Last week the Alabama women’s swimming and diving teams competed in the NCAA championships in Athens, Georgia, where five Crimson Tide athletes combined for 10 All-America honors and finished 23rd as a team.
Junior Avery Wiseman led the way with three second-team All America honors including the 100-yard breaststroke, 200 breaststroke and 200 medley relay. The Crimson Tide also earned recognition in the 200 freestyle relay, finishing in 12th place.
Wiseman said competing in the finals for the 100 and 200 breaststroke as well coming together as a team for the relays were the best moments of the four-day event.
“The group of girls at NCAAs was amazing, and everyone did their part in keeping the energy throughout the meet, regardless of the results,” Wiseman said. “Having amazing people around you to support and celebrate with always makes meets like this so much more enjoyable.”
The Crimson Tide’s week started strong with its first set of second-team All-America honors in its first event, the 200 medley relay, on Wednesday. Wiseman (breaststroke), freshmen Gaby Van Brunt (backstroke) and Cadence Vincent (freestyle), and junior Kailyn Winter (butterfly) finished 16th with a time of 1 minute, 36.18 seconds. Alabama ended Day 1 in 20th place and hoped to continue that momentum into Day 2.
“Over a multiday event like the NCAA championships, it is easy to keep the momentum going when we have a team that fully supports each other and is always positive no matter the circumstances,” Wiseman said. “It’s always important to keep the highs and lows of the meet to a reasonable level, so we don’t burn ourselves out. We still celebrate our successes in ways that aren’t keeping the highs too high or dwelling on the lows of our competition.”
The Crimson Tide continued its success Thursday with the 200 freestyle relay, swum by Vincent, Winter, Van Brunt and senior Diana Petkova. The team clocked a 1:27.53, a season best and the fourth time in five years that an Alabama team has claimed All-America honors in the event.
Throughout the rest of the week, several athletes earned season and career bests, but only Wiseman continued to earn All-America honors. She earned 10th place in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 58.38 and 11th place in the 200 breaststroke with a 2:07.37.
Wiseman said she was proud of her competition over the course of the week, but competing with her teammates was the highlight of the championships.
“Being able to share such special moments in this sport with my teammates is always the highlight of our meets, and it will always be a large piece of my love for this sport,” Wiseman said.
Head coach Margo Geer also noticed her athletes’ growth throughout the week and even the season.
“This group did a great job of being resilient through the ups and downs of the competition,” Geer said. “There was so much growth from our freshmen. I’m also very grateful for our upperclassmen — Avery, Diana, Liberty [Williams], Kailyn and Jocelyn [Fisher]; it was great to see the team’s hard work rewarded. I appreciate the staff and their support this season, and I’m excited for the men’s meet next week.”
While the women’s swimming and diving season is over, the men’s teams travel to Indianapolis, Indiana, for their NCAA championships. Competition will begin Wednesday and end on Saturday.
