FAYETTEVILLE — Freshman Peyton Palsha was announced as the lone Razorback swimmer to qualify for the 2018 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Committee announced Wednesday.
The championships will be held March 14-17 at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio. The Ohio State University and the Greater Columbus Sports Commission will serve as co-hosts.
A total of 322 participants (281 swimmers and 41 divers) will compete in the championships. Swimmers qualified for the championships by meeting the established minimum time for the events in which they entered.
Palsha qualified for the 1650 freestyle, after swimming a personal-best 16:12.53 at the SEC Championships two weeks ago, finishing sixth overall in her first conference championships.
She holds the fastest time on the team this season in the event, including three of the top six times.
Palsha has also been invited to participate in the 500 freestyle and the 400 individual medley.
“Obviously, we are excited for Peyton,” said coach Neil Harper. “It is great for her to come in her freshman year and perform so well and qualify for NCAA’s. This will be a great experience for her and she is already training hard to attempt to go even faster. This year’s meet and qualifying times were faster than ever. We had several seniors get really close and we are disappointed for them in their last season.”
Divers will be determined by performances at the Zone Diving Meets held March 5-10. Selected divers will be announced Sunday, March 11.
ESPNU will broadcast live the championship finals session Friday starting at 5 p.m. Eastern time.
The finals session on Saturday will be streamed live by ESPN3 starting at 6 p.m. Eastern time.
All sessions not broadcast by either ESPNU or ESPN3 will be streamed live on the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships microsite at www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
Tape delayed coverage of the women’s championships will be broadcast on ESPNU March 25 at 4 p.m. Eastern time.
