SAN DIEGO – San Diego State swimmer Alex Roberts swam a personal record 1:02.68 in the 100-meter backstroke at the 2022 Speedo Grand Challenge in Irvine, Calif., to qualify for USA Swimming's 2022 Phillips 66 National Championships. She joins teammates Kristina Murphy and Meredith Smithbaker, who previously qualified for the event.
"We are so thrilled about our swimmers that are going to the USA Swimming's national championships meet," Aztecs head coach Mike Shrader said. "Alex, our latest qualifier, made her cut winning the event over some of the best swimmers in the country. Meredith, the Freshman of the Meet at the Mountain West Championships, qualified in the 100 breaststroke, and Kristina, who made her cut at the U.S. Olympic Trials, where she finished third in Wave One."
"We are incredibly proud of Alex for her first National Championships qualifying time," Aztec associate head coach Stephen Allnutt said. "She set a goal at the start of the summer season and, with tremendous confidence and focus, accomplished it at her first opportunity."
In winning her race, Roberts, who will be a junior for the 2022-23 season, went under the qualifying time, 1:02.89, by 23 hundredths of a second. In doing so, she lowered her previous best at the distance, a 1:05.03 set at the 2021 CA Futures West in Santa Clarita, Calif. on July 27, 2021, and lowered her career-best time in the event by more than two and a half seconds (2.35 seconds).
At the 2022 Mountain West Championships, the Visalia, Calif., native, narrowly missed the qualifying time in the 200-yard backstroke.
Murphy, taking advantage of the NCAA's offer of another year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic will return to compete for San Diego State next year, qualified for the 2022 USA Swimming National Championships in the 200-meter breaststroke off her performance at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Neb., on June 7, 2021. A product of Christian Brothers High School in Clarksburg, Calif., swam a 2:31.89, easily beating the qualifying time, 2:33.79, by 1.90 seconds.
Smithbaker, a sophomore to be in 2022-23 and 100-meter breaststroke qualifier, punched her ticket with a 1:00.40 at the 2022 Mountain West Championships in College Station, Texas, on Feb. 18, 2022. She bettered the qualifying time, 1:00.69, by 29 hundredths of a second.
"I want to thank both Tim Lanski, our sports supervisor, and John David Wicker, our athletic director, for all their support," Shrader added, "especially allowing Kristina the opportunity to train and compete at the U.S. trials. These three young ladies have a very bright future, and we are extremely excited to see what they can accomplish going forward."
The 2022 Phillips 66 National Championships, will be contested from July 26-30 at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center on the campus of Concordia University Irvine in Irvine, Calif. The deadline to qualify for the event is Tuesday, July 19.
Roberts and Smithbaker will compete on Friday, July 29, while Murphy will race on Wednesday, July 27.
-SDSU-