Alabama fifth-year Morgan Scott, a three-time individual first-team All-American and NCAA relay champion, has suffered a torn labrum and is out for the remainder of the 2022-23 season, ending her college career two months early.
“I will not be finishing the season with Alabama,” Scott told SwimSwam. “I have a torn labrum and that’s something I need to take care of. I have had a wonderful time swimming for Alabama and I will always support them.”
Torn labrums aren’t entirely uncommon in swimming—Tennessee freshman Regan Rathwell had to redshirt her 2022-23 season to get surgery for one, and Wisconsin NCAA Paige McKenna did the same last spring.
Scott, who began her NCAA career in the 2018-19 season with Indiana, saw tremendous improvements upon transferring to Alabama in 2019. During the 20-2021 season in particular, she improved over a second in the 50/100/200 free events, finishing 4th in the 100 free (46.48) and 9th in the 200 free (1:44.39) at NCAAs. In that same meet, she also won her first-ever NCAA title leading off the 400-free relay in a time of 47.78—only Kate Douglass and Maggie MacNeil were faster than her leading off in the same race.
After her junior campaign, Scott had an even better senior year. At 2022 NCAAs, she was fourth in the 50 free (21.43), second in the 100 free to break the elusive 47-point barrier (46.78), and was on all five of Alabama’s scoring relays. Scott also developed into a strong butterflyer that season, splitting 50.97 on her team’s 400 medley relay. Her 32 individual points were the second-most for her team, and she was an integral part of Alabama’s overall fourth-place finish.
In fact, improvement has been a consistent factor within Scott’s career, as she got progressively better in her primary events every year.
Morgan Scott, Season-Bests:
| 50 free | 100 free | 200 free | |
| 2018-19 season | 22.72 | 48.84 | 1:45.59 |
| 2019-20 season | 22.09 | 49.28 | 1:44.32 |
| 2020-21 season | 22.07 | 47.48 | 1:43.69 |
| 2021-22 season | 21.43 | 46.78 | 1:44.15 |
Most recently, Scott competed at the 2022 Art Adamson Invite last November, where she won the 100 free (47.81), placed third in the 50 free (22.07) and 100 back (52.39), and was fourth in the 100 fly (52.26).
Scott’s departure is a massive blow for Alabama, as they lose their top-ranked sprinter and a key relay contributor. Sprint freestyle has consistently been a strength for the Crimson Tide—their 70 individual points in the 50/100 free (32 of which were scored by Scott) were the most out of any school in the NCAA.
Tough break for sure. On a side note, always love to see swimmers (that were already fast) get way faster in college. Kudos to her for a great career.
Torn labrum? I heard that she has gone to swim with Coley! We all were well aware that she did not care for Margo. This is not our only loss…
Morgan has never told me how she feels about Margo, but I did notice that her Instagram story highlights have a post labeling Margo as “MarGOAT.”
this looks like a Russian disinformation campaign
Been watching her since she was in high school! Was really excited to see her swim this season. I would not be surprised if she took some time to heal and came back. She never said her career was over…
Not sure why you would question the legitimacy of her injury. It sounds like sour grapes to me.
Yeah I agree that it’s a weird take that someone underwent surgery to justify leaving a program when they could literally just *leave a program*.
Tough break…congrats on an awesome career Morgan…
Phenomenal career – tough loss for Bama. And FYI to Yanyan – Paige McKenna’s torn labrum was in *her hip* as opposed to her shoulder (very different injury with same name).
Excellent career! Heal fast.