The short-handed Tennessee women will get a boost headed into the second semester, as Julia Mrozinski has confirmed to SwimSwam that she plans to return to the Volunteer varsity for the spring semester this season.
Mrozinski was one of at least six substantial Tennessee contributors who missed the team’s mid-season home invitational in November. That list included 2022 NCAA scorer Kristen Stege, national qualifiers Jasmine Rumley and Summer Smith, and highly-ranked freshman Regan Rathwell and senior Claire Nguyen.
Mrozinski says that she’ll be back in Knoxville next week and is “extremely excited” about her return to the NCAA. She was home training and competing in Germany in the fall after finishing 8th in the 400 free in August’s European Championship meet. She also raced at the Berlin stop of the World Cup, though she swam her non-primary 50, 100, and 200 freestyles, and was well short of her best times in all three races.
“MY personal goal this year is to support my team in the best way possible and keep learning about myself and the sport I love,” she told SwimSwam.
As a freshman last season, she swam at the NCAA Championships. There, she finished 9th in the 500 free in 4:37.35, 31st in the 200 free in 1:46.07, and 44th in the 100 free in 49.08. She also earned First-Team All-America honors by swimming the leadoff leg of Tennessee’s 8th-place 800 free relay.
Other relay appearances include as the anchor of Tennessee’s 10th-place 400 medley relay (which included three freshmen and a sophomore), and the third leg of Tennessee’s 12th-place 400 free relay.
Best Times, SCY/LCM:
| SCY | LCM | |
| 50 free | 23.1 | 25.27 |
| 100 free | 47.92 | 55.19 |
| 200 free | 1:43.21 | 1:58.28 |
| 500y/400m free | 4:35.95 | 4:09/30 |
| 100 fly | 54.06 | 1:00.40 |
Mrozinski, a 22-year-old sophomore, was the 2015 European Games/European Junior Champion in the 200 fly, though her focus has shifted heavily to the 400 free since. She also is a German champion, a World Junior Championships finalist, and swam on an 8th-place 400 free relay at the 2019 World Championships.
The Tennessee women won the SEC title by 270.5 points last year and finished 10th at the 2022 NCAA Championships.
What’s the status on the others who’ve been missing–and have they all been hurt or what? There is rarely any info…..
From the article title I thought she was recovering from a “fall”
Her best time in 400 free is 4:07, logged in last January.
Big time! Any update on Ellen?