Alabama Women's Swimming Posts Highest Finish at NCAAs in Program History
Under first year head coach Margo Geer, Alabama swimming made huge strides on the biggest stage in collegiate swimming.
The women's swimming and diving team finished fourth at the 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, the highest finish in program history. They also totaled the most points in school history with 288.
It was the 400 meter freestyle relay team of Diana Petkova, Morgan Scott, Kalia Antoniou and Cora Dupre that set a school record of 3:09.07 to take third place in the event and clinch fourth place overall at the meet for the Crimson Tide.
"What an incredible finish to an amazing week," Geer said in a press release. "We are so proud of the way our ladies stayed focused on what we had to do to be successful. There is no doubt that this was a total-team effort and I can’t say enough about how our ladies finished things off tonight when things were really tight.
"This was an extremely loaded field and our success came from staying locked in to getting better every session and getting the most out of every swim. All that hard work and dedication paid off with Alabama making it to the podium for the first time in school history.”
Virginia won the national championship with 551.5 points, Texas was second, Stanford was third and NC State rounded out the top five. Tennessee was the only other SEC school to finish in the top 10.
The 400 freestyle relay wasn't the only medalist finish for Alabama on day four of the championships in Atlanta at the McAuley Aquatic Center. Senior Kensey McMahon got bronze in the 1,650 freestyle. Morgan Scott got the silver medal in the 100 freestyle with a school record time of 46.78, and Rhyan White got bronze in the 200 backstroke with a 1:49.36.
Alabama also had multiple other top-10 finishes in individual and relay events throughout the four days of competition.
The previous highest finish for Alabama at the NCAA Championships was fifth in 1983 and 2021. Last season was the Crimson Tide's first top-25 finish since 2005 and first in the top-10 since 1994. The program has experienced significant growth over the last few years. This year's senior class placed 34th in 2019 with just 14 points during their freshman season and have now improved 30 spots and 274 points by their senior year.
The men's team will compete at NCAAs, also in Atlanta, beginning Wednesday.
Alabama Swimming at 2022 NCAA Championships
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