Meet the 26 Mid Major Swimmers Who Qualified for the 2022 Women’s NCAA Champs

2022 NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 16-19, 2022
• McAuley Aquatic Center, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA
• Short Course Yards (SCY), Prelims/Finals

The NCAA has released its official psych sheets (along with the invite line) for the 2022 Women’s NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships. The meet itself takes place later this month, from March 16-19 in Atlanta, Georgia at Georgia Tech’s McAuley Aquatic Center.

This post is dedicated to the 26 swimmers from mid major conference programs who qualified for this year’s championships. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, the mid major conferences are the non-Power 5 (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC) Division I conferences. This year, swimmers from the Ivy League, MAC, Mountain West, Horizon League, MPSF, MVC, America East, Patriot League, Conference USA, Summit League, Big East, and Colonial Athletic Association qualified for the NCAA Championships.

YOU CAN SEE ALL THE RELEVANT DOCUMENTS HERE:

• Official Psych Sheets (with cutlines)
• Invited Swimmers by Team (Doesn’t include relay-only swimmers)
• Eligible Relays
• Alternates List
• Scoring the Psych Sheet
• Full Event Coverage

Before we go any further, please note that the psych sheets released today only include swimmers. 41 divers will also qualify for NCAAs based off their performances at the NCAA Zones meets, which are taking place March 7-9

Here is the breakdown of mid major teams who have a swimmer qualified for NCAAs this year. This chart shows each team, how many swimmers they have qualified, and how many swims they have that are seeded to score (top 16).

As the table shows, most programs just have one swimmer entered in these championships. Both Akron and Penn have 3, while Navy has 2. Penn is led by Lia Thomas, who is the top seed in the 200 free and 500 free, and 10th in the 100 free. By now we’re all aware that Thomas is a transgender woman who is taking her 5th year of eligibility with the Quakers after previously competing on the men’s team. After some waffling on setting new criteria regarding transgender athletes in the NCAA, they’ve ruled not to adopt any new regulations for this season, and since Thomas is well within compliance with the previous criteria, she will be competing at NCAAs.

None of the mid major programs qualified a relay to NCAAs this year, although there were a number of relays that were very close to qualifying. No mid majors qualified relays to last year’s championships either. The good news, however, is that after only 16 mid major swimmers qualified for last year’s championships, 26 such swimmers are entered this year.

Here are the 26 swimmers from mid major programs who qualified for the 2022 NCAAs, along with the events they’re entered in and their seeds:

