Patrick Chai is the Meet Director for the 2013 East Coast Collegiate Swim & Dive Club National Championship meet. He will be running the meet at Georgia Tech, the 10th time the school has hosted the event, and he put together this fantastic preview below. To follow the meet online, check out the official ECC Nationals Twitter page, their Facebook page, or the official meet website.

Men’s Psych Sheets.

Women’s Psych Sheets.

April 16, ATLANTA – Two weeks after playing host to the NCAA Final Four tournament, Atlanta welcomes sixty one collegiate club teams to the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center for the 2013 East Coast Collegiate Swim & Dive Club National Championships. Beginning on Friday, April 19th, the two-and-a-half day event is the largest collegiate swim meet in the country, and features some of the fastest competitive college swimmers outside the NCAA.

This is the 10th consecutive year that Georgia Tech Swim Club has hosted the championship meet at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, home of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, 2006 NCAA Men’s Championships, and the 2005, 2008, and 2011 ACC Championships.

University of Colorado – Boulder, the two time defending National Team Champion, will return to chase a third consecutive Overall and Women’s Team Championship. Scott Runyan, head coach for the Buffalos, said “Our team has a lot of depth this year. We have a young team that is full of talent and potential, and with the guidance and achievements of our upperclassman, our team is set to do very well.” University of Florida, who captured the Men’s team champion trophy in 2012, will try to build upon that success and dethrone the Buffalos. University of Missouri, which finished third the past two years, will be seeking its first team championship trophy since 2010.

Here are three notes for the weekend:

1. University of Florida Men’s Relay

All five of Florida men’s relay team has entry times that are slightly faster than the current meet record. It’s clear the Gators are coming to Atlanta to set some new standards for collegiate club swimming. The pressure is on now to see if they can deliver.

2. Sarah Bateman – Florida

The 2012 London Olympic veteran is swimming for the University of Florida club team in five individual events (50 Fly, 50 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast, and 100 IM) and is the top seed for all five events. Can she take home five gold medals?

3. Florida vs Colorado

There is no doubt that these two clubs are the power houses of collegiate club swimming. Combined, swimmers from these two clubs claim top seeds in 33 of the 44 swimming events. Will any other club have enough depth to score enough points to claim an upset over the two favorites?

Scoring preview:

Colorado should jump out to a large lead during the first evening of competition as they are slated to dominate the distance stroke events. The key for Florida will be to win the relay events to limit the gap.

During day 2, the jostling for position will be fierce. Both Florida and Colorado have tremendous depth in all the events, so it will be very difficult for either team to pull away from the other. Missouri and Penn State can climb the rankings with several swimmers seeded in the top ten in multiple events.

The overall team ranking last year came down to the final two events, the 1 meter spring board and the 200 free relay. If the team score is tight after Day 2, it may very well come down to the wire again.

Live Results:

Swimming Live Results: http://www.ramblinwreck.com/livestats/c-swim/

Diving Live Results: https://secure.meetcontrol.com/divemeets/system/index.php#

Session Information:

Friday Evening Timed Final: 6:30PM

Saturday Prelim: 10:00AM

Saturday Final: 6:30PM

Sunday Prelim: 9:00Am

Sunday Final: 2 Hours after the conclusion of Prelim Session

For additional information, psych sheets, and full results, please visit http://www.gtswimclub.com/ecc.php

East Coast Championship History

http://www.gtswimclub.com/ecc-history.php

The swim meet was founded in 2004 and hosted six teams and seventy-three swimmers in its inaugural season. Over the past nine years, the meet has grown into the biggest and fastest collegiate swim meet in the US outside the NCAA. With the elimination of many varsity swimming programs across the country, the collegiate club scene has seen a spike in participation over the past few years. This swim meet has served as the de facto National Championships for these collegiate club teams over the past three years, and will continue to expand its reach to include many more clubs that are seeking to compete at the highest level outside the NCAA.