Auburn Tigers swimming and diving
Encyclopedia
The Auburn Tigers swimming and diving program is Auburn University
's representative in the sport of swimming
and diving
. The Tigers
compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA) Division 1 and are members of the Southeastern Conference
(SEC). The program started in 1932 when the pool was in the basement of the gymnasium. The program had to telegraph their timed results to other schools and compare as the pool was too small for competitions.
The Tiger's first national champion was Scott Spann Sr, who won the 200m Individual Medley in 1978. The women's team became a full NCAA sport in 1982. David Marsh was hired in 1990 and he would make Auburn into a national powerhouse.
Under Marsh the program has won a combined thirteen NCAA national championships. The men have won eight (1997, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009) while the women have won five (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007). David Marsh stepped down at the end of the 2006-2007 season. He was replaced by former Auburn, Texas Longhorns and Stanford University
head coach Richard Quick
. The Tiger men won the 2009 National Championship, the 8th for the men and 13th total for the program. In May 2009 assistant coach Brett Hawke was promoted to Co-Head Coach to run the program in consulation with Quick. On June 10, Coach Quick died after a six month struggle with brain cancer.
Auburn has regularly been represented in the Olympic games
, with a University record sixteen swimmers at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
where five Auburn Tigers won a record thirteen medals. At the same Olympics, Kirsty Coventry
won her seventh Olympic medal to replace Auburn alumnus and NBC
swimming commentator Rowdy Gaines
at the top of the Auburn roster of Olympic medallists. Also in the Beijing games César Cielo Filho became the first Auburn swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal in the 50m Free Style event.
The team was reinstated in 1947, and reentered the SEC Championships by 1948. Auburn's new pool was built in 1970 as the SEC swimming teams started to gain recognition nationally. Auburn finished 3rd in the SEC and 17th in the NCAA meet in 1974, the highest finish in school history at that time. The Tigers climbed up to second in the NCAA's by 1978, in which Auburn captured the first individual NCAA champion in school history when Scott Spann Sr. won the 200 IM and the 100 breaststroke. Women's swimming was added as an SEC and NCAA sport (before 1982 it was an AWIA sport) in 1982, after the women's Auburn team was already competing. The women finished fourth in that year.
In 1990, Auburn hired David Marsh who would take the Tigers to new heights. He led the 1994 men to an SEC title, the first in school history. That same year, the Tiger women won the 200 yards (182.9 m) medley relay, becoming the first team outside of Stanford, Texas, or Florida to win a NCAA title in a relay at the NCAA meet. The men would go on to win the 1997 National Championship, the first team in Auburn history to win an NCAA title. The women swimmers became the first Auburn women's team to win an NCAA title in 2002. The women would then win the SEC title in 2003 for the first time, with the men also winning an SEC Championship (their seventh consecutive) marking the first time the men's and women's SEC championships were held by the same school. Later that year, the Auburn teams combined to sweep the NCAA titles, another first for men's and women's teams coached by the same person. Auburn had established itself as a national swimming power. Auburn had another first for a swimming program in 2005. After winning the 2005 national title the Auburn men's team became the first men's swimming and diving team invited to be honored at the White House
by then President George W. Bush
. The women joined the men the next year.
David Marsh's career as Auburn Head Coach ended in March 2007 after leading the Tigers to the 2007 Men's and Women's national titles in his fourth sweep of the events. Marsh finished with 17 SEC Championships and a record-tying 12 National Championships. The coach he tied is incoming Tigers coach Richard Quick who won 12 combined national titles as the Women's Head Coach for Texas and Stanford.
In 2008 the Auburn women finished second to Arizona Wildcats while the men finished in fifth place.
In 2009 the Tigers reclaimed the Men's national title by edging out second place Texas by 39 points. The 2009 title was the eighth for the men and the 13th overall for Auburn. It also marked Richard Quick's 13th title after winning twelve at Stanford and Texas. He moved ahead of former Auburn coach David Marsh for the most titles for a coach in his career and became the first coach to win national titles at three schools.
During the 2008-2009 season Brett Hawke
, a former Auburn swimmer himself, took over the day to day running of the men's program after Richard Quick was diagnosed with a brain tumor. After the season Auburn Athletics Director Jay Jacobs announced that Hawke would be promoted to Co-Head Coach and would work with both the Men's and Women's programs while consulting with Quick.
