Feb. 25, 2008

IRVING, Texas - The 2008 Big 12 Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Championships will take place Feb. 27-March 1 at Jamail Swimming Center in Austin, Texas. This is the fifth year that the Longhorns' have hosted the event and the first since the 2004 season. Preliminaries begin at 10 a.m. each morning with finals starting 6 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday and 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The diving competition begins at 11:30 a.m. each day.

On the men's side, Missouri, Texas and Texas A&M will be competing for the title. All three squads are ranked in the collegeswimming.com top 25. The Longhorns hold the No. 1 spot, followed by the Aggies at No. 17 and the Tigers at No. 20.

Texas looks to extend its streak of 11 consecutive conference titles as 2007 Big 12 Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet, Michael Klueh, returns. He will be joined by freshman Matt Cooper, who captured a Big 12 freshman record of four diver of the week accolades this season.

Iowa State, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Texas and Texas A&M will compete for the women's title. A&M, ranked No. 6 nationally, will look to defend its first conference title with the 2007 Big 12 Outstanding Newcomer of the Year, Alia Atkinson, looking to continue her championship success.

The Jamail Texas Swimming Center displays a 50-meter, eight-lane competition poll with two moveable bulkheads which allow for a conversion to either two 25-yard or 25-meter courses. The pool is nine-feet deep and 75-feet, one-inch wide and is equipped with `rim-flow' gutters which greatly reduce turbulence, making it one of the fastest pools in the world.

The Browning Diving Pool measures 75-feet, one-inch wide and 15 to 18 feet deep. It has four one-meter and six three-meter springboards, and a diving tower with five separate platform heights.

Ticket prices for adults are $20 (all-session pass) and $5 (individual session). Student rates are $8 (all-session) and $2 (invidual). There is no admission fee for the Wednesday diving and relay competition. Doors will open one hour prior to the start of each session.