Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Takes Aim at Big Ten Championships Success
2/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 25, 2009
Northwestern's 2009 Big Ten Championships Notes (PDF Format) 
Big Ten Championships Web Page (including live results)
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern enters the 2009 Big Ten Championships as the league's most accomplished program over the last half decade, having won more conference individual and relay titles than any other school. The Wildcats, who have a history of performing beyond expectations in big meets, hope to continue that string of success this year.
The 2009 conference meet takes place February 26-28 in West Lafayette, Ind. Preliminary sessions begin at 11 a.m. CT each day with finals kicking off at 6 p.m. CT each evening.
Over the past five years, Northwestern has won a whopping 30 Big Ten Championships, averaging six per season. Although all of the Wildcats who won those titles have graduated and gone on to bigger things (such as winning two Olympic golds and a silver at the 2008 Beijing Games like Matt Grevers), Northwestern has at least one swimmer in particular waiting in the wings to carry on the tradition.
Senior Eric Nilsson (Weston, Mass./Weston) has been NU's strongest competitor in 2008-09, earning eight NCAA `B' provisional qualifying standards and picking up Big Ten Swimmer of the Week honors twice during the year. He is a veteran of seven Big Ten Championships `A' finals, with his best finish coming in the 200 free at the 2007 meet when he was third. Nilsson has several school records in his sights (including one held by Grevers) in addition to his goal of winning a Big Ten title.
Multiple Wildcats enter the 2009 Big Ten Championships with scoring performances in the meet under their belts. Backstroker Adam Beckman (Kearney, Neb./Kearney), butterflier Chris Doman (Pittsburgh, Pa./St. Charles Prep (Columbus, Ohio)), senior breaststroke specialist John Franklin (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./North Broward Prep), 200 fly expert Sean Mathews (St. Louis, Mo./Lafayette) and individual medley maven Alex Tyler (Birmingham, Mich./Birmingham Groves) all scored points at last year's Big Ten meet. Beckman, Mathews and Tyler in particular have had strong 2008-09 seasons and are poised to score even bigger points for the 'Cats.
Unlike the past few years, no NU relay stands out from the crowd, although the Wildcats do enter the meet with a `B' cut already attained in the 800 free relay. Northwestern's 400 free relay is on the cusp of a `B' cut itself.
For Northwestern's complete 2009 Big Ten Championships notes package, click on the .pdf located at the top of this page.
