Four Blue Devils to Compete in U.S. Swimming Nationals

DURHAM, N.C. - Four members of the Duke swimming team -- Ashley Twichell, Emily Barber, Ben Hwang and Ben Tuben -- will compete from Aug. 3-7 at the 2010 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships in Irvine, Calif.

The meet, which will take place at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine, is one of the biggest swimming events of the year. The meet will serve as the selection meet for the 2010 Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships, which will take place in Irvine, Aug. 18-22, and will feature top competitors from Japan, Australia, Canada and more than 20 other countries. Both Nationals and the Pan Pacific Championships will also serve as the selection meets for the 2011 FINA World Championships in Shanghai, China.

A native of Fayetteville, N.Y., Twichell helped Duke to a 28th-place finish at the 2010 NCAA Championships in March. She took 14th nationally in the 1650 freestyle and 43rd in the 500 free, while finishing fifth in the 500 at the ACC Championships earlier last year. Twichell also finished second in the 1650 freestyle at the ACC Championship.

Barber, a sophomore from Guilford, Conn., posted Duke's second-fastest times in the 100 and 200 Breaststroke in her first year with the Blue Devils.

A product of Cerritos, Calif., Hwang was a member of the record-setting 200 medley relay squad, which shattered the Duke record at the ACC Championship with a time of 1:27.99. He also had Duke's second-fastest time in the 50 Freestyle as a freshman.

Tuben, who is a junior from Fairfax, Va., took the top time in 2009-10 for Duke in the 200 Butterfly with a 1:48.72 time.

The field in Irvine will be highly competitive, with the majority of the 2009-10 U.S. National Swim Team competing.

The National Championships will follow the traditional meet schedule of morning prelims and evening finals. The full competition schedule can be found online here. Finals begin at 6 p.m. PT and prelims begin at 9 a.m. PT. Tickets are available for purchase online at Irvine2010.com and are $15 for a day pass and $10 for a single session pass. An all-session general admission ticket can also be purchased for $60.

The competition will be broadcast by NBC in two shows on Aug. 7 and 8. The NBC show on Aug. 7 will air from 4-6 p.m. ET and the show on Aug. 8 will air from 4:30 to 6 p.m. ET. In addition, Universal Sports will broadcast finals LIVE on August 3 (6-8:30 p.m. PT) and 4 (6 - 8 p.m. PT). Olympic gold medalist Rowdy Gaines will serve as the analyst and Dan Hicks will handle the play-by-play duties for the broadcast. The meet will also be webcast LIVE by Swimnetwork.com throughout the duration of the competition.

-d-u-k-e-