LAS VEGAS, Nev./COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.— San Diego State's swimming and diving team continued its accomplishments at the 2021 Mountain West Conference Championships Friday, regaining the lead with a 472-point day on the penultimate day of competition.
Friday morning's swimming action was highlighted by senior Klara Thormalm in the 100 breast prelims. The Vetlanda, Sweden native crushed her previous Mountain West Championships record in the event with a time of 59.14 for the top finish in the preliminary heats. Two other Aztecs earned spots in the championship finals Friday night in the event as Junior Sammy Geyer swam the fourth-fastest prelims time of 1:00.94, an NCAA 'B' cut, and senior Larisa Tam finished with the eighth-best qualifying time of 1:03.62.
Junior Kristina Murphy earned the first championship finals spot for the Aztecs Friday as she swam the second-best preliminary heats time in the 400-individual medley, tapping the wall with a time of 4:19.76. Freshmen Emma Wilmer and Alex Roberts swam their way into the bonus finals with 18th and 23rd-place finishes in the prelims, recording times of 4:32.86 and 4:35.15, respectively.
The 100 fly prelims saw two swimmers donning the Scarlet and Black move onto Friday night's championship heat. Sophomore Riley Tapley finished third overall with a time of 54.82 and fellow sophomore Emily Gebhardt finished seventh in the qualifying heats with a time of 55.92. Sophomore Lizzie Menzmer, senior Elli Ferrin, and freshman Wilma Johansson each qualified for the consolation finals with the ninth, 11th, and 14th-best preliminary heat times, respectively. Freshman Fiona Trotz-Chaves marked a spot in the 'C' final with a time of 57.72, 20th-best in prelims.
Junior Mia Ryan earned the chance to compete for the individual 200 free title with the fourth-best prelims time in the 200 free with a time of 1:49.40. Sophomore Paige Mitchell qualified for the consolation heats Friday night when she touched the wall at 1:51.43, good for 13th in the preliminaries.
The Aztecs closed out preliminary heat competition Friday morning by earning four spots in the 100 back championship heat as Tapley, Ferrin, Roberts and sophomore Evonne Stehr each swam one of the eight fastest times in the qualifying heats. Tapley swam the second-best time in prelims with a time of 54.57, Ferrin finished fourth with a time of 55.25, Roberts placed seventh with a time of 55.45, and Stehr finished eighth when she touched the wall at 56.53. Trotz-Chavez earned a spot in the bonus heat with a time of 58.58 for 21st overall.
In Colorado Springs, Colo., the Aztec divers saw success on the 3-meter as juniors Ximena Lechuga Gonzalez and Lexi Letts qualified for the championship and consolation heats, respectively. Lechuga Gonzalez broke the 300-point barrier in the preliminary heat with a score of 303.25, good for fifth in the qualifiers, while Letts scored 248.45 for 11th place Friday morning. In the consolation finals, Letts added almost two points to her preliminary heats 6-dive total, placing 16th overall with a score of 250.85 points in her second round of the 3-meter competition. Lechuga Gonzalez held her fifth-place preliminary heats ranking in the championships, scoring 285.65 points.
Friday night's finals kicked off with a second-place finish from the Aztecs in the 200-free relay with a time of 1:31.39, 1.74 seconds faster than the quartet's seed time.
Thormalm followed her early morning record-breaking swim with the top finish in the 100 breast finals, touching the wall at 1:00.19. Geyer placed fourth with a time of 1:01.04 and Tam jumped one spot from her prelims finish for seventh overall in the event with a time of 1:02.63.
Murphy followed up with a silver-medal performance in the 400-individual medley, earning her second top-three finish in the individual medley events at this year's championships. Her time of 4:19.06 cut .81 seconds off her preliminary heat mark. Wilmer placed 17th overall with a bonus heat swim of 4:29.66 while Roberts finished in 22nd with a time of 4:33.89, 1.26 seconds faster than her qualifying heats mark.
Tapley and Gebhardt continued the Aztecs' scoring run with fourth and seventh-place finishes in the 100 fly, respectively. Tapley recorded a career-best time of 54.81 while Gebhardt touched the wall with a time of 55.75, her collegiate-best mark, and a time that was .17 seconds faster than her preliminary heat effort. In the consolation finals, Menzmer and Ferrin added points to SDSU's total with 10th and 11th place finishes; Menzmer with a time of 56.04 and Ferrin with a performance of 56.12. Johansson also impressed in the consolation finals, finishing 14th with a time of 56.39 while Trotz-Chavez jumped four spots on the stats sheet with her bonus heat swim of 56.93, good for 17th overall.
Ryan and Mitchell followed suit with great swims in the 200 free as Ryan finished fifth overall with a time of 1:50.31 while Mitchell dropped .65 seconds off her prelims time to finish 10th in the standings, touching the wall at 1:50.78.
Tapley, Ferrin, and Roberts finished off the night strong for the Aztecs as Tapley earned a podium finish in the 100 backstroke finals while Ferrin placed fourth and Roberts finished sixth with times of 54.84, 55.06, and 55.60, respectively.
The final day of action in Las Vegas begins at 10:30 a.m. PT with the preliminary heats of the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, and 200 fly. Diving concludes their conference championship events with the platform preliminary dives beginning at noon MT. Final heats of the swimming events kick off at 6:30 p.m. PT while the consolation finals of the 3-meter springboard are at 2:15 p.m. and the finals are slated for 3 p.m. MT.
RESULTS AFTER DAY 3
1. San Diego State- 926 pts
2. UNLV- 916 pts
3. Nevada- 892 pts
4. Wyoming- 653 pts
5. Colorado State- 562 pts
6. Fresno State- 548 pts
7. Air Force- 456 pts
8. San José State- 267 pts
Aztec Swim and Dive Regains Lead at MW Championships