. The center first opened in the 1993 and was designed to be one of the premier natatorium
s in collegiate swimming and diving. The James E. Martin Aquatics Center has hosted multiple competitions including the SEC Championships three times, the NCAA Championships twice, as well the 1995, 2000, and 2005 U.S. Open competitions. In the months leading up to the Atlanta Olympic Games
swimming teams from Israel
, China
, Japan
, South Africa
, and Finland
used the facility to train while the US Olympic Water Polo
also used the facility.
The facility cost $10.5 million dollars and was a pet project of its namesake, former Auburn University President James E. Martin. Seating at the center has room for 1,000 spectators and an additional 800 poolside seats for competitors. The competition pool features a state of the art gutter system that absorbs waves instead of reverberating back into the pool, which creates a calmer swimming surface. The bulkheads also provide a flow-through design to prevent waves on turns. The pool is nine feet deep at the shallowest and 16.5 feet (5 m) below the diving apparatus. The entire pool is 77 yards (70.4 m) long (232 ft) and 25 yards (75 ft) wide. The bulkheads are movable and allow variable lengths for competition and practice as well as simultaneous diving. The facility also features the original Auburn competition pool, renovated as a warm-up and practice pool.
In the summer of 2007, Auburn University completed work on a new $1 million dollar outdoor training pool, part of a large scale effort by the Auburn Athletics Department to improve the school's facilities. Head Coach Richard Quick believes the pool will push Auburn's swimming facilities to elite status and improving Auburn's recruiting efforts.
The 2006 Men's Swimming and Diving senior class, consisting of Kurt Cady, George Bovell, Eric Shanteau, and Doug Van Wie finished as the only senior class in AU History for any sport to go undefeated their entire college career. They never lost a Dual, SEC, or NCAA meet.
The 2007 Men's SEC Championship team dominated the conference competition, winning by 114.5 points over the second place Florida. The men's team won 11 individual conference titles, including sweeping all diving and relay events.
Like the conference, Auburn's men dominated the 2007 NCAA championship meet. The Tigers scored 566 points in the meet, easily outdistancing second place Stanford who scored 397 points, a difference of 169. On the very first swim of the meet, the 200 yards (182.9 m) freestyle relay, the Tigers set a new NCAA record in the prelims which they then broke in the championship final (1:14.71). Auburn would go on to set NCAA records in four more events, the 50 Free (César Cielo, 18.69), 100 Free (César Cielo, 41.17), the 400 Free relay (2:46.56), and the 200 Medley Relay (1:23.37). César Cielo became the first Auburn swimmer since Rowdy Gaines to win the 100 Free national title, and the first Auburn swimmer to win the 100 and 50 free in the same NCAA meet. Auburn diver Steven Segerlin repeated his 2006 Platform diving championship and won the 3M Springboard title to go with his third place in the 1M Springboard. Auburn was awarded for its dominance by sweeping the post meet awards, David Marsh was named NCAA Division I Men's Swimming Coach of the Year, head diving coach Jeff Shafer was named NCAA Division I Men's Diving Coach of the Year, César Cielo was named NCAA Division I Men's Swimmer of the Year and Steven Segerlin was named NCAA Division I Men's Diver of the Year.
In the 2009 SEC Championship meet, Auburn's men won first place for the 13th consecutive time, tying a conference record. Auburn was led by Matt Targett
, who won seven individual SEC championships, winning every event he entered. He was named SEC Male Swimmer of the year for his efforts. In the 2009 National Championships held in College Station
, Texas
Auburn trailed rival Texas for the first two days of the competition. In the final day of competition Auburn took the lead during the first two events and held on to win the eighth national title for the men's team.
This past year the mens swimming won the SEC title for their 15th strait SEC title.
In 2009 the Auburn women finished second to the Florida Gators
in the SEC Championships. In the national championship the women finished sixth, the lowest finish for the Auburn women since 1999 when the Tigers finished 11th.
have won a combined 13 NCAA National Championships. When looking at all time results with men's and women's championships combined, the Auburn Tigers rank second behind Texas and Stanford who have 16 combined championships. The Auburn women rank third all time with 5 National titles behind Stanford (8) and Texas (7). The Auburn men rank tied for fifth all time with Stanford, each with 8 NCAA titles. The Tigers and Cardinal are behind Michigan (11), Ohio State and Texas (10 each), and USC (9). With their 2007 National title, Auburn's men joined Michigan and Indiana as the only teams to win five consecutive national tiles.
in soccer, where Auburn Swimmers have won as of 2006 18 gold medals.
