WASHINGTON – Graduate student Mimi Watts and junior Colin Clough of American University men's and women's swimming & diving will head to the USA Swimming Toyota U.S. Open Championship from Dec. 4-7 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, N.C. This year will be Watts' fourth appearance at the meet, adding to her long repertoire at the national and international levels, and Clough's first time qualifying for a national-level meet. 

This season, Watts has qualified for four different events and will compete in the 100 backstroke, butterfly, and freestyle events, as well as the 50 freestyle. Clough will round out the 100s of strokes, swimming the 100 breaststroke. He's a recent qualifier in the event, making the cut time at the Patriot Invitational in November. 

This year marks the first time the meet has been held in short course yards in over 10 years, allowing both Watts and Clough to use it to improve their seeding times for the Patriot League Championships later in the season and qualify for the NCAA Championships in March. 

Watts has secured her highest seeding ever in this US Open Championship. Going into the meet she is tied for third in the 50 freestyle and seeded fourth in the 100 butterfly with only four-tenths separating her and third place. In the 100 freestyle, Watts is seeded 12th, and in the 100 backstroke, she is seeded 14th. 

At the Patriot Invitational, Clough swam a 55.11 which puts him at 39th in the pre-meet standings. 

All events will have an A, B, and C final, with a total of 24 swimmers advancing past prelims. Watts will kick the Eagles off with the first swim in the 50 freestyle on Thursday, Dec. 5. Watts and Clough will both compete on Dec. 6 in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke, as well as the 100 breaststroke, respectively. Lastly, Watts will finish off the meet in the 100 freestyle on Dec 7. 

To catch all of Watts' and Clough's events at the U.S. Open, go to: https://www.usaswimming.org/utility/landing-pages/streaming or stream it on the USA Swimming Network available on all major connected TV applications.

To keep up with the Eagles, follow the team on Twitter (@AU_SwimDive), Facebook (@AU.SwimDive) and Instagram (@au_swim_dive).