Matthew Barnard - (Author)

By Matthew Barnard, Swimming World College Intern Lexi Tenenbaum of the University of Minnesota rounded out her career in Indianapolis earlier this month, claiming the title of CSCAA Division I Diver-of-the-Year. The Maple Grove, Minn., native is the third Golden Gopher since 2010 to claim the highe...

By Matthew Barnard, Swimming World College Intern. The field of divers at the 2017 men's NCAA Championships is no doubt one of the strongest in recent history, with the return of a number of Olympic redshirts and every NCAA champion from 2016. Indiana's James Connor and Michael Hixon both are expect...

By Matthew Barnard, Swimming World College Intern. Diving at the 2017 women's NCAA Championships looks to be defined by Olympians, risk-takers and foreign student-athletes. For most divers, this year looks to be an individual game with the majority of high-scoring swimming teams lacking depth in the...

By Matthew Barnard, Swimming World College Intern. Tevyn Waddell had a breakthrough performance at the 2017 Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships winning the 100 back and claiming the crown of conference freshman of the year. Waddell, a Mitchell, South Dakota native, asserted her position in the...

By Matthew Barnard, Swimming World College Intern. Championship season is well and truly here which gives athletes an opportunity to watch their teammates at their peak. Divers get a special chance to watch and cheer on their swimming teammates when often during the season they are left apart. But f...

By Matthew Barnard, Swimming World College Intern. With the college championship season just around the corner swimmers and divers up and down the country are trying to get the most out of their last few weeks of training. With heavy school schedules and high anxiety levels, athletes often forget to...

By Matthew Barnard, Swimming World College Intern. In 2014 Swimming World posed the question "Should diving have a separate NCAA championship?". Back then almost 72% of people responded that they would like to see a split between the two sports with two separate championships. Nevertheless, almost t...

By Matthew Barnard, Swimming World College Intern. It's that time of the year again, training trip season. Swimmers and divers are working hard in the pool while filling every spare moment  by soaking in the sun before heading back to campus for the spring semester. Although the temptation to eat ou...

By Matthew Barnard, Swimming World College Intern This last week the 2016 USA Diving Winter National Championships wrapped up in Columbus, Ohio. The Championships doubled as a qualifying event for the 2017 FISU Universiade in Taipei, and the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest (1 meter event o...

By Matthew Barnard, Swimming World College Intern. The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers had a strong showing last weekend at the 2016 AT&T Winter National Championships. The women's team led by junior Brooke Zeiger, who snagged wins in the 400 medley and 1,650 freestyle, took first place in al...

By Matthew Barnard, Swimming World College Intern Steele Johnson has returned to the Purdue Diving Team after an Olympic redshirt season that culminated with a silver medal in Rio with synchro partner David Boudia. The Carmel, Indiana native was back at the IUPUI Natatorium last weekend competing in...

By Matthew Barnard, Swimming World College Intern. There is no doubt that divers love their sport, but every now and then we look down pool deck and wish we were a swimmer. Although swimming is no doubt a grueling and intense sport, there is plenty for swimmers to be thankful for. Here are seven rea...

By Matthew Barnard, Swimming World College Intern After an Olympic redshirt season resulting in a 200 breaststroke final in Rio, Kierra Smith is returning to the University of Minnesota for her senior year. The Kelowna BC native and former NCAA champion is set to be a key point scorer and leader for...

By Matthew Barnard, Swimming World College Intern The college swimming and diving dual meet season is well underway but there are still plenty of laps to be swum before the 2016 Men's Big Ten Conference Championships in Columbus. The Michigan Wolverines look to make it sixth straight Big Ten title b...

By Matthew Barnard, Swimming World College Intern An exciting Big Ten Swimming and Diving season kicks off this weekend with a dual meet between Michigan State and Iowa in East Lansing. Although the 2017 Women's NCAA Championships are still more than five months away, there is still plenty of action...