NCAA qualifier and 12-time CSCAA All-American Talia Bates has announced that she will use her 5th season of eligibility at the University of Miami.
Bates grew up in Gainesville, home of the University of Florida, where her dad played football and her mom was on the swim team. She’ll stay in the state, but head 5 hours south to swim in the ACC and start graduate school.
The pickup is a huge coup for the Hurricanes, who for the second-straight season will count on a 5th year transfer to lead the program in the pool. Bates is already faster than the school records in the 50 free, 100 free, and 200 free.
Bates’ Best times vs. Miami school records
| HS BEST | BEST TIME AT FLORIDA | Miami Record | |
| 50 free | 22.42 (2019 NCSAs) | 22.01 (2022 SECs) |
Kelsi Hall, 22.03 (2012)
|
| 100 free | 49.56 (2017 Winter Juniors – East) | 47.75 (2022 Georgia Invite) |
Manion Viguier, 49.06 (2018)
|
| 200 free | 1:47.11 (2018 NCSAs) | 1:43.21 (2021 NCAA Championships) |
Ksenia Yuskova, 1:46.07 (2016)
|
| 100 back | 53.97 (2018 NCSAs) | 52.49 (2022 SECs) |
Karolina Hajkova, 52.85 (2018)
|
In the 2022-2023 season, Tara Vovk transferred to Miami from Northwestern, where she was already an All-American. She finished 11th in the 100 breaststroke in her one season at Miami in 58.89, as compared to an 8th-place finish and a personal best of 58.01 in prelims a year prior from Northwestern.
Miami had one other swimmer qualify for NCAAs last season, senior Zorry Mason. She was 39th in the 100 breaststroke (season best of 59.60) and 42nd in the 200 (season best of 2:10.94). Along with senior diver Mia Vallee, the Hurricane trio scored 36 points at the NCAA Championships for 22nd place.
The Hurricanes are led by Andy Kershaw, who has been in charge of the team for the last 10 seasons.
At her best, Bates should score between 55-60 points at a very deep ACC Championship meet for the Hurricanes, who were 10th out of 12 teams last season. With just 6 points separating them and 9th-place Georgia Tech at last year’s ACC meet, those points could be crucial.
Mason has posted on Instagram that her swimming career is over. Vallee confirmed to SwimSwam on Monday that she will “probably” redshirt next season to train for the Olympics and then finish her NCAA eligibility after the Paris Olympics.
Vallee dives internationally for Canada and won silver on 3-meter and bronze on 1-meter at last year’s World Championships, plus gold at the Commonwealth Games on 1 meter.
In long course, Bates was a semifinalist at the 2021 US Olympic Swimming Trials, finishing 12th in the 100 back.
Talia’s younger sister Georgia is also in the transfer portal. She didn’t qualify for the Gators’ SEC Championship roster in either of her first two seasons in Gainesville, and will seek a transfer with two years of eligibility remaining.
Talia Bates says that she is planning to pursue further education in construction management or real estate after concluding her undergraduate studies in Sustainability and the Built Environment.
