King me? It would be crowning achievement

How do you replace an Olympic silver medalist, NCAA champion and SEC swimmer of the year?

First, you reach into the deck and pull out a King.

Now that Olympic butterfly specialist Christine Magnuson is an alumna of Tennessee, Lady Vols coach Matt Kredich is fortunate to have a special talent in junior Michele King.

Magnuson won the SEC 100-yard butterfly and freestyle races after winninng the 50 freestyle at the SEC championships and won the NCAA 100 butterfly before winning the 100-meter butterfly at the Olympic Trials and silver medal in that race at the Olympics in Beijing.

Can King top that? Maybe.

King finished in the top eight at the NCAA meet in the 50 and 100 freestyles and 100 breaststroke and was a key member, as was Magnuson, on four of UT's relays last season. King won the 100-meter freestyle at the U.S. Open Championships during the summer.

With a talented freshman class and an abundance of experienced swimmers returning, Kredich believes this season's team has the potential to improve on its fourth-place SEC finish.

"I really believe that we can score 700 points at the SECs," said Kredich. "But because of the league's talent, we could finish anywhere from first to fourth."

He will get a better perspective soon as the Lady Vols open their season today at 11 a.m. against the University of the Cumberlands (Williamsburg, Ky.) and at 4 p.m. against Louisville - both meets at Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.

The Lady Vols will host Alabama and Vanderbilt in a double-dual meet at 2 p.m. Friday.

The Lady Vols appear to be solid across the board in veterans Aleksa Akerfelds (distance freestyle, 400 IM), Carly Mathes (freestyle, butterfly and IM), Jamie Saffer (breaststroke, fly, IM), Tricia Weaner (back, free and fly), Brittany Nauta (freestyle) and King.

Freshman Gabrielle Trudeau of Canada and Jodie McGroarty of England are expected to give UT a big lift in diving. Trudeau was 15th on platform at the FINA World Junior Diving Championships at Aachen, Germany, last month.

One of Kredich's top catches is freshman Jennifer Connolly of Lafayette, Ind., who set the American Public High School record of 53.4 seconds in the 100 backstroke. She has been 53.0 in the 100 butterfly, 51.0 in the 100 freestyle and 23.4 in the 50 free.

"She could be a vital part of our relays, too," Kredich said. "We had really great relays last season, and we might be even better."

Freestyler Lindsey Brackens of Memphis had shoulder surgery in May and expected to be ready in about six weeks.

Maddie Garrett of Nashville will lend depth in the two butterfly races (100 and 200).

He also landed Florida state high school individual medley champ Victoria Richmond, who has been 1:03 in the 100 breaststroke.

Also signed were sprinters Abigail Alton of Lawrenceville, Ga., Atlantis Wilkins of Bowlingbrook, Ill., and Caitlin Perks of Warrenton, Va., and Olympic Trials qualifier Samara Gelb (breaststroke and IM) from Clarksville, Md.

Vols Swim, Too: The men will host Cumberland at 11 and Louisville at 1:30 p.m. today.

The rest of the schedule:

Friday: Vanderbilt/Arkansas (2 p.m.).

Nov. 1-At Kentucky; 20-22-Allan Jones Invitational.

Jan. 3-5-Tennessee Diving Invitational; 9-10-Indiana/Michigan at Bloomington, Ind. 24-Georgia (2 p.m.); 30-At Florida.

Feb. 18-21 - SEC Championships at Auburn; 28-Last Chance meet at Georgia.

March 1-Last Chance meet at Georgia. 14-15-NCAA Zone B Diving in Knoxville; 19-21-NCAA Championships at Texas.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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