FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — Eight of Arizona's women's swimmers and divers competed in the women's NCAA National Championships over the past week, with five earning all-American honorable mentions as a result of their performances in competition.
On the swimming side, Eleni Gewalt, Lexi Duchsherer, Julia Wozniak, Maryam Sheikhalizadehkhangh, Riley Botton and Alyssa Schwengel qualified for the NCAA Championships. Divers Zara Ayazi and Brooke Earley also represented the Cats on a national stage.
Earley saw major success in her final national championship as a Wildcat, advancing to the consolation finals of both of her events (the 1-meter and 3-meter) and earning All-American honorable mentions for both. Earley finished night two with a strong 16th place in the 1-meter and, just one day later, finished 12th out of 49 in the 3-meter event.
This marks the end of an incredible senior season for Earley, who took second at the Big 12 Championships in the 3-meter and third in the 1-meter events. Earley was also named Big 12 Diver of the Week twice this season.
The 200 freestyle relay team of Julia Wozniak, Riley Botton, Lexi Duchsherer and Alyssa Schwengel also took home an All-American honorable mention with their 10th-place finish (1:27.04). This relay team has also had a strong season, on multiple occasions posting top-15 times and setting the pool record at Arizona State University with their 1:27.75 finish in Tempe.
Each of the relay team members has also seen individual success; Duchsherer qualified for NCAAs in the 50 free, taking 30th place out of 71 qualifying swimmers (22.12).
Just a few weeks prior to nationals, Wozniak took home conference gold in the 100 free (48.56) at the Big 12 Championships, followed closely by Botton who secured the silver with a 48.77.
In addition to swimming a leg of Arizona's qualifying 200 medley relay, Gewalt was also invited to NCAAs for the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke events. Gewalt placed 23rd out of 47 swimmers in the 100 BR, finishing with a 59.18.
Last week at NCAA Diving Zones, Ayazi qualified for both the platform and 1-meter diving events, both of which she has excelled at over the season. At the Big 12 Championships, Ayazi took home 4th place in the 1-meter and 7th place in the platform event.
This was the first NCAA Championships for Ayazi and each member of Arizona's swimming squad.
