Texas A&M women’s swim and dive finished 30th overall with a score of 19.5 points at the Women’s NCAA Championships from March 18-21 in Atlanta. The Aggies closed out the four-day event with four All-American honors, two season-best performances and a lifetime best.
On Day 1, the present athletes competed in the 1650-yard freestyle, the 200-yard medley relay and the 800-yard freestyle. The distance events did not include any participating swimmers from the Maroon and White. In the 200-yard medley relay, the Aggie quartet of fifth-year senior Kaitlyn Owens, sophomore Ella McQuinn, junior Ava Whitaker and freshman Eloise Williamson placed 19th overall. The squad’s time of 1:36.32 brought the swimmers a fifth-place finish in their heat.
Day 2 saw the competitors face off in the 100-yard butterfly, the 400-yard individual medley, or IM, the 200-yard freestyle, the 100-yard breaststroke, the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 1-meter diving event. Whitaker logged a lifetime best in the 100-yard fly with a time of 51.89, for a 28th place finish. The Nacogdoches native’s performance moved her to eighth place in the A&M record book for the event. Junior Hannah O’Leary finished 34th in the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:12.45. McQuinn placed 30th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 59.91.
The foursome of Owens, McQuinn, Williamson and freshman Reagan Sherrard made their mark in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a 12th-place finish. Their time of 1:27.82 moved the crew to No. 3 all-time in program history for the event, as well as earning the Aggies their first All-American honors of the meet.
On the springboards, senior Joslyn Oakley recorded her fifth career All-American performance with a 15th-place finish in the 1-meter dive behind a score of 269.70.
On Day 3, the athletes competed in the 100-yard backstroke, the 200-yard breaststroke, the 500-yard freestyle, the 50-yard freestyle, the 400-yard medley relay and the 3-meter diving event. Owens earned All-American honors in her trademark event, placing 12th in 100-yard backstroke with a time of 51.22. The College Station native was joined by senior Claire Gass, Whitaker and McQuinn in the 400-yard medley relay. The quartet placed 17th and recorded a season-best time of 3:31.21. To wrap up the day for A&M, O’Leary placed 27th in the 400-yard IM with a time of 2:10.77.
On the fourth and final day, the swimmers competed in the 200-yard IM, the 100-yard freestyle, the 200-yard butterfly, the 200-yard backstroke, the 400-yard freestyle relay and the platform diving event.
McQuinn kicked things off with a 40th-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle behind a time of 48.55. Whitaker placed 18th in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:55.33. The foursome of McQuinn, Owens, Williamson and Sherrard closed out the swimming events for the Maroon and White with a 20th-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:15.33.
Sophomore Gabby Filzen competed in the platform dives for the final event of the meet, where she earned an honorable mention All-American with a 14th-place finish behind a six-dive performance that scored 265.50.
The Aggies finished their season with a 30th place finish in the standings, with a score of 19.5.