Auburn swimmers won a school record 13 medals including eight golds. The top Auburn swimmers in the event were César Cielo
with two golds and a Pan-Am Record of 21.84 in the 50 freestyle. Cielo won two more medals on relay teams. Emily Kukors of Auburn won two golds, becoming the first Auburn female swimmer to win multiple golds in the Pan-American games, in the 800 free relay and the 400 free relay for the USA team. She also captured silver in the 200 IM.
and Kirsty Coventry
. Gaines competed in the 1984 Los Angeles games, where he won three gold medals in the 100 Freestyle and in the 400 Free relay and the 400 Medley Relay for the United States of America. Coventry became the first Auburn woman swimmer to medal in an Olympics in the 2004 Athens games when she won gold, silver and bronze in the 200 backstroke, 100 backstroke, and the 200 Individual Medley respectively. She is the first and (as of 2008) the only person ever to medal in an individual event in the Olympics for her native country, Zimbabwe
. In the 2008 Olympics, Coventry surpassed Rowdy Gaines in most medals won in a single games (four) and in career medals (seven) for the swimming program. In total for the 2004 Athens games, Auburn sent 12 athletes to the games with five medals, a then Auburn record-tying performance for a single Olympics. Auburn broke that record in the 2008 Olympics, winning 13 total medals in swimming.
George Bovell
Matthew Busbee
César Cielo Filho David Denniston Rowdy Gaines
Mark Gangloff
Eric Shanteau
Matt Targett
Kirsty Coventry
Alana Dillette
Margaret Hoelzer
Stephanie Horner
Hayley Peirsol
Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
's representative in the sport of swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
and diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
. The Tigers
Auburn Tigers
Auburn Tigers is the name given to Auburn University athletic teams. The University is a member of the Southeastern Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 19 varsity teams in 13 sports:* Men's sports** Baseball** Basketball...
compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
(NCAA) Division 1 and are members of the Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
(SEC). The program started in 1932 when the pool was in the basement of the gymnasium. The program had to telegraph their timed results to other schools and compare as the pool was too small for competitions.
The Tiger's first national champion was Scott Spann Sr, who won the 200m Individual Medley in 1978. The women's team became a full NCAA sport in 1982. David Marsh was hired in 1990 and he would make Auburn into a national powerhouse.
Under Marsh the program has won a combined thirteen NCAA national championships. The men have won eight (1997, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009) while the women have won five (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007). David Marsh stepped down at the end of the 2006-2007 season. He was replaced by former Auburn, Texas Longhorns and Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
head coach Richard Quick
Richard Quick
Richard Walter Quick was the head coach of the women's swim team at Stanford University, California, U.S. from 1988 through 2005. He has been a coach for the US Olympic team for six Olympics - 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004...
. The Tiger men won the 2009 National Championship, the 8th for the men and 13th total for the program. In May 2009 assistant coach Brett Hawke was promoted to Co-Head Coach to run the program in consulation with Quick. On June 10, Coach Quick died after a six month struggle with brain cancer.
Auburn has regularly been represented in the Olympic games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
, with a University record sixteen swimmers at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
where five Auburn Tigers won a record thirteen medals. At the same Olympics, Kirsty Coventry
Kirsty Coventry
Kirsty Leigh Coventry is a Zimbabwean swimmer and world record holder. She attended and swam competitively for Auburn University in Alabama, in the United States...
won her seventh Olympic medal to replace Auburn alumnus and NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
swimming commentator Rowdy Gaines
Rowdy Gaines
Ambrose Gaines IV is a former American swimmer, U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame member, Olympic three-time gold medalist, and member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame...
at the top of the Auburn roster of Olympic medallists. Also in the Beijing games César Cielo Filho became the first Auburn swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal in the 50m Free Style event.
History
Auburn's swimming and diving program got off to a modest start in 1932. Swimming in the basement of the Alumni Gym (which no longer exists on campus) the Tigers swam in a small pool which only had room for three lanes. Swimmers were timed and results were telegraphed to other schools for comparisons. The first real competitions were held in 1936, with ten swimmers competing. The Tigers first swam in the SEC Championships in 1940 and placed 5th. With the outbreak of World War II, Auburn stopped all intercollegiate sports and swimming was not reinstated after the war due to inadequate facilities.The team was reinstated in 1947, and reentered the SEC Championships by 1948. Auburn's new pool was built in 1970 as the SEC swimming teams started to gain recognition nationally. Auburn finished 3rd in the SEC and 17th in the NCAA meet in 1974, the highest finish in school history at that time. The Tigers climbed up to second in the NCAA's by 1978, in which Auburn captured the first individual NCAA champion in school history when Scott Spann Sr. won the 200 IM and the 100 breaststroke. Women's swimming was added as an SEC and NCAA sport (before 1982 it was an AWIA sport) in 1982, after the women's Auburn team was already competing. The women finished fourth in that year.
