Columbia Association’s Columbia Clippers sends two swimmers to U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha
Two members of Columbia Association’s (CA) Columbia Clippers swim team are competing in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, vying for spots on the U.S. Olympic Swim Team.
The two are in Omaha, Nebraska, with the top 1 percent of swimmers in the United States, including Olympians Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte. This meet is the sole qualifier to determine who will make the team that will compete in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Both athletes are making their first trip to the Olympic Trials.
The Clippers group consists of:
- Morgan Liberto (200-meter backstroke) — Morgan, a student at Howard High School, is in her eighth year with the Clippers swim team.
- Jack Saunderson (200-meter butterfly) — Jack just completed his first year at Towson University and was awarded the CAA Conference “Rookie Swimmer of the Year” award.
Clippers head coach Jeff Scrivener has accompanied the swimmers to Omaha.
“Making it to the Olympic Trials is something swimmers work so hard for, and it is a great achievement for these two,” Scrivener said. “I am honored to be taking Morgan and Jack to trials and am excited for them to experience this level of competition.”
The trials are scheduled to run from June 26 through July 3. The prelims of Saunderson’s event were on Tuesday, June 28. He finished third in his heat but unfortunately did not qualify for the semifinals. Columbia Association congratulates Jack for his performance and for representing his community and team well.
The prelims and semifinals of Liberto’s event, the women’s 200-meter backstroke, were scheduled for Friday, July 1, with the finals on Saturday, July 2. A full event schedule and more information on the eight-day event may be found at USASwimming.org Trials.
Prelims begin daily at 11 a.m. Eastern Time and finals begin at 7:45 p.m. Eastern Time. Finals will be televised on NBC each night and prelims are available live via NBC Sports online at NBCSports.com/Live or through the NBC Sports app.
The present-day Clippers swim team began in 1987 as a program sponsored by Columbia Association. The number of swimmers has increased each year, as has the level of training offered. The Clippers now have more than 300 swimmers who compete at the state, sectional and national level — and now at Olympic Trials.
About Columbia Association
Columbia Association (CA) is a nonprofit community services corporation that manages Columbia, Maryland, a planned community that is home to approximately 100,000 people and several thousand businesses. Additional information about CA is available at columbiaassociation.org.
