Luciana Thomas has announced that she will be transferring to Nebraska to use her COVID-19 fifth year of eligibility. Thomas also confirmed to SwimSwam.
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Thomas swam her first four years at Notre Dame where she qualified for NCAAs every season. This past season, she competed at NCAAs swimming in prelims of the 200 fly and 500 free. She finished 19th in the 200 fly (1:55.12) and 26th in the 500 free (4:43.32). Her 500 free was a personal best time.
She also was a huge contributor to Notre Dame’s sixth place finish at the 2022 ACC Championships. There she scored 58 points, the third most on the team and the second most of any swimmer. Thomas finished eighth in the 400 IM (4:13.16), ninth in the 500 free (4:44.96), and 11th in the 200 fly (1:55.83).
Her best short course yards times are:
- 200 fly: 1:55.06
- 400 IM: 4:11.19
- 200 IM: 1:58.79
- 500 free: 4:43.32
Thomas has the potential to make a huge immediate impact when she arrives at Nebraska. Her best time in the 200 fly would have finished third at the 2022 Big Ten Championship. In addition, her best time in the 500 free would have finished sixth and her best time in the 400 IM would have finished seventh. She would have been Nebraska’s highest finisher and only A finalist in all three events.
Nebraska finished ninth at the 2022 Big Ten Championships, only 26 points behind eighth-place Rutgers and only 56 points behind seventh-place Purdue. Based on Thomas’s finishes above, Thomas would have added 74 individual points to Nebraska’s roster this past season.
Nebraska sent one swimmer to NCAAs this past year, Autumn Haebig. Haebig was a fifth year senior this past season.
Thomas told SwimSwam that she will be studying political science at Nebraska. She also said that she was recruited by the school in high school so when she entered the transfer portal she decided to give them a call to see if there was an opportunity. In addition, Thomas said that “there are three other girls also doing a 5th year here, so I talked with them and felt like the team would be a really good fit for me. The political science program at Nebraska also allows for specific specialization, which was something different than the other programs I looked at, so I’ll be able to specialize in human rights and humanitarian affairs.“
Congratulations!!