In 1990, Auburn hired David Marsh who would take the Tigers to new heights. He led the 1994 men to an SEC title, the first in school history. That same year, the Tiger women won the 200 yards (182.9 m) medley relay, becoming the first team outside of Stanford, Texas, or Florida to win a NCAA title in a relay at the NCAA meet. The men would go on to win the 1997 National Championship, the first team in Auburn history to win an NCAA title. The women swimmers became the first Auburn women's team to win an NCAA title in 2002. The women would then win the SEC title in 2003 for the first time, with the men also winning an SEC Championship (their seventh consecutive) marking the first time the men's and women's SEC championships were held by the same school. Later that year, the Auburn teams combined to sweep the NCAA titles, another first for men's and women's teams coached by the same person. Auburn had established itself as a national swimming power. Auburn had another first for a swimming program in 2005. After winning the 2005 national title the Auburn men's team became the first men's swimming and diving team invited to be honored at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
by then President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. The women joined the men the next year.
David Marsh's career as Auburn Head Coach ended in March 2007 after leading the Tigers to the 2007 Men's and Women's national titles in his fourth sweep of the events. Marsh finished with 17 SEC Championships and a record-tying 12 National Championships. The coach he tied is incoming Tigers coach Richard Quick who won 12 combined national titles as the Women's Head Coach for Texas and Stanford.
In 2008 the Auburn women finished second to Arizona Wildcats while the men finished in fifth place.
In 2009 the Tigers reclaimed the Men's national title by edging out second place Texas by 39 points. The 2009 title was the eighth for the men and the 13th overall for Auburn. It also marked Richard Quick's 13th title after winning twelve at Stanford and Texas. He moved ahead of former Auburn coach David Marsh for the most titles for a coach in his career and became the first coach to win national titles at three schools.
During the 2008-2009 season Brett Hawke
Brett Hawke
Brett Hawke is a retired sprint swimmer who competed for Australia at the 2000 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Olympics. He is now the head coach of Auburn University's swimming and diving program....
, a former Auburn swimmer himself, took over the day to day running of the men's program after Richard Quick was diagnosed with a brain tumor. After the season Auburn Athletics Director Jay Jacobs announced that Hawke would be promoted to Co-Head Coach and would work with both the Men's and Women's programs while consulting with Quick.
Facilities
The Auburn Swimming and Diving program competes in the James E. Martin Aquatics CenterJames E. Martin Aquatics Center
The James E. Martin Aquatics Center is a swimming complex on the Auburn University campus in Auburn, Alabama. It is the home pool of the Auburn University and Auburn High School swimming and diving programs. The Martin Aquatics Center has hosted the NCAA Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving...
. The center first opened in the 1993 and was designed to be one of the premier natatorium
Natatorium
A natatorium is a term given for a building containing a swimming pool. In Latin, a cella natatoria was a swimming pool in its own building, although it is sometimes also used to refer to any indoor pool even if not housed in a dedicated building...
s in collegiate swimming and diving. The James E. Martin Aquatics Center has hosted multiple competitions including the SEC Championships three times, the NCAA Championships twice, as well the 1995, 2000, and 2005 U.S. Open competitions. In the months leading up to the Atlanta Olympic Games
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
swimming teams from Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, and Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
used the facility to train while the US Olympic Water Polo
Water polo
Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...
also used the facility.
The facility cost $10.5 million dollars and was a pet project of its namesake, former Auburn University President James E. Martin. Seating at the center has room for 1,000 spectators and an additional 800 poolside seats for competitors. The competition pool features a state of the art gutter system that absorbs waves instead of reverberating back into the pool, which creates a calmer swimming surface. The bulkheads also provide a flow-through design to prevent waves on turns. The pool is nine feet deep at the shallowest and 16.5 feet (5 m) below the diving apparatus. The entire pool is 77 yards (70.4 m) long (232 ft) and 25 yards (75 ft) wide. The bulkheads are movable and allow variable lengths for competition and practice as well as simultaneous diving. The facility also features the original Auburn competition pool, renovated as a warm-up and practice pool.
In the summer of 2007, Auburn University completed work on a new $1 million dollar outdoor training pool, part of a large scale effort by the Auburn Athletics Department to improve the school's facilities. Head Coach Richard Quick believes the pool will push Auburn's swimming facilities to elite status and improving Auburn's recruiting efforts.
