Expanded Coverage of the Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving among Highlights of ESPN’s Winter NCAA Championship Coverage

College Sports (Miscellaneous)

Expanded Coverage of the Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving among Highlights of ESPN’s Winter NCAA Championship Coverage

  • 200 Hours of Championship Programming across 11 Sports in March-April

ESPN’s long-storied commitment to NCAA Championships continues in 2019, as the network expands its existing coverage of NCAA Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships, one of 11 NCAA Winter Championships to be showcased across 200 hours of championship competition in March and April.

ESPN’s presentation of the Swimming and Diving Championship will now include live coverage of all four days of competition for both championships, with the Women’s Championship beginning March 20 and the Men’s on March 27. Both competitions will continue for four consecutive days, with the first two days of both championships on ESPN3. The final two days of the women’s will air on ESPNU and the final two days of the men on ESPN3, with a recap show airing on ESPNU in April.  Before this year, ESPN typically only carried Day 3 and Day 4 of each competition.

  • NCAA Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship – from Austin, Texas
    Commentators:
    Analysts Rowdy Gaines and Cynthia Potter, play-by-play commentator Rich Burk and reporter Kat LaRocca
    What to Watch For: Men’s – Texas is seeking their fifth consecutive national championship; Women’s: Stanford is looking to capture its third straight national championship

 

Indoor Track and Field, Fencing and Bowling Championships Return
Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track & Field (March 8-10), Fencing (March 22, 24), and Bowling (April 13) are showcased once again this year.

  • Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track and Field – from Birmingham, Alabama

Commentators: Dwight Stones, Jill Montgomery, Dan O’Brien and John Anderson

What to Watch For:

  • Women’s Mile: Danae Rivers (Penn State) vs. Jessica Hull (Oregon). Rivers is ranked No. 1 in the country in the mile and third in the 800m. Meanwhile, Hull won the 2018 NCAA Outdoors in the 1500m, and is also ranked second in the indoor 3K.
  • Arkansas Women: With 14 entries into NCAAs and a program-tying eight consecutive weeks at No. 1 in the USTFCCCA poll, the Razorback women are the team to beat. The last team to hold the top spot for an entire season was the Oregon Ducks in 2017, a season which saw them capture the NCAA Indoor crown.
  • Men’s 60m Hurdles: Grant Holloway (Florida). Holloway broke the SEC Indoor Championships scoring record last month, winning the 60m, 60m hurdles and finishing runner-up in the long jump. The Florida junior leads the NCAA in the 60m and 60mH, and is second in the long jump.
  • Men’s Pole Vault: Mondo Duplantis (LSU) currently holds the world U20 record for pole vault and will look to improve his indoor personal best of 5.92m/19-5, set at the SEC Indoor Championships in February.
  • NCAA Fencing Championship – from Cleveland

Commentators: JB Long and Iris Zimmerman

What to Watch For: Back-to-back defending national champion Notre Dame is currently the top-ranked team, as the Fighting Irish seek their 11th title in the sport

  • NCAA Women’s Bowling Championship – from Wickliffe, Ohio
    Commentators:
    Dave Armstrong and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard
    What to Watch For:
    Currently, defending national champion Vanderbilt is ranked second, trailing McKendree who the Commodores defeated last year to capture the crown

 

Comprehensive Coverage of Men’s Ice Hockey, Women’s Basketball, Wrestling, and Women’s Gymnastics
Comprehensive coverage of Men’s Ice Hockey, Women’s Basketball, Wrestling, and Women’s Gymnastics will once again be carried, with details announced in the coming weeks.

Partial ESPN Winter NCAA Championship Programming Schedule

Date Time (ET) Event Network
Wed, March 27 7 p.m. NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships: Day One ESPN3
Thur, March 28 7 p.m. NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships: Day Two ESPN3
Fri, March 29 7 p.m. NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships: Day Three ESPN3
Sat, March 30 7 p.m. NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships: Day Four ESPN3
Monday, April 8 7 p.m. NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships: Championships* ESPNU

 

Date Time (ET) Event Network
Wed, March 20 6 p.m. NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships: Day One ESPN3
Thur, March 21 6 p.m. NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships: Day Two ESPN3
Fri, March 22 6 p.m. NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships: Day Three ESPNU
Sat, March 23 6 p.m. NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships: Day Four ESPNU

 

Date Time (ET) Event Network
Fri, March 8 6:30 p.m. NCAA Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track & Field: Day One ESPN3
Sat, March 9 5 p.m. NCAA Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track & Field: Day Two ESPN3
Sun, March 10 10 p.m. NCAA Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track & Field: Championship* ESPN

 

Date Time (ET) Event Network
Fri, March 22 1:30 p.m. NCAA Fencing Championships ESPN3
Sun, March 24 1:30 p.m. NCAA Fencing Championships ESPN3
Wed, April 3 4:30 p.m. NCAA Fencing Championships* ESPNU

 

Date Time (ET) Event Network
Sat, April 13 6:30 p.m. NCAA Women’s Bowling Championship ESPNU

*Recap Show

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Derek Volner

I currently lead ESPN’s NFL Communications, including Monday Night Football, NFL Draft and studio programming. Previously, I did the same for ESPN’s vast college football portfolio. I have been with ESPN since 2013.
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