University of Denver swimmer Dylan Bunch acknowledges the Summer Olympics provide his sport a prominent stage.
He has competed at an Olympic Trials and has experienced firsthand the excitement of being on the fringes of the main event.
But Bunch also has competed in the NCAA swimming championships and rates that experience on par with the Olympic Trials.
“I think the excitement at both events is about the same,” Bunch said. “I’m just as excited about going to the NCAAs.”
Bunch, teammates Anton Loncar, Ray Bornman and Ross Edfort and coach Brian Schrader are off to the NCAA Division I men’s swimming and diving championships this week in Iowa City, Iowa.
The Pioneers’ swimming program is riding a crest. Just last week, Samantha Corea gave DU swimming a boost in the women’s NCAA championships with a second-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly and a third-place finish in the 200 backstroke.
Earlier, the DU men handily won the Summit League swimming championships.
Bunch, a junior who finished 12th in the 1,650-yard event in last year’s NCAA championships, leads the men’s contingent.
“I don’t know about being the top dog, but I’m the highest ranked on our team,” said Bunch, who came to DU from Henderson, Nev. “You always want to do better than where you finished the year before.”
Bunch and Schrader have set a goal of finishing in the top eight.
“Dylan’s tall, and he’s a hard worker,” Schrader said. “We knew he’d come through for us. He’s undefeated in his career in our dual meets.”
Bunch doesn’t mind that DU isn’t considered a power in college swimming. The benefits of training at Denver’s mile-high elevation outweigh the lack of attention. To complete his event, Bunch makes 56 laps in the pool.
“Colorado is a place where swimming really is growing,” Bunch said. “Part of it is because of swimmers such as (Olympian) Missy Franklin. But altitude training also is a big factor.”
Schrader said a good thing is developing in the area’s age-group programs, including high school swimming, and already rates them among the top three development programs in the country.
Schrader is upbeat about DU’s program. Loncar and Bornman are freshmen. Edfort, a senior diver from Hillsboro, Ore., put on a strong finish to his season to reach his first NCAA championships.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296, imoss@denverpost.com or
