By Anna Dunlavey

Once called the “Last Chance Invitational,” the Fast Chance Invitational, which Kenyon hosts annually, offers swimmers in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) one last chance to swim their fastest times in an unscored meet. The selections for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships come out only a few days after this meet each year. This past weekend, a number of Kenyon swimmers posted NCAA B-cut times, and according to the unofficial psych sheets released by usaswimming.com yesterday, Kenyon will have swimmers competing in all of the events at the 2015 NCAA Championships.

Many of Kenyon’s swimmers headed to nationals had already swum times that qualified them for the NCAAs before this weekend. Consequently, only around two-thirds of the team competed at the Fast Chance meet. While some swimmers took advantage of the chance to rest and prepare for championship races, others used the opportunity to swim events that they don’t normally compete in, just for fun. “It’s a different kind of meet, so people are swimming different kinds of events,” Head Coach Jess Book ’01 said.

Some athletes did qualify for the championships just this past weekend. For example, on the Ladies’ side, Ellie Crawford ’18 posted a B-cut time of 2:19.95 in the 200-yard breaststroke, which earned her a slot in the nationals lineup. She ranked 15th out of the 34 qualified swimmers in that event, and the top 17 make the cut.

Swimmers who do not make it into one of the top spots in their events still have a chance to compete. For the Lords, Austin Pu ’17 had a season-best time of 45.27 in the 100-yard freestyle, which was enough to seed him 19th, one of the first spots eligible if somebody in that event cannot swim.

Kenyon can have up to 18 men and 18 women qualify to swim at nationals. Those who make the cut will stay on campus over spring break to train, and will compete in Shenandoah, Texas through March 18-21. This is the same pool where nationals was held two years ago, and Book is excited to head back. “It’s a very fast pool,” he said. “We’re excited to go.”