Longhorns Drops Harder From NCAA Roster, Texas A&M’s Kabbara Earns Entry

2022 MEN’S NCAA SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The University of Texas men have scratched Ethan Harder from their NCAA roster, which frees the Longhorns up to bring two divers to the championships which begin next week.

Harder, a junior, initially earned qualification with his time of 1:40.84 in the 200 backstroke, which had him seeded 26th on the psych sheets before he was scratched. His other entry came in the 100 back where he was ranked 40th (46.19).

The scratch of Harder will bump Texas A&M freshman Munzy Kabbara into the meet.

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Harder marks the second swimmer Texas has had to remove from its NCAA scoring roster after they dropped junior Sam Artmann last week in order to get inside the 18-athlete maximum. The Longhorns initially qualified 19 swimmers for NCAAs.

With the scratch of Harder, the Longhorns free up room for two divers to compete at NCAAs, with each diver counting as half a participant towards the 18 scoring athlete max.

Kabbara, who moved up into the first alternate position after Texas dropped Artmann and Harvard’s Jake Johnson earned an entry into the competition, earns a qualification spot by virtue of his 3:43.57 400 IM time from the American SC Championships that were held on March 3-5. That performance marked over a second and a half improvement from his previous best of 3:45.16 set mid-season at the Art Adamson Invite.

Kabbara is now the 31st seed in the 400 IM, and is also entered to race the 200 IM (62nd seed, 1:45.82) and the 200 back (43rd seed, 1:44.72).

The Aggies now have six men invited to compete at the meet.

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Florida’s Jack Vandeusen (1650 free) is now the first alternate if there are any more scratches.

As for Texas’ diving situation, the Longhorns had four men earn qualification at the Zone D Championships last week, with one of them, junior Andrew Harness, earning NCAA reimbursement (meaning the NCAA covers his expenses and not the school). That will surely solidify his spot, so now Texas will either have to select one of of Noah DuperreManuel Borowski and Brendan McCourt to join Harness at NCAAs, or scratch another swimmer and bring all four.

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Jimbo
2 years ago

Or you could say that McCourt and Borowski were left behind. They both qualified at the zone meet after having qualified to go to zones by performances during the year. McCourt, a sophomore, scored a point last year at NCAA’s . Borowski, a freshman, was a former Jr World finalist. It’s hard for all of them but they have to trust the coaching staff to make the best decision for the team.

Katie
2 years ago

New to swimming: does NCAA pay for top ranked swimmers to compete at NCAA or just top ranked divers? If just the divers, is there a history or rationale behind it? No shade at all; just surprised to learn that NCAA pays for any athlete to compete at NCAAs and trying to learn more! I didn’t know that happened.

Swimm
Reply to  Katie
2 years ago

I’m pretty sure travel is paid for by the NCAA for all qualifying athletes, but not 100%

snarky
2 years ago

Harder gets hosed three years in a row! Shame!

Jo Si
2 years ago

Does he still get to go to Atlanta?

Nemrogan
2 years ago

This is the opposite of FNL

Brian
2 years ago

He knew when he committed to texas that he would get scratched.

NB1
Reply to  Brian
2 years ago

he also knew it would be 80 degrees today in Austin

HJones
2 years ago

What is the highest seed a team (Texas or otherwise) have had to cut because of NCAAs roster constraints?

Admin
Reply to  HJones
2 years ago

I’d love to know the answer to that. Finding psych sheets from pre-swimswam makes it pretty tough though.

James Beam
Reply to  Braden Keith
2 years ago

I love to see you do an interview w Harder (if he is up for it) and get his take on this…such a team player…

JimSwim22
Reply to  Braden Keith
2 years ago

UCLA guys in the 80s left some scooters 6 behind.

Swamswim
2 years ago

Sending best wishes to Harder and congratulations on an amazing season. Overqualifying is a tough place to be in; obviously a great testament to the team but very difficult at the same time. The best is yet to come for Harder!

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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