Men's swimming and diving
On top of their seven national titles, the Auburn men have won several SEC championships. Since their first SEC Championship in 1994, Auburn has won 14 out of the last 15 SEC titles, including 13 straight since 1996. Only Tennessee has broken Auburn's SEC championship streak. Between January 11, 2001 and January 11, 2007 Auburn did not lose a single dual meet (meets in between 2 or 3 teams only). The only team to beat Auburn during that time period was arch swimming rival Texas, when they snapped the Tigers 44 consecutive dual meet winning streak by a score of 130-113.The 2006 Men's Swimming and Diving senior class, consisting of Kurt Cady, George Bovell, Eric Shanteau, and Doug Van Wie finished as the only senior class in AU History for any sport to go undefeated their entire college career. They never lost a Dual, SEC, or NCAA meet.
The 2007 Men's SEC Championship team dominated the conference competition, winning by 114.5 points over the second place Florida. The men's team won 11 individual conference titles, including sweeping all diving and relay events.
Like the conference, Auburn's men dominated the 2007 NCAA championship meet. The Tigers scored 566 points in the meet, easily outdistancing second place Stanford who scored 397 points, a difference of 169. On the very first swim of the meet, the 200 yards (182.9 m) freestyle relay, the Tigers set a new NCAA record in the prelims which they then broke in the championship final (1:14.71). Auburn would go on to set NCAA records in four more events, the 50 Free (César Cielo, 18.69), 100 Free (César Cielo, 41.17), the 400 Free relay (2:46.56), and the 200 Medley Relay (1:23.37). César Cielo became the first Auburn swimmer since Rowdy Gaines to win the 100 Free national title, and the first Auburn swimmer to win the 100 and 50 free in the same NCAA meet. Auburn diver Steven Segerlin repeated his 2006 Platform diving championship and won the 3M Springboard title to go with his third place in the 1M Springboard. Auburn was awarded for its dominance by sweeping the post meet awards, David Marsh was named NCAA Division I Men's Swimming Coach of the Year, head diving coach Jeff Shafer was named NCAA Division I Men's Diving Coach of the Year, César Cielo was named NCAA Division I Men's Swimmer of the Year and Steven Segerlin was named NCAA Division I Men's Diver of the Year.
In the 2009 SEC Championship meet, Auburn's men won first place for the 13th consecutive time, tying a conference record. Auburn was led by Matt Targett
Matt Targett
Matthew Targett is an Australian sprint freestyle and butterfly swimmer.- 2006 Commonwealth Games :In 2006 and in his home town of Melbourne, Targett competed in the 50 metres butterfly, finishing second and placing above more experienced countrymen Michael Klim and Matt Welsh...
, who won seven individual SEC championships, winning every event he entered. He was named SEC Male Swimmer of the year for his efforts. In the 2009 National Championships held in College Station
College Station, Texas
College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley. The city is located within the most populated region of Texas, near three of the 10 largest cities in the United States - Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
Auburn trailed rival Texas for the first two days of the competition. In the final day of competition Auburn took the lead during the first two events and held on to win the eighth national title for the men's team.
This past year the mens swimming won the SEC title for their 15th strait SEC title.
Women's swimming and diving
Auburn's women's team has won five of the last six national titles (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007) and the SEC Champions four out of the last five years (2003, 2004, 2005, 2007). In 2005, Auburn lost to Georgia by two points at the NCAA championships and in the SEC Championships in 2006. The second place finisher at the SEC championships went on to win the national championship while the SEC champion won national runner-up for those two years. The 2007 SEC Championships saw the close competition between the Dogs and Tigers come to an end, as Auburn beat Georgia by 228 points while Georgia finished 5th in the NCAA championships to Auburn's first place finish. At the 2007 SEC Championships the women posted a school record for individual conference titles won at 12, at took home 19 All-American honors for the National Championships.In 2009 the Auburn women finished second to the Florida Gators
Florida Gators
The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams...
in the SEC Championships. In the national championship the women finished sixth, the lowest finish for the Auburn women since 1999 when the Tigers finished 11th.
