SAN DIEGO – After successfully defending their Mountain West Championship, the San Diego State swimming and diving team collected 35 All-Mountain West awards, the conference office announced Monday. The top eight finishers in each individual event and the top three relay teams earned the All-Mountain West designation.
The Aztecs set new conference-best marks in the 100 breast, 200 breast and the 200-yard medley relay, with both individual record-setting swims coming from Mountain West Swimmer of the Meet junior Klara Thormalm. SDSU also made noise with the first podium sweep at the conference title chase since 2017 in the 50 free while taking home eight individual titles and sweeping all five relay events for just the third time in conference history.
Six SDSU swimmers and divers took home three All-MW honors including sophomore Ximena Lechuga Gonzalez (1-meter, 3-meter, platform), senior McKenna Meyer (200 IM, 200 back, 400 IM), sophomore Kristina Murphy (200 IM, 200 breast, 400 IM), sophomore Mia Ryan (100 free, 200 free, 500 free), senior Alma Thormalm (50 free, 100 back, 100 free) and junior Klara Thormalm (50 free, 100 breast, 200 breast).
Other multi-award winners include sophomore Samantha Geyer (50 free, 100 breast), freshman Milena Karpisz (200 free, 500 free), sophomore Lizzie Menzmer (50 free, 100 fly), senior Courtney Vincent (100 fly, 200 IM) and senior diver Marie Yacopino (1-meter, 3-meter).
In addition to the Aztecs' record-setting 200-medley relay and 400-medley relay (which were made up of the same four swimmers), all three of the remaining SDSU quartets earned all-conference recognition, as the 200 free relay crew of Menzmer, K. Thormalm, A. Thormalm, Geyer, the 400 free relay team of A. Thormalm, K. Thormalm, Ryan, Meyer, and the 800 free relay squad of Ryan, Wilson, Karpisz and Meyer were honored by the Mountain West for their efforts.
SDSU now readies for postseason action, with all seven Aztec divers prepping for the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships March 9-11 in Seattle, Wash. Vincent and McKennan alongside Klara Thormalm all earned direct individual invites to the NCAA Championships while the Aztecs' 200 medley relay has also qualified for the national championship competition. More SDSU swimmers have marks that could qualify them for the national event and will be announced as they are notified of their invitations. The Aztecs who have solidified their tickets to the national championship now prep for the event scheduled to begin March 18 in Atlanta, Ga.
SDSU All-MW Winners
Elli Ferrin-100-backstroke
Sammy Geyer-50-freestyle, 100-breaststroke
Milena Karpisz-500-freestyle, 200-freestyle
Ximena Lechuga Gonzalez-1-meter springboard, 3-meter springboard, platform dive
Morganne McKennan-100-breaststroke
Lizzie Menzmer-50-freestyle, 100-butterfly
McKenna Meyer-200-IM, 400-IM, 200-backstroke
Kristina Murphy-200-IM, 400-IM, 200-breaststroke
Mia Ryan-500-freestyle, 200-freestyle, 100-freestyle
Larisa Tam-100-breaststroke
Alma Thormalm-50-freestyle, 100-backstroke, 100-freestyle
Klara Thormalm-50-freestyle, 100-breaststroke, 200-breaststroke
Courtney Vincent-200-IM, 100-butterfly
Marie Yacopino-1-meter springboard, 3-meter springboard
200-medley relay, 400-medley relay- Elli Ferrin, Klara Thormalm, Courtney Vincent, Alma Thormalm
200-freestyle relay- Lizzie Menzmer, Klara Thormalm, Alma Thormalm, Sammy Geyer
400-freestyle relay- Alma Thormalm, Klara Thormalm, Mia Ryan, McKenna Meyer
800-freestyle relay- Mia Ryan, Peyton Wilson, Milena Karpisz, McKenna Meyer