Usama is making history heading into NCAAs

Ali Usama won the 50 freestyle at the GLVC Championships

Ali Usama has already put his name in the Rockhurst history book as the first conference champion in swimming and diving. He will make some more history this week in Indiana.

The sophomore from Alexandria, Egpyt will be the first Rockhurst male swimmer or diver to qualify for the NCAA Division II Championships. He hopes to come back from Indianapolis this weekend with some hardware.

"I feel excited and a bit pressured to be the first male swimmer from Rockhurst at the Nationals," Usama said. "I want to help make Rockhurst well known, prove myself as a great swimmer, and make my coaches, teammates, and family proud."

Usama will compete in the 50-yard freestyle preliminaries Wednesday morning. He ranks ninth in D2 with a school-record time of 19.78, which was his winning time at the GLVC Championships in Elkhart, Indiana last month.

"My goal for this week at Nationals is to be one of the top eight swimmers, reach the final, and win the NCAA (medal). I've wanted this since I first got here," Usama said.

Usama will swim in the 100 butterfly prelims Thursday morning and the 100 freestyle prelims Saturday morning. He also broke the school record in the 100 freestyle (44.75) at the GLVC meet.

Doug Schranck, Rockhurst swimming and diving head coach, heavily recruited Egypt as he signed five men and one woman from Egypt prior to the program's first season in 2023-24.

"I chose Rockhurst because I knew Coach Doug was a great coach from his eight years at Drury," Usama said. "Also, Rockhurst has the major I always wanted to study, which is mechanical engineering."

Usama was also the first Rockhurst swimmer to earn GLVC Swimmer of the Week honors. He received the award last November after a first-place finish in the 100 free, runner-up in 100 free and a fourth in 100 butterfly at the Eagle Invitational in Edmond, Oklahoma.

In addition to his school records in the 50 and 100 freestyle, he holds the school record in the 200 backstroke and has swam a leg on four school-record relay teams.

"I worked hard to get better at what I wasn't good at last season. I practiced a lot last summer and fall, which made me swim faster and helped me win," Usama said about becoming a GLVC individual champion.

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Players Mentioned

Ali Usama: 5' 9"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Ali Usama
: 5' 9"; Sophomore