Up against behemoth programs such as Virginia and Texas, as well as a plethora of Olympic gold medalists and world record holders, No. 20 Texas A&M women’s swimming & diving found some footing at the NCAA Division I Championships, finishing 26th overall with 22 points.
The Aggies opened strong, collecting their first All-American accolades in the 200-yard medley relay with the combined effort of senior Kaitlyn Owens, fifth-years Bobbi Kennett and Olivia Theall and graduate Chloe Stepanek. They finished in the top 15 with the second-fastest time in program history, clocking in 1:35.33.
Closing out the first day of competition, the 800-yard freestyle relay team of sophomore Katie Walker, junior Hayden Miller, graduate Jordan Buechler and Stepanek took 22nd, finishing at 8:04.64.
On Day 2, the relay events continued to be A&M’s strong point as the 200-yard freestyle squad of freshman Kailey Kennedy, Owens, Theall and Stepanek finished 24th with a time of 1:28.95.
The third day of the championships garnered positive points for the Aggies, headlined by Stepanek as she earned both a place in the 200-yard freestyle and her 15th All-America honor, posting a time of 1:44.45, good for a 16th place finish. The same relay team from the first day earned their second All-America accolades, this time in the 400-yard medley relay. The quartet earned a top 15 finish with a season-best 3:30.23.
Graduate Else Praasterink picked up A&M’s second individual award on Day 4, picking up her fifth All-America honor with an eighth-place score of 278.00 on the platform final. The Maroon and White finished strong, clocking a season-best time of 3:14.63 in the 400-yard freestyle relay as freshman Ella McQuinn, Owens, Theall and Stepanek earned a 24th place finish.
Virginia went on to capture its fifth-straight title as records were broken and history books rewritten, headlined by Olympian Gretchen Walsh. However, none were as big as her performance in the 100-yard butterfly as she became the first ever woman to swim under 47 seconds, clocking it at a blazing 46.97.
