March 16, 2000

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV Rebel swim teams are sending a record six swimmers to this year's NCAA Championships held in Minneapolis, Minn. The women's competition will begin March 16-18 and the men will compete March 23-25.

Lorena Diaconescu will represent the women's team in the 100, 200, and 500-free events. The Romanian broke three school-records in the 100-free (50.09), 200-free (1:46.92), and 500-free (4:49.50). She was named Mountain West Conference Women's Swimmer of the Year and swam to three conference championships in the 100, 200, and 500-free events.

Jacint Simon, Bobby Middleton, Michael Short, Piotr Krzyskow, and Garrett Wood make up the squad that will represent UNLV. Simon mirrored Diaconescu's accomplishments this season. He swam passed UNLV all-time school records in the 200-free (1:37.08), 500-free (4:21.91), and the 1,000-free (9:19.87). In the MWC Championships, he claimed titles in the 200 and 500-free, and the 200-fly events and was crowned Mountain West Conference Men's Swimmer of the Year.

Bobby Middleton will be competing in the 100-breast. He broke the school-record with a 54.82 and won the conference championship in the event.

After some uncertainties from the NCAA, the 400-free relay team of Simon, Short, Krzyskow, and Wood will challenge the best teams in the country. The squad ranks 12th in the nation and broke the school-record with 2:56.79.

The Rebels are coming off their most successful season in recent years with men's and women's second-place finishes in the MWC Championships. The team also claimed Freshman of the Year (Whitney Phelps) and Coach of the Year (Jim Reitz) honors in addition to the men's and women's swimmer of the year awards.