Multiple NCAA Champion Gkolomeev Absent From Alabama’s 2016-17 Roster

The University of Alabama released its 2016-17 season schedule today, with both squads getting started at home on September 9th against Delta State.  The Crimson Tide will be looking to improve upon its women’s 28th place finish at last year’s NCAA Championship meet, while the men will try to crack the top 5. Last year the men finished 6th overall by just 14.5 points at NCAAs.

A huge contributor of those points last year was junior Kristian Gkolomeev, the two-time individual NCAA champion and history-maker at Alabama. The Greek native spent the past 3 years wreaking havoc to the school’s record board, only to be absent from the team’s roster for the 2016-17 season.

Gkolomeev kicked off his NCAA career in stunning fashion, claiming the NCAA crown in the men’s 50 freestyle in just his freshman year. His time of 18.95 marked the first sub-19-second outing ever for an Alabama swimmer.

He followed that title up with another individual win the next year in the men’s 100 freestyle. His mark of 41.56 nabbed the NCAA Championship title, while also representing the first time a Crimson Tide swimmer notched a 100 freestyle time beneath the 42-second threshold.

This past NCAA Championships, Gkolomeev found himself in both the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle event finals, where he would ultimately finish 3rd in each with respective times of 18.95 and 41.52. He was an instrumental member of the Crimson Tide’s 6th place finishing 400 freestyle relay, as well as the squad’s 3rd place 200 freestyle relay.

Where he really turned heads last year, however, was during his anchor leg of the title-winning men’s 200 medley relay. His closing 50 of 18.00 flat sealed Alabama’s first NCAA relay title in program history and ranks as the 2nd-fastest freestyle split in history.

On an international level, Gkolomeev competed for Greece at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. He finished 20th overall in the 100m freestyle (48.68), while notching a 13th place in the 50m freestyle (21.98). He is his nation’s record holder in the 50m and 100m freestyle.

At just 23 years old and solid racing experience behind him, it’s likely that the Greek swimmer has decided to pursue an international professional swimming career, although we’ve reached out to Alabama to confirm. The most likely scenario is that some eligibility stemming from education experience prior to his coming to the U.S. may have come into play with his remaining on the roster for his senior year.
Update: Alabama confirmed to SwimSwam that Gkolomeev came in with three years of eligibility and finished up last season. “After a good run in Rio, he is back on campus, working towards his degree.”

The fact that such a game-changer as of Gkolomeev is absent, however, from the Crimson Tide’s roster at this point certainly shuffles around some predictions for the SEC’s outlook.