BARBOURVILE, Ky. – The Union College swimming team has a total of 20 NAIA Swimming and Diving National Championship qualifying times for this week’s championship. The championship will be contested in San Antonio, Texas at the Palo Alto Natatorium and it gets underway Wednesday.

Action for Union gets underway Thursday with the women’s 200-yard medley relay. The team of Kristina Kirk (Versailles, Ky.), Mollie Messmer (Scott City, Mo.), Eden Ellison (Tamms, Ill.) and Kelli Rogers (Elizabethtown, Ky.) have a total of four relays to compete in at the championships. Two will be Friday, the 200 freestyle and 400 medley relay, with the 400 freestyle relay Saturday.

Messmer will also compete in the 500 freestyle later on Thursday. She has qualified for the 400 individual medley on Friday. Messmer is set to swim the 1,650 freestyle Saturday with Rogers.

Kirk has one individual event to swim, the 200 backstroke Saturday.

On the men’s side, head coach Rafael Forti has a total of 11 events for the Bulldogs. Michael Viscardi (Marietta, Ga.) has three individual events to swim at his first nationals. He will start the championship with the 200 individual medley Thursday, followed by the 100 breaststroke Friday. The last event for Viscardi is the 200 breaststroke Saturday.

Viscardi is also a part of three relay teams and could be in a fourth. The first relay for the Bulldogs is the 200 medley relay Thursday. Colin McEachran (Blenheim, Canada), Karl Smith (Lexington, Ky.) and Adam Woodard (Hopkinsville, Ky.) are a part of the squad. Viscardi or Alan Thomas Saylor (Lexington, Ky.) will finish the team.

Jeremiah Back (Flatgap, Ky.), Viscardi, Smith and Woodard starts Friday with the 200 freestyle. Later in the day McEachran, Viscardi, Back and Woodard have the 400 medley relay. The last relay event is the 400 freestyle Saturday. Back, Viscardi, Smith and Woodard make up the freestyle squad.

To go with his four relays, Woodard has the 100 freestyle Saturday to swim. Back also qualified for the 100 butterfly on Friday.

McEachran will go the distance in a pair of individual events, the 1,650 and 500 freestyle events. The 500 is scheduled for Thursday with the 1,650 Saturday.

“I am very excited for this year’s national championship, Forti said. We were able to qualify more swimmers than last year as well as more relay teams.”

Forti also expects the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs to improve on the regular season marks at nationals.

“It will be nice being able to swim against the nation’s best, on a fast swimming pool, under a great competitive atmosphere,” Forti added.

Union's 20 swims for this year’s championship is twice as many as the 2007 squad that went to San Antonio.

For championship information, click here