Texas women’s swimming and diving rolls to Big 12 crown, sets sights on NCAA Championships

By Riley Zayas

AUSTIN, Texas — From the time the meet began until the final swimmers touched the wall, the No. 10 Texas women’s swimming and diving team’s hard work throughout this season paid off, as the Longhorns ran away with the Big 12 title in Morgantown, W.Va. UT won its eighth consecutive conference title with 1,012 points, beating runner-up Kansas by 181 points and third-place TCU by 478.

“We have pretty high expectations, and it is where we expected it to be,” head coach Carol Capitani said after the meet’s first day. “There’s always your ups and your downs, and [right now] I’m looking for some resiliency.”

Like their counterparts [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]on the men’s team, the Texas women’s team swept meet awards after winning 18 different events. Capitani won Coach of the Meet, Matt Scoggin won Diving Coach of the Meet (an honor he also shared as the diving coach of the men’s team), Alison Gibson took Co-Diver of the Meet, Claire Adams was awarded Swimmer of the Meet and Kelly Pash was the recipient of the Newcomer of the Meet award.

Texas was particularly dominant in the relays. Adams won two individual events and swam on all five of UT’s victorious relay teams, leading off in the backstroke in the 200- and 400-yard medley relays.

“[Relays] are seriously so much fun,” Adams said. “It is something I’m going to miss the most about being on the team with these girls, and swimming for Texas. There’s nothing quite like going up and doing a race with three of your teammates and swimming for something bigger than yourself.”

“I was really proud of our first three relays going off,” Capitani said. “Three of the four legs were the best they’ve been all season, which is really exciting.”

Individually, Adams 40 points for Texas by winning both the 100 backstroke (51.10 seconds) and 100 freestyle (48.03 seconds).

Pash, who played a key role in four of the Horns’ five relays, took first in the 200 individual medley and the 200 butterfly, and came in second to teammate Evie Pfiefer in the 400 IM, establishing a new personal best in each of the three events.

“I was super-excited because it was my first Big 12s,” Pash said after winning the 200 IM. “I knew I could do a best time, and I’ve been training so hard all season with everyone. I just wanted to go out there and have fun.”

On the diving platform, Texas swept the podium in a close competition, as Jordan Skilkin took first (304.5 points), Paola Pineda came in second (295. 25 points) and Janie Boyle placed third (288.8 points). In the A final for the 1-meter competition, Gibson had one of her best performances of the season, scoring 323.25 points to capture first place and 20 team points for the Horns.

The Longhorn women will enter their most important meet of the season, the NCAA Championships, which will be held March 18-21, with a 7-1 record.

For coverage of the men’s Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships, click here.
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