March 24, 2011

Madison, Wis.- The nation’s top swimmers descended on Minneapolis Thursday afternoon to begin the 2011 NCAA Championships.

Daniel Lester of Wisconsin began the three-day meet with the 200-yard individual medley, an event that he entered seeded 23rd.

Lester was disqualified during the preliminary round for a kick infraction during the breaststroke, and therefore did not participate in the finals.

Despite the disqualification, head coach Eric Hansen was pleased with he saw from the Brisbane, Australia native.

“He set the school record by .5 seconds so it bodes well for what’s to come on Friday and Saturday,” Hansen said. “He looks great and he’s confident. That’s what’s important.”

The Wisconsin sophomore will return to the pool at 12 p.m. Friday for the preliminaries of the 100-yard butterfly. Lester begins the event seeded 12th with a qualifying time of 46.46.

The finals of Friday’s events begin at 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on espn3.com.