing.

The NCAA Nationals Championship begins today with pre-qualification in the diving competition and the swim races begin Wednesday.

Freshman Adrian VanderHelm, who will be racing in the 200 Individual Medley, and 100- and 200- freestyles, is the first male swimmer in SFU history to qualify for NCAA nationals. He will be looking to medal in Indianapolis.

"In my last broken 200 free swim I was a second faster than what I swam at the Clan Cup (December) where I qualified for nationals so hopefully I can go for gold," said VanderHelm. "There are two guys ranked ahead of me who are quick but I am excited to take them on."

VanderHelm is ranked third in the 200 freestyle, less than a full second behind top-ranked Gianna Ferrero, a junior from Grand Valley. That race will take place on Thursday. On Wednesday, VanderHelm will open his first nationals with the 200 IM, a race where he is ranked ninth coming in.

"I have no real expectation for the 200 IM other than to swim fast enough to get into the "A" Final," said VanderHelm, who says he will also compete in the 100 freestyle on Saturday, a race that will help him prepare for the Canadian Trials slated for April 1-4 in Toronto.

There are 157 male swimmers at the NCAA Championship and Simon Fraser's Justin Kiedrzyn is No. 158. He will be in Indianapolis as the meet's first alternate and will only compete if another swimmers pulls out.

Simon Fraser has eight swimmers and one diver on its women's team headed to nationals which will be the fifth largest women's team competing. Defending national champion Drury, with 16 women, will have the largest team in the field.

"All year long our goal has been to finish Top 10 in the nation," said Clan coach Liam Donnelly. "Last year with five women we placed Top 20 and when we left the meet we committed to finish Top 10 this year, and our freshman coming in have bought into the challenge."

The women's team features seniors Nicole Cossey, Carmen Nam, Grace Ni, and Alexandria Schofield, sophomore Lauren Swistak, and freshmen Maran Kokoszka, Meaghan Frenks, and Sidney Peake. Diver Elizabeth Durward will also be competing.

For Cossey, who qualified in five individual events, and the other seniors, it will be their final championship meet.

"I am really excited to go and compete but I imagine as the final day draws near there will be a touch of sadness because it will be the last meet competing for the Clan for some of us," said Cossey.

Donnelly says Cossey will likely swim three individual races and will compete in relays as well. Swistak and Schofield qualified in three events. Donnelly will wait until the last possible moment to reveal his lineup for races so as not to tip his hand to other teams. SFU swimmers will be competing in relays and individual races on the women's side.  

 "Right now I am focused on the 200 freestyle because it's on the first day but my strongest event is the 100 free and I will start focusing on it as the race gets closer," said Cossey. "I hope I can get into the Top 8 for all of my individual swims and if I can push into the top three than that's even better."

Cossey is ranked eighth in the 100 free heading into nationals and finished second last year.

"Some swimmers are ranked higher than others but everyone carries an expectation to perform," said Donnelly. "Everyone is committed to competing to move up from their rankings to impact the team's performance. It is the burden every athlete carries to perform well for themselves and for the team."

The NCAA nationals come two weeks before several Clan will be competing at Canada's selection competition for the World University Games (Korea), the World Championships (Russia) and the Pan American Games (Canada) in Toronto.

VanderHelm, Kiedrzyn, Saveli Yungman, Gabriel Lee, Dimitar Ivanov from the men's side and Cossey, Nam and Swistak from the women's team will be competing at those Trials in April.