NCAA national team championships
The TigersAuburn Tigers
Auburn Tigers is the name given to Auburn University athletic teams. The University is a member of the Southeastern Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 19 varsity teams in 13 sports:* Men's sports** Baseball** Basketball...
have won a combined 13 NCAA National Championships. When looking at all time results with men's and women's championships combined, the Auburn Tigers rank second behind Texas and Stanford who have 16 combined championships. The Auburn women rank third all time with 5 National titles behind Stanford (8) and Texas (7). The Auburn men rank tied for fifth all time with Stanford, each with 8 NCAA titles. The Tigers and Cardinal are behind Michigan (11), Ohio State and Texas (10 each), and USC (9). With their 2007 National title, Auburn's men joined Michigan and Indiana as the only teams to win five consecutive national tiles.
| Auburn Tiger Team NCAA National Championships | ||||||
| Year | Team | National Champion | Score | Runner-up | Score | Location |
| 1997 | Men | Auburn | 496.5 | Stanford | 340 | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| 1999 | Men | Auburn | 467.5 | Stanford | 414.5 | Bloomington, Indiana |
| 2002 | Women | Auburn | 474 | Georgia | 386 | Austin, Texas |
| 2003 | Women | Auburn | 536 | Georgia | 373 | Auburn, Alabama |
| 2003 | Men | Auburn | 609.5 | Texas | 413 | Austin, Texas |
| 2004 | Women | Auburn | 569 | Georgia | 431 | College Station, Texas |
| 2004 | Men | Auburn | 634 | Stanford | 377.5 | Long Island, New York |
| 2005 | Men | Auburn | 491 | Stanford | 414 | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| 2006 | Women | Auburn | 518.5 | Georgia | 515.5 | Athens, Georgia |
| 2006 | Men | Auburn | 480.5 | Arizona | 440.5 | Atlanta, Georgia |
| 2007 | Women | Auburn | 535 | Arizona | 477 | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| 2007 | Men | Auburn | 566 | Stanford | 397 | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| 2009 | Men | Auburn | 526 | Texas | 487 | College Station, Texas |
Men
| Athlete | Titles | Year(s) | Event(s) |
| 9 | 1997, 1998, 1999 | 50 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay (2), 400 freestyle relay (2), 200 medley relay (3), 400 medley relay | |
| 8 | 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981 | 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle (2), 200 freestyle (2), 400 freestyle relay, 800 freestyle relay (2) | |
| 7 | 1997, 1999, 2000 | 50 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay (3), 400 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay (2) | |
| 6 | 1996, 1997, 1999 | 200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay (3), 400 medley relay (2) | |
| 6 | 2003, 2004, 2005 | 50 freestyle (3), 200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay | |
| 10 | 2006, 2007, 2008 | 50 freestyle (2), 100 freestyle (2), 200 freestyle relay (3), 400 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay (2) | |
| 5 | 1997, 1998, 1999 | 200 medley relay (2), 400 medley relay (3) | |
| 5 | 2003, 2004, 2006 | 200 IM (2), 200 freestyle relay (2), 400 freestyle relay | |
| 3 | 1977, 1978 | 100 breaststroke, 200 IM (2) | |
| 3 | 1978, 1981 | 400 freestyle relay, 800 freestyle relay (2) | |
| 3 | 1978, 1981 | 400 freestyle relay, 800 freestyle relay (2) | |
| 3 | 1978, 1981 | 400 freestyle relay, 800 freestyle relay (2) | |
| 3 | 1996, 1997 | 200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay (2) | |
| 3 | 1997, 1999, 2000 | 200 freestyle relay (3) | |
| 3 | 1997, 1998 | 200 medley relay (2), 400 medley relay | |
| 3 | 1999 | 200 breaststroke, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay | |
| 3 | 2004 | 200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay | |
| 3 | 2006, 2007 | 200 freestyle relay (2), 400 freestyle relay | |
| 3 | 2006, 2007 | 3 m Springboard, Platform (2) | |
| 7 | 2006, 2007, 2009 | 200 freestyle relay (3), 200 medley relay 400 freestyle relay (2), 400 medley relay | |
| 2 | 1996, 1997 | 400 freestyle relay (2) | |
| 2 | 1997 | 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay | |
| 2 | 2003, 2004 | Platform (2) | |
| 2 | 2004 | 200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay | |
| 1 | 1987 | 1 m Springboard | |
| 1 | 1995 | 200 IM | |
| 1 | 1996 | 400 freestyle relay | |
| 1 | 1999 | 400 freestyle relay | |
| 1 | 1999 | 200 IM | |
| 1 | 2000 | 200 freestyle relay | |
| 1 | 2000 | 200 freestyle relay | |
| 1 | 2004 | 200 medley relay | |
| 1 | 2004 | 200 medley relay | |
| 1 | 2005 | Platform | |
| 3 | 2007, 2009 | 200 free relay, 400 freestyle relay (2) | |
