Kansas set to host sixth-annual Kansas Classic

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas swimming and diving team welcomes five schools from across the nation as it is set to host the sixth-annual Kansas Classic Nov. 16-18, inside the Capitol Federal Natatorium at Hummer Sports Park in Topeka, Kansas.
 
Joining Kansas on the blocks is Iowa State, Little Rock, Northern Iowa, North Texas and Omaha, as each gear-up in preparation for this championship style meet.
 
“We view this meet as our midterm exam and we want to see where we are at halfway through,” head coach Clark Campbell said. “We had a tremendous fall, one of the best falls that we have ever had. So, we want to rest a little bit, put on the technical suits and wind up again to swim a championship, which is different than a dual meet. We use dual meets to assess ourselves race wise with our focus on the championship meets. Because we don’t do as many championship meets as dual meets they become much harder with prelims and finals, and all of the racing that takes place.”
 
The three-day competition begins with preliminary heats in the morning each day, with those same event finals to be swum in the evening – the same format used for the NCAA Championships. Both Friday and Saturday’s prelims will start at 10 a.m., with finals at 6 p.m. Sunday’s competition will be held starting with prelims at 9 a.m., and finals to follow at 2:30 p.m.
 
At the same time as the Kansas Classic, the divers are in Iowa City, Iowa for the Iowa Hawkeye Invitational, Thursday through Saturday inside the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium. Prelims for diving begin at 1 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and 12 p.m. on Sunday, while finals begin at 6 p.m. each day.
 
“The Championship format is very helpful because it is really close to how we do the Big 12 Championship,” Campbell said. “The way the meet is set up calls for a lot of racing and is actually tougher than the conference meet, it is a challenge to race as much in a small amount of time. Big 12 meet is a bit more spread out and you don’t swim as many events there as you do here. And so this is perhaps the toughest meet they will do all year because of the amount of racing. With each race they should feel more coordinated.”
 
The top-two individual scorers from each team will be honored as part of the All-Invite Team, as well as the top scorer overall, who will be crowned the Invite’s Most Valuable Swimmer.
 
Campbell remarks on the challenge that this meet will bring the athletes, as it is a fast-pace competition for the swimmer to face. Considering the team’s 4-0 dual record thus far, this weekend will be great practice for the Big 12 Championship that takes place late February into March of the year.
 
“A lot of our team will be racing over 10 times over the course of three days and so it will be a chance to compete a lot and see where we are right now,” Campbell said. “This pretty much signifies the end of the fall part of our season and then we will get into the winter part and take some athletes to Winter Nationals. This is also an opportunity for those who have not qualified for Winter Nationals yet and see if they can do it.”
 
The meet will feature championship scoring. Athletes may score in four individual events and on all relays. Championship A finals score as: 20-17-16-15-14-13-12-11; Championship B finals score as: 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1; Relays score as: 40-34-32-30-28-26-24-22-18-14-12-10-8-6-4-2.
 
The Kansas Classic is free and open to the public. For more information, including directions, please visit the Meet Central Page.
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