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Sprint freestyler MaryClaire Kopfer of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, has committed to swim and study at the College of William and Mary beginning in the fall of 2023.
“I am extremely excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at the College of William and Mary . I would like to thank my family, friends, coaches, teammates, and God for helping me to achieve this. I can’t wait to begin this next chapter of my life. GO TRIBE!!! ”
Kopfer is finishing up her senior year at Pewaukee High School and competes year-round for Lake Country Swim Team. She is primarily a sprinter, sticking to the 50/100-yard freestyles and the 100s of stroke, primarily breaststroke. Her sprint freestyle best times come from November of 2021 at the WIAA Girls Division I State Championships, where she touched 8th in the 50-yard free (23.78) and 10th in the 100 (52.21). Kopfer’s third best event is her 100-yard breaststroke which she achieved a best time in most recently at the 2022 Wisconsin LAKE Fall Western Great Lakes Open where she touched 9th with a 1:06.94.
Best Times SCY:
- 50 free — 23.78
- 100 free — 52.21
- 100 fly — 1:01.38
- 100 breast — 1:06.94
Kopfer’s best times would put her in finals scoring range at the 2022 Colonial Athletic Association Conference Championships for 2 out of her 3 best events. The CAA Conference championships only have two heats of finals, leaving room for only 16 swimmers per event. Kopfer’s 50-yard free would have been her highest placing event, landing her in 13th, while her 100-yard freestyle would have just scraped her into finals in 16th place. Her 100-yard breast best time would be within striking range of finals, landing her in 21st place.
The W&M women won the 2022 Colonial Athletic Association Championships by just 42.5 points over UNCW. The Tribe’s freestylers were vital point scorers with senior Missy Cundiff winning the 50-yard free (22.26), and junior Katie Stevenson winning the 100-yard free (49.89). The 50-yard free finals had 4 Tribe swimmers, while the 100-yard free only had 2, leaving some room for additional individual sprint finalists especially with the graduation of Cundiff.
The Tribe women’s freestyle relay teams also played a significant role in their success: they placed 2nd to Drexel in both the 4×50 and 4×100-yard freestyle relays, while UNCW placed 5th and 6th respectively. Kopfer’s sprint freestyle isn’t quite fast enough to get her on a relay just yet, as she would need to be at least a 23.2 in the 50 and a 51.0 in the 100 to earn her a spot.
Kopfer will be joining a large 2027 class for the Tribe. So far, the class includes Julie Gehrig, Flynn Truskett, Sarah Dunham, Meghan Benda, Zoe Arakelian, Julie Addison, and Meghan Rourke.
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SwimCloud also has distance swimmer Lauren Tucker committed to William and Mary.