| 2 | 2009 | 100 back, 400 freestyle relay | |
| 2 | 2009 | 400 freestyle relay, 400 medley relay | |
| 1 | 2009 | 200 medley relay | |
| 2 | 2009 | 200 medley relay, 200 free relay | |
| 2 | 2009 | 200 medley relay, 200 free relay | |
| 1 | 2009 | 400 medley relay | |
| 1 | 2009 | 400 medley relay |
Women
| Athlete | Titles | Year(s) | Event(s) |
| 9 | 2001, 2002, 2003 | 200 IM (3), 400 IM (3), 400 freestyle relay, 800 freestyle relay, 400 medley relay | |
| 7 | 2003, 2004, 2005 | 200 backstroke (2), 200 IM, 400 IM, 400 freestyle relay, 800 freestyle relay, 400 medley relay | |
| 7 | 2003, 2004, 2005 | 200 Free (2), 400 freestyle relay, 800 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay (2), 400 medley relay | |
| 3 | 2003 | 400 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay | |
| 2 | 1997 | 100 butterfly, 200 medley relay | |
| 2 | 2003, 2004 | 200 medley relay | |
| 2 | 2003, 2004 | 400 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay | |
| 2 | 2003 | 200 freestyle, 800 freestyle relay | |
| 2 | 2003, 2004 | 200 medley relay (2) | |
| 2 | 2006, 2007 | 100 backstroke (2) | |
| 2 | 2006, 2007 | 1650 freestyle (2) | |
| 1 | 1993 | 1 m Springboard | |
| 1 | 1994 | 200 medley relay | |
| 1 | 1994 | 200 medley relay | |
| 1 | 1994 | 200 medley relay | |
| 1 | 1994 | 200 medley relay | |
| 1 | 1997 | 200 medley relay | |
| 1 | 1997 | 200 medley relay | |
| 1 | 1997 | 200 medley relay | |
| 1 | 2007 | 500 freestyle | |
| 1 | 2007 | 400 IM |
Auburn swimmers in international events
Auburn has sent many swimmers to the Olympic games and other international competitions Auburn Swimmers compete for their home countries in events such as the Goodwill Games, Pan-Pacific Games, World University Games and the FINA World Championships, which is similar to the World CupFIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
in soccer, where Auburn Swimmers have won as of 2006 18 gold medals.
2007 Pan-American Games
At the 2007 Pan-American GamesSwimming at the 2007 Pan American Games
The swimming competitions at the 2007 Pan American Games consisted of 34 events, held on and at:*pool: July 16-22, Maria Lenk Aquatic Park*open water : July 14, Copacabana Beach-Pool schedule:-Men's events:-Women's events:...
Auburn swimmers won a school record 13 medals including eight golds. The top Auburn swimmers in the event were César Cielo
César Cielo
César Augusto Cielo Filho is a Brazilian professional swimmer who specializes in sprint events...
with two golds and a Pan-Am Record of 21.84 in the 50 freestyle. Cielo won two more medals on relay teams. Emily Kukors of Auburn won two golds, becoming the first Auburn female swimmer to win multiple golds in the Pan-American games, in the 800 free relay and the 400 free relay for the USA team. She also captured silver in the 200 IM.
Auburn Olympians
In the most well known international swimming competition, the Olympics, 30 Auburn swimmers and divers have competed for 14 countries with 8 swimmers taking home medals. Auburn coaches David Marsh and Jeff Shaffer as well as incoming coach Richard Quick have all coached US teams in the Olympics as well. The two most decorated Auburn Olympians are Rowdy GainesRowdy Gaines
Ambrose Gaines IV is a former American swimmer, U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame member, Olympic three-time gold medalist, and member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame...
and Kirsty Coventry
Kirsty Coventry
Kirsty Leigh Coventry is a Zimbabwean swimmer and world record holder. She attended and swam competitively for Auburn University in Alabama, in the United States...
. Gaines competed in the 1984 Los Angeles games, where he won three gold medals in the 100 Freestyle and in the 400 Free relay and the 400 Medley Relay for the United States of America. Coventry became the first Auburn woman swimmer to medal in an Olympics in the 2004 Athens games when she won gold, silver and bronze in the 200 backstroke, 100 backstroke, and the 200 Individual Medley respectively. She is the first and (as of 2008) the only person ever to medal in an individual event in the Olympics for her native country, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
. In the 2008 Olympics, Coventry surpassed Rowdy Gaines in most medals won in a single games (four) and in career medals (seven) for the swimming program. In total for the 2004 Athens games, Auburn sent 12 athletes to the games with five medals, a then Auburn record-tying performance for a single Olympics. Auburn broke that record in the 2008 Olympics, winning 13 total medals in swimming.