• Lia Thomas (Penn): 500 free (1st), 200 free (1st), 100 free (10th)
  • Thomas is the Ivy League record-holder in the 100, 200, and 500 free
  • 100, 200, and 500 free Ivy League champion in 2022
• Iszac Henig (Yale): 50 free (19th), 100 fly (46th), 100 free (18)
  • 2022 Ivy League champion in 50 free, runner-up in 100 free
• Paulina Nogaj (Akron): 50 free (54th), 100 fly (18th), 200 fly (49th)
  • 2022 MAC champion in 50 free, 100 fly, 200 fly
  • NCAA qualifier in 2018 and 2019
• Arielle Hayon (Rice): 100 fly (20th), 200 fly (45th)
  • Freshman
  • C-USA champion in 100 fly, 200 fly
• Natalie Arky (Denver): 100 fly (52nd), 100 back (44th), 200 back (22nd)
  • Summit League champion in the 100 back, 200 back
• Sarah Watson (Akron): 200 IM (40th), 100 fly (30), 100 free (48th)
  • 2022 MAC champion in 200 IM, 100 free, 100 fly runner-up
  • 200 IM B finalist at 2021 NCAAs, 18th in 100 free
• Weronika Gorecka (Akron): 100 back (57th), 200 back (35th)
  • 2022 MAC champion in 200 back
• Susan LaGrand (Oakland): 200 IM (60th), 100 back (48th), 200 back (28th)
  • Horizon League record-holder in 200 IM, 100 back, 200 back
  • 2022 HL champion in 200 IM, 100 back, 200 back
  • 3-time Horizon League Swimmer of the Year
  • 200 back B finalist at the 2021 NCAAs
• Daisy Platts (Bowling Green): 200 IM (63rd), 100 back (28th), 200 back (46th)
  • 2022 MAC champion in 100 back, runner-up in 200 back
  • 3-time MAC 200 back champion
• Sydney Harrington (Navy): 50 free (62nd), 100 fly (40th), 200 fly (28th)
  • Patriot League record-holder in 100 fly and 200 fly
  • 2022 Patriot League champion in 50 free, 100 fly, 200 fly
  • 200 fly B finalist at 2021 NCAAs, 18th in 100 fly
• Nicole Maier (Miami): 500 free (32nd), 200 free (29th), 100 free (50th)
  • MAC record-holder in 500 free, 200 free, 400 IM
  • 2022 MAC champion in 500 free, 400 IM, runner-up in 100 free
• Catherine Buroker (Penn): 500 free (28th), 1650 free (44th)
  • 2022 Ivy League champion in 1000 free, 1650 free, runner-up in 500 free
  • NCAA qualifier in 2019 & 2020
• Klara Thormalm (San Diego State): 50 free (58th), 100 breast (19th), 200 breast (45th)
  • B finalist in the 100 breast (11th) at the 2021 NCAAs
  • Won the B final in the 100 breast at the 2019 NCAAs
  • Mountain West record-holder in 100 breast, 200 breast
• Missy Cundiff (William & Mary): 50 free (26th)
  • 2021 Olympic Trials Wave I champion in 50 free
  • CAA record-holder in 50 free
  • 2022 CAA champion in 50 free
• Anna Metzler (New Hampshire): 200 IM (61st), 400 IM (21st), 200 back (50th)
  • 2021 NCAAs qualifier
  • America East record-holder in 400 IM, 200 free, 500 free
  • 2022 America East champion in 200 IM, 200 fly, runner-up in 200 back
• Autumn D’Arcy (CSU Bakersfield): 200 IM (83rd), 100 fly (27th), 200 fly (48th)
  • 2022 MPSF champion in 100 fly, 200 fly
  • Took 2nd in the 100 fly at the 2021 U.S. Open
• Martina Thomas (Navy): 500 free (56th), 200 free (32nd)
  • 2022 Patriot League champion in 500 free and 200 free
  • Qualified for NCAAs in 2019, 2020, and 2021
  • Finished 20th in the 200 free at 2021 NCAAs
  • Patriot League conference record holder in 200 free
• Felicia Pasadyn (Harvard): 200 IM (61st), 400 IM (32nd), 200 back (26th)
  • 2022 Ivy League champion in 400 IM, 200 back, runner-up in 200 IM
  • 2020 Ivy league champion in 200 IM, 400 IM, 200 back
  • 2020 NCAAs qualifier
• Anna Kalandadze (Penn): 500 free (48th), 1650 free (18th)
  • Finished 2nd in the 1000 free and 3rd in the 1650 free at the 2022 Ivy League Championships
  • Competed for Cal as a freshman during the 2019-2020 season
• Brooke Knisely (UNC Wilmington): 500 free (51st), 1650 free (35th)
  • First UNC Wilmington qualifier since 2013
  • 2022 CAA champion in 500 free, 1650 free
• Donna DePolo (Nevada): 100 breast (36th), 200 breast (25th)
  • 2022 Mountain West champion in 100 breast, 200 breast
  • 2021 NCAAs qualifier
• Jenna Reznicek (Brown): 100 back (35th)
  • Freshman
  • 2022 Ivy League champion in 100 back
• Christie Chue (FIU): 200 IM (65th), 100 breast (40th), 200 breast (33rd)
  • Freshman
  • C-USA champion in 200 IM, 100 breast, 200 breast
  • 11th consecutive year FIU has a swimmer qualified for NCAAs
• Anna Miller (Missouri State): 50 free (30th), 100 free (39th)
  • MVC record holder in the 50 free, 100 free, 100 fly
  • 2022 MVC champion in 50 free, 100 free, 100 fly
  • First Missouri State swimmer to qualify for women’s NCAAs in program history
• Kelly Montesi (Villanova): 200 IM (78th), 100 back (52nd), 200 back (20th)
  • 11-time individual Big East champion
  • Big East record-holder in 200 back
• Celia Pulido (Southern Illinois): 100 back (37th), 200 back (41st)
  • Freshman
  • 2022 MVC champion in 100 back, 200 back
  • First Saluki to qualify since 2010

We should also note that Northern Colorado’s Madelyn Moore is the #9 alternate for this year’s championships, thanks to her 22.17 50 free she swam at the WAC Championships in February. While it’s unlikely the 9th alternate will ultimately end up making it into the meet, given the state of COVID protocols in the NCAA, it’s certainly not impossible that many alternates get called up.