COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Virginia men’s swimming team began competition Thursday at the 2009 NCAA Championships with preliminaries in the 200 freestyle relay, 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle and 400 medley relay. The event, which is being held at the Student Rec Center Natatorium on Texas A&M’s campus, runs through Saturday.

Live coverage of the 2009 Men’s NCAA Championships can be found by clicking here.

Sophomore Matt McLean will swim in the finals of the 500 freestyle tonight after finishing fourth in the preliminaries, clocking a time of 4:13.79. Georgia's Troy Prinsloo topped the prelimiary heats with a time of 4:12.49. McLean's mark of 4:10.00 from the ACC Championships is still the fastest in the nation this season.

Teammates John Snawerdt (4:14.89) and Darren Ankosko (4:15.98) will both compete in the consolation finals after placing 10th and 13th, respectively. Taylor Smith notched a 24th-place finish in the event with a time of 4:18.78.

Virginia’s 200 free relay and 400 medley relay teams both earned a spot in the consolation finals this evening. The 200 freestyle relay kicked off the championships, as Scot Robison, Lee Robertson, Peter Geissinger and John Azar finished 14th in the prelims with a time of 1:18.42. Meanwhile, the 400 medley squad of Eric Olesen, Ryan Hurley, Robertson and Robison finished 11th with a time of 3:08.88.

In the 200 IM, senior Pat Mellors placed 31st overall (1:45.57) while Azar finished 48th (1:46.69). Geissinger went on to tie for 53rd in the 50 free (20.09).

Finals are slated for a 7 p.m. start time (8 p.m. eastern) tonight.