Summer Olympic Games Beijing 2008
Auburn swimmers Kirsty Coventry and César Cielo both won multiple medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Coventry returned after winning gold, silver and bronze in Athens, this time she won a gold medal in the 200 backstroke and three silvers in the 100 back, as well as the 200 and 400 Medley relays. Cielo won a gold medal in the 50 free and a bronze in the 100 meter freestyle. In total former or current Auburn swimmers won 13 medals at the Olympics representing various nations around the world. The 13 medals was the most of a single university in swimming. As a result of these Olympic games, Coventry set an Auburn career record for Olympic medals and the record for most medals in a games by an Auburn athlete.| Athlete | Nation | Total | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Events |
| FRA France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...  |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Silver Medal in 400m Freestyle relay | |
| BRA Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...  |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Gold Medal in 50m Freestyle and Bronze Medal for 100m Freestyle | |
| ZIM Zimbabwe Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...  |
4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | Gold Medal in 200m backstroke, Silver Medal in 100m basckstroke, 200m Medley and 400m Medley. | |
USA  |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Gold Medal in 400m Medley Relay | |
| USA |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | Silver Medal in 200m backstroke, 400m Medley, Bronze Medal in 100m backstroke | |
| AUS Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...  |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Silver Medal in 400m Medley Relay, Bronze Medal in 400m freestyle relay | |
Men's
Frédérick BousquetFrédérick Bousquet
Frédérick Bousquet is a freestyle and butterfly swimmer from France. He was the holder of the world record in the 50 m freestyle in a time of 20.94 in long course, set on April 26, 2009 at the final of the French Championships...
George Bovell
George Bovell
George Bovell III is a three-time Olympic swimmer from Trinidad and Tobago. He represented the country at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics. At the 2004 Olympics, he won a bronze medal in the men's 200 IM:the 9th medalist in the country's history and 12th medal overall...
Matthew Busbee
Matthew Busbee
Matthew Busbee was fourteen-time All-American swimmer, three-time NCAA 200-meter freestyle relay champion, two-time NCAA Championship teammember, who was selected as a NCAA Top VIII Award winner as one of the eight top NCAA student-athletes and the 2000 male Walter Byers Scholarship winner as the...
César Cielo Filho David Denniston Rowdy Gaines
Rowdy Gaines
Ambrose Gaines IV is a former American swimmer, U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame member, Olympic three-time gold medalist, and member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame...
Mark Gangloff
Mark Gangloff
Mark Gangloff is an American swimmer who earned a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics by swimming in the 4x100m medley relay preliminaries. He came in fourth place for the 100m breaststroke...
Eric Shanteau
Eric Shanteau
Eric Lee Shanteau is an American Olympic swimmer. He lives and trains in Austin, Texas.-College:...
Matt Targett
Matt Targett
Matthew Targett is an Australian sprint freestyle and butterfly swimmer.- 2006 Commonwealth Games :In 2006 and in his home town of Melbourne, Targett competed in the 50 metres butterfly, finishing second and placing above more experienced countrymen Michael Klim and Matt Welsh...
Women's
Eileen CoparropaEileen Coparropa
Eileen Mary Coparropa Alemán is a female freestyle swimmer from Panama, who won a silver and a bronze medal in the women's 50m freestyle event at the Pan American Games. Nicknamed "La Sirena de Oro" she represented her native country at three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in...
Kirsty Coventry
Kirsty Coventry
Kirsty Leigh Coventry is a Zimbabwean swimmer and world record holder. She attended and swam competitively for Auburn University in Alabama, in the United States...
Alana Dillette
Alana Dillette
Alana Kathryn Dillette is an Olympic-swimmer from The Bahamas. She swam for the Bahamas at the 2008 Summer Olympics, as well as at the 2007 Pan American Games...
Margaret Hoelzer
Margaret Hoelzer
Margaret Hoelzer is an American swimmer who competed in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.-Biography:...
Stephanie Horner
Stephanie Horner
Stephanie Horner is a female swimmer from Canada. She is a butterfly and freestyle specialist. After having won four medals at the 2007 Pan American Games Horner competed for her native country at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, PR China...
Hayley Peirsol
Hayley Peirsol
Hayley Reide Peirsol is an American long-distance swimmer. She swam under Brent Lorenzen with Irvine Novaquatics prior to attending Auburn University. She has also trained with Club Wolverine at the University of Michigan under Bob Bowman. Hayley was the third woman in history to ever break 16...
Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace
Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace
Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace is a national-record holding and Olympic swimmer from the Bahamas. She swam for the Bahamas at the 2008 Olympics. She swims collegiately in the USA for Auburn University...