For the third consecutive year, Texas women’s swimming and diving finished second at the 2024 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Georgia in Athens.
Texas finished the meet with a combined 441 points, 86.5 points behind the Virginia Cavaliers, who took the win.
The Longhorns landed in fifth place following the first day. After the second day of competition, Texas moved up to third place, just 22 points behind Florida and 36 points above Stanford.
Head Coach Carol Capitani has led Texas in their best stretch since 1990-1992, coaching the team to four years straight of top-three finishes at the NCAA Championship.
At this year’s NCAA event, senior Emma Sticklen won the 200-yard butterfly national title for the second consecutive year, finishing with a time of 1:50.99. She boasted the third-fastest time in Texas swimming history and a new pool record for the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens.
Sticklen captured gold despite being behind until the final 25 yards to make swimming history.
Sticklen is the first Longhorn in 26 years to defend her national title. In 1997, Vera Ilyina won the one-meter and three-meter and came back in 1998 to uphold her title. Sticklen is also the first Longhorn to win back-to-back 200-fly titles since Kim Linehan in 1981-1982.
Along with Sticklen, Longhorn swimmers fifth-year Kelly Pash and senior Olivia Bray competed in the 200-yard butterfly final. Bray accomplished the top time in the semifinals and had the lead midway through the finals with a time of 52.74. Bray finished fifth overall with a swim time of 1:52.45.
This trio also competed in the 100 fly, each earning the All-American distinction.
Sticklen was not the only Longhorn to set a record. Along with senior Grace Cooper, senior Ava Longi and Pash, she earned a 1:26.17 time in the 200 free relay, a Texas swimming record. This group of seniors, and fifth-year Pash, were also all named All-Americans.
Additionally, freshman Berit Berglund, senior Anna Elendt, Sticklen and Pash competed in the 400 medley relay, finishing with a time of 3:24.92, another Texas program record.
Even though Capitani and the Longhorns fell short of first place, with 14 athletes named All-Americans, 10 All-American honorable mentions and three Texas program records set, Texas proved themselves to be a force in the pool and on the diving board once again.
This year’s NCAA Championships marks the end of Texas swimming and diving’s time in the Big 12, and they now await the competition in the SEC.
