FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Four members of the Nova Southeastern University men's swim team will look to make their dreams come true by taking part in their respective home countries' 2016 Olympic Trials. The Olympic hopefuls are David Van Der Colff, Thiago Sickert, Anton Lobanov and Till Barthel.
 
"Each of these athletes are coming off the heels of an amazing collegiate post-season," said head coach Hollie Bonewit-Cron. "All of them walked away as All-Americans along with Anton and Thiago becoming NCAA Champions. This opportunity to compete at their Olympic Trials will be an opportunity that each of them have prepared for this entire year and especially the last month." 
 
Van Der Colff (Fr., Gaborone, Botswana) will be the first of his teammates to compete in Olympic trials as he will swim for Botswana on April 10-16 in Durban, South Africa. He looks to qualify in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke. Due to the Universality rule, Van Der Colff merely has to participate in the trials in order to qualify for the Olympic team and wait to see if he is chosen by his country as their lone men's swimming representative.
 
The Shark newcomer had a strong freshman season with 17 top-10 finishes. He earned two All-American honors at the NCAA Championships as part of the 200-yard medley and 800-yard freestyle relay teams that both placed third in the finals.
 
Sickert (Jr., Vila Velha, Brazil) will be competing in his home country of Brazil on April 15-21. He will have the chance to swim in the 2016 Olympic competition pool in Rio as he tries to qualify in the 100- and 200-meter freestyle and 200-meter butterfly. To make the Olympic team, Sickert must finish in the top six in the freestyle events and place first or second in the 200-fly.
 
Sickert, the Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Men's Swimmer of the Year, had an outstanding year going undefeated during the regular season in the 200-yard butterfly on his way to winning the 2016 NCAA Division II National Championship title in that event. His second-place finish in the 100-free (42.98) at the championship also set a new overall SSC and school record.
 
Heading over to Moscow for their trials on April 17-22 will be Lobanov (So., Novosibirisk, Russia). Lobanov will attempt to qualify in his two signature events: the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke. Russia's qualifying standards are very high with Lobanov needing to meet the Russian "A" standard cut time and finishing in the top two in the finals.
 
Lobanov helped lead the way for the men's team at NCAAs, defending his 2015 national titles in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke. He currently holds the NCAA Division II, SSC and NSU school records in those two events.
 
The final Olympic hopeful will be Till Barthel (R-Jr., Germany). Barthel transferred from Wayne State University and redshirted for the 2015-16 season. He will participate in the trials being held in Berlin, Germany at the beginning of May and will look to qualify in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle and the 100-meter backstroke. Barthel will have to earn a top two finish in the 50-free and 100-back and a come in sixth or better in the 100-free to represent his country.

"Our facility is able to accommodate the long course meter training that each of these athletes needed and we capitalized on this both in the fall and immediately following the NCAA Championships," said Bonewit-Cron.
 
The Sharks have already seen a former swimmer participate in the Olympics. Esau Simpson became NSU's first Olympian when he competed for his home country of Grenada in the 2012 London games under the tutelage of Bonewit-Cron. Simpson will also look to qualify for the 2016 Olympics at the trials in the Bahamas on June 23-26. He hopes to make the cut in the 50-yard freestyle where he must meet the Olympic B standard time of 23.05 or better to qualify. 
 
NSU head coach Hollie Bonewit-Cron will continue to support her swimmers, traveling first to South Africa then to Russia and ending her two-week whirlwind tour in Brazil.
 
"Each of these talented swimmers have the opportunity to compete for their countries at the Olympics and will do their best to make that possible with each of their respective swims," add Bonewit-Cron. I am proud of them for what they've accomplished both domestically and internationally while representing NSU"