Utah Swim Looks to Stay Fresh with U.S. Open

Wednesday, December 4

Greensboro, N.C.

University of Utah

US Open

12/3/2024 3:38 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

12 Utes head to Greensboro, North Carolina

SALT LAKE CITY – After breaking a school record and showing 24 program top ten times, 98 personal bests and 15 NCAA b-cuts at their midseason invitationals, twelve of the University of Utah swimmers are heading to the U.S. Open in Greensboro, N.C. to race some of the top-ranked programs in the nation on Dec. 4-7 in the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

"'I'm very excited to see what these 12 athletes can do at this very high-level meet," said head coach Jonas Persson. "I'm especially excited to see what we can do in our relays as they can be very competitive."

This is the second year the Utes will travel to the open, last year Utah posting a U.S. Olympic Trial cut, two A-final appearances and six final-appearances. This includes Brandon Miller earning a top-five placement in the 200-yard backstroke and an eighth-place finish in the 400-yard IM.

The twelve athletes representing Utah are: senior Norah Hay, junior Erin Palmer, freshman Nolan Arnholt, sophomore Tomas Chocholaty, junior Jackson Kehler, freshman Jones Lambert, freshman Strahinja Maslo, graduate Parker McOmber, sophomore Landon Nava, freshmen Marshall Odom and Daniel Yi and sophomore Will Woodall.

In the Pool at Midseason

Hay earned a third-place finish in the 200-back finals at the Art Adamson Invitational with a swi of 1:56.24.
Palmer grabbed a second-place finish in the 50-yard free with a 22.37.
Arnholt's best swim at midseason was in the A-final of the 500-yard free, with a seventh-place finish after touching the wall at 4:26.06.
After dropping 12 seconds off his season-best, Chocholaty swam 4:31.70 in the A-final of the 5-free.
Lambert had an exciting midseason with three individual top-five finishes I the 500-free, 200-free and the 1650-free. This includes a silver in the 5-free with 4:18.19 and an assist in the silver of the 800-yard free relay.
The highest-placing 400-yard IM-er, Maslo made waves after a bronze finish in the A-final with 3:48.92.
With two A-final appearances, McOmber grabbed two sixth finishes in the 100-back and the 200-back.

Order of Events

The Utes start the meet with the 200 and 800-yard relays on Wednesday night.
Lambert, Chocholaty and Arnholt are the first individuals to swim, taking part in the 500-free on Thursday morning.
Following those three, Maslo appears in the 200-yard IM.
Ending the day Palmer will swim in the women's 50-free with Odom, Woodall and Arnholt following in the men's race.
Maslo will start Utah off on Friday morning in the 4-IM.
Taking part in the 100-fly is Odom and Kehler.
Lambert, Arnholt and Maslo will follow up with the 200-free.
Not far behind, Palmer will swim the 100-breast with Nava and Yi swimming the men's race right after.
Ending the day for Utah in the 100-back, is Hay on the women's side and Kehler and McOmber on the men's.
Friday night in finals, the men will swim the 200-yard relay.
Hay and McOmber kick off the final day with the 200-breast, one in the women's and one in the men's race.
Odom, Woodall, Arnholt and Lambert follow that up with a swim in the 100-yard free.
In the 200-breast, Nava and Maslo will represent the Utes.
Chocholaty and Lambert close day three in the 1650-yard free, also known as the mile.
In finals, Utah men will swim in the 400-free relay.

Jones-ing for First
Lambert earned Utah's third Big 12 Weekly Award when the conference named him Newcomer of the Week after his performance at the Art Adamson Invitational.

"This meet is a great way for them to gain experience and get another chance to race," said Persson. "It's another chance to make some cuts and perhaps qualify for NCAAs."

Looking Ahead
After the swimmers complete their run in North Carolina, Utah's divers move to take part in the Auburn Diving Invitational in Auburn, Ala. December 18^th through the 21^st.

Follow the Utes!
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @UTAHswimdive | Instagram: @utahswimdive | Facebook: Facebook.com/UtahUtesSwimDive), and the official mobile app of Utah Athletics, Utah360 -- download here.