2023 SEC SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, February 14 – Saturday, February 18, 2023
- Rec Center Natatorium, College Station, TX
- Defending Champions:
- Women: Tennessee (1x)
- Men: Florida (10x)
- Championship Central
- Women’s Fan Guide
- Men’s Fan Guide
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Live Video
There’s a lot to unpack in this narrative. In high school, Kristen and Rachel Stege both swam, but Kristen focused more on sprint events while Rachel swam distance. As a freshman as East Carolina, Kristen won the conference title in the 1,650, which was also her first time ever swimming the event. She then transferred to Tennessee, where she proceeded to break the school record in the 1,650 and place 4th at the NCAAs, along with a 9th place finish in the 500.
Last year, Rachel Stege was a freshman at Georgia but was sidelined with a shoulder injury. So this year was the first time the two sisters have raced similar events in the SEC conference. What a debut it was. In finals, Rachel was in lane 4 while Kristen was in lane 3. Rachel was out early but Kristen had a late charge, nearly overtaking Rachel and ultimately touching .04 behind her younger sister, 4:36.31 to 4:36.35.
With no race plan or strategy going in, the two sisters said they just wanted to be on the podium with one another, a wish that came true tonight as they finished 1-2.
Love these two sisters. Great interview too.
The way they said, “The first time” together and laughed!!
where do these great genes come from?
Great story, well done.
How was Kristen a sprinter?
look her up… she wasn’t a top tier swimmer then swam the mile like once and twice and lit it up. rest is history 🙂
https://staging.swimswam.com/east-carolina-swimmer-breaks-conference-record-in-her-first-ever-mile-swim/
Did she at least kick when she swam the 50 or 100 lol?
Would like to reiterate the golden words from that article: “You don’t always get to choose the distance life, sometimes the distance life chooses you.”
Honestly, iconic.
Good sprinter in HS – not elite. Went to ECU. Played around with distance swam the at conference? And dropped a NCAA cut first time swimming it.
So cool. It is funny I thought the same thing watching Rachel swim—“she doesn’t kick either!”