STANFORD, Calif. – Penn State men's and women's swimmers made their presence felt at the 2019 Phillips 66 National Championships, posting several Olympic Trials cut and personal record times Wednesday-Sunday at the Stanford Avery Aquatic Center in Stanford, California, earning a combined 25th-place finish as a team. Additionally, alumna Ally McHugh won four medals, including three golds.
Men's swimmer Michael Daly totaled five Olympic Trials cuts and personal records in the five events he completed in to lead the current Nittany Lions. On the women's side, Maddie Hart led with a 15th-place finish in the 100 fly. In total, five different Lions totaled Olympic Trial qualifying swims in 11 different events.
The 2020 Olympic Trials are set for June 21-28, 2020 in Omaha, Nebraska.
Daly began his meet Wednesday with a trials cut in a 200-meter free time trial of 1:50.73. Thursday, he posted a trials cut in the 200 back of 2:01.65. Friday, he earned an 11th-place finish in the 400m IM (4:19.67) and posted a personal best of 4:19.58 in the preliminaries. Saturday, he excelled in a 200m IM (2:02.79) time trial, and then Sunday he capped his week with a time of 8:08.35 in the 800m free to place 22nd.
Will Roberson matched Daly's 11th-place finish in the 50m freestyle Sunday, dropping more than a half-second off his personal best for a trials cut of 22.47 seconds.
Hart opened her meet with a personal record in the 200m fly (2:16.08) Wednesday. She then excelled in the 100m fly Friday with a personal best and trials cut of 59.09 to place 15th.
Additional standouts on the men's side included Hayden Harlow and Zac Zwijacz.
Harlow reached the C finals of the 200m IM Sunday and won it to place 17th in a personal best and trials cut of 2:01.76. He also swam a trials cut in a 200m IM time trial (2:01.98) Wednesday and then posted another cut and personal best in a 400m IM (4:24.23) time trial Friday.
Zwijacz opened his meet with an Olympic Trials cut and personal best in the 200m fly (2:01.08) Wednesday and finished under the trials standard Friday in the 100m fly (54.12).
McHugh opened the week Wednesday with a national title in the 800m freestyle (8:26.04). She then added a bronze medal Friday in the 400m IM (4:38.65), and two more golds in the 400m free (4:07.08) Saturday and 1500m free (16:05.98) Sunday, respectively.
Check GoPSUSports.com for coverage of the Penn State swimming and diving teams during the season. Follow the team on Twitter and Instagram at @PennStateSWIM and on Facebook at facebook.com/pennstateswimminganddiving.
