Seven Trinity athletes competed in the NCAA swimming and diving championships from March 19 to March 22 in Greensboro, N.C. in the championship. The Tigers smiled, dabbed and swam through the weekend en route to an impressive performance and multiple All-American honors for the women’s and men’s teams.
On the opening day of the tournament, both the men’s and women’s teams participated in events. First-year Luke Fender placed ninth in the 500 freestyle prelims, almost making it to the championship final but missing out by one second. Fender earned Second Team All-American honors after he finished 13th in the evening swim.
Sophomore Amy Benson also earned Second Team All-American honors in the 50 freestyle for her second season in a row. Benson placed 15th in the Consolation Final with a time of 23.28. Her time was 0.01 seconds from beating her personal best, the second fastest record in school history. Later in the day, Benson also placed 15th in the finals.
“I’d say it’s definitely a goal of mine for next season to [break the first place record]. I’m fairly close, and I got the 100 free record this year and the 200 free so I think it’s definitely possible. Definitely possible. So yeah, I’m excited for it,” Benson said.
Day two of the tournament featured junior and 2024 national champion Neely Burns earning All-American status for the third year in a row, marking the ninth time in her career. Burns finished eighth in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:24.11.
“I’ve been a competitive swimmer for pretty much my entire life. So very satisfying to see in my collegiate career that work is paying off. It’s such an honor to be able to compete on the national stage,” Burns said.
In the women’s 200 free relay, sophomore Allison Ortiz, junior Rachel Brown, sophomore Julia Carter and Benson finished 19th in the race. The team missed qualifying for the finals by 0.63 seconds, but improved their personal best time to 1:34.74. Ortiz spoke on the training the relays did leading up to compete in the championship.
“After we had SCAC, we trained for four more weeks. I feel it’s a mental push, because it’s a little bit harder to go for another four weeks,” Ortiz said. “So the coaches really try and like, give us fun activities.”
The third day of competition began with the women’s 200 medley relay improving their personal best to 1:45.28 and finishing 21st. Jacobson, Ortiz, Burns and Benson hold the third best ranked time in school history.
“I’m really proud of us, because our biggest goal was to improve where we were, and we actually weren’t sure about that really going in,” Benson said. “That was kind of a big question mark for us. Improving our place was actually really good for team morale.”
Burns, Jacobson, Carter and Benson placed 16th in the 800 free relay later that evening. The team was awarded Second Team All-American honors for their performance. Burns commented on the team’s coordinated dab after their race.
“We always planned beforehand, like, okay, no matter how we do, we’re all gonna dab together at the end of it, little celebration, even if we don’t do amazing,” Burns said.
Fender started off the final day of the tournament placing 13th in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 15:45.17. Fender was awarded his second All-American award after the race. Fender commented on how his achievements this season will encourage him to work for the 2025-2026 season.
“This was sort of an end of college goal, honestly, but I’m very pleased that we got here this year, so we can set our sights a little higher next year and keep chipping away,” Fender said. “Next year I want to make an A Final, so top eight.”
Head Swim Coach Cathleen Pruden, assistant coaches Mabel Fowler and George Black, as well as Head Diving Coach Tommy Law, were honored as the SCAC Women’s Swimming and Diving Coaching Staff of the Year prior to the tournament. Sophomore Amy Benson commented on their coaches.
“I would not be where I am without our three wonderful coaches, and I don’t think anyone on the team could say they are where they are without Cathleen, George and Mabel. They do so much, and they care so much about us, and they definitely deserve that award.”
