2023 BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS (WOMEN’S FAN GUIDE)
- Wednesday, February 22 – Saturday, February 25, 2023
- Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center, Austin, TX
- Defending Champions:
- Women: Texas (10x)
- Men: Texas (26x)
- Live Results
- Live Video
- Championship Central
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Wednesday 2/22
- 1-Meter Diving
- 200 Medley Relay (Timed Finals)
- 800 Free Relay (Timed Finals)
Thursday 2/23
- 500 Free
- 200 IM
- 50 Free
- Men’s 3-Meter Diving
- 400 Medley Relay (Timed Finals)
Friday 2/24
- 100 Fly
- 400 IM
- 200 Free
- 100 Breast
- 100 Back
- Women’s 3-Meter Diving
- 200 Free Relay (Timed Finals)
Saturday 2/25
- 200 Back
- 100 Free
- 1650 Free (Timed Finals)
- 200 Breast
- 200 Fly
- Platform Diving
- 400 Free Relay (Timed Finals)
2022 FINAL STANDINGS
- Texas – 1083
- Kansas – 618
- TCU – 587
- West Virginia – 502.5
- Iowa State – 497.5
2022 REVIEW
Texas won their 10th-straight women’s Big 12 title last year, once again winning in very convincing fashion. Texas would win the meet en route to a second-place finish at the NCAA Championships last year.
Behind Texas, things were incredibly tight, seeing second-place Kansas and fifth-place Iowa State separated by just 120.5 points.
SWIMMERS TO WATCH
Iowa State: Elizabeth Richardson (Sr. – Back), Gabrielle LePine (Fr. – Breast), Lucia Rizzo (5th – Fly/IM)
In her junior year, Elizabeth Richardson made a pair of ‘A’ finals in the backstroke events. She finished fifth in the 100 back last year then took fourth in the 200 back. Notably, Richardson has already been faster in the 200 back this season than she swam to finish fourth in the event last year, so keep an eye on her.
Freshman Gabrielle LePine is looking to make some noise in the breaststroke events. LePine is looking strong in the 100 breast in particular, where she’s the eighth-fastest swimmer in the conference this season.
Lucia Rizzo is the sixth-fastest 200 flyer in the conference this season, already having gone 2:01.21. Rizzo is also ranked sixth in the conference this season in the 200 IM.
Kansas: Lezli Sisung (So. – Fly/Back/IM), Dewi Blose (5th – Back/Fly/Free), Claudia Dougan (Jr. – Free), Autumn Looney (Sr. – Fly/Free)
Last year, Dewi Blose won the ‘B’ final of the 50 free and 100 back. On top of that, she tied for fourth in the 200 back. Sophomore teammate Lezli Sisung is looking like a solid contender in the back events as well. Last year, Sisung took sixth in the 100 fly at Big 12s, but this season it’s looking like the 100 back may be her top event. She’s currently ranked sixth in the 100 back in the conference this season.
Claudia Dougan had a great meet at Big 12s last year, finishing fourth in the 200 free. She also took seventh in the 100 free, and was in the ‘B’ final of the 50 free.
Autumn Looney finished third in the 100 fly last year.
Texas: Kelly Pash (Sr. – Free/Fly/IM), Olivia Bray (Jr. – Fly/Back), Erica Sullivan (S0. Free), Hailey Hernandez (So. – Diving), Anna Elendt (Jr. – Breast), Lydia Jacoby (Fr. – Breast)
The Longhorns feature a star-studded roster in the pool and on the boards. Leading the way for Texas is Kelly Pash, who won the 200 IM, 400 IM, and 100 free at last year’s meet. Pash is a highly versatile swimmer, who could also compete in a number of other events this year as well.
There’s also the breaststroke duo of Anna Elendt and Lydia Jacoby, both of whom are some of the fastest breaststrokers in the NCAA currently. Coming into the meet, Jacoby and Elendt are the third and fourth fastest swimmers in the NCAA in the 100 breast this season.
Erica Sullivan currently leads the NCAA in the 500 free this season and her mid-season time in the 1650 puts her tenth in the NCAA this season.
Olivia Bray won the 100 back and 200 back last year, also finishing second in the 200 IM behind Pash. Bray is currently the top backstroker in the Big 12 by a wide margin.
Hailey Hernandez won both 1-meter and 3-meter diving last year as a freshman. She’s one of the top divers in the NCAA in the springboard events, so keep an eye on her as well.
TCU: Jeanne Dahmen (So. – Fly), Serena Gould (Jr. – Free), Rylee Moore (So. – Back), Anna Kwong (So. – Diving)
As a freshman last year, TCU’s Jeanne Dahmen was phenomenal, finishing second in the 100 fly. She’s currently ranked eighth in the conference this season in the 100 fly. Dahmen also took eighth in the 200 fly last year.
Serena Gould came in third in the 200 free last year, also qualifying for the ‘A’ final of the 100 free, where she finished eighth.
Rylee Moore was also excellent as a freshman last year, taking second in the 200 back and third in the 100 back. On top of that, Moore made the ‘A’ final of the 100 fly, where she finished eighth.
Diver Anna Kwong had a very good meet last year as a freshman. She was an ‘A’ finalist in both 1-meter and 3-meter diving, finishing seventh and eighth respectively. Kwong also came in 12th in platform diving.
West Virginia: Mia Cheatwood (Fr. – Breast/Free/IM), Paige Dressel (Jr. – Back), Abby Reardon (Jr. – Free/Back), Emily Knorr (So. – Free)
Paige Dressel, a Mountaineer junior, came in third in the 200 back last year as a sophomore. The 200 back is her primary event, but she still managed a 12th-place finish in the 100 back as well last year.
As a sophomore last year, Abby Reardon was one of West Virginia’s top performers. She took fifth in the 500 free and 200 free, also finishing seventh in the 200 back.
Emily Knorr was another top performer last year as just a freshman. Her high point was a fourth-place finish in the 1650 free. She also took fifth in the 400 IM and sixth in the 500 free.
The Mountaineers have also gained freshman sprinter Mia Cheatwood, who is the top 50 freestyler on the team so far this season. She’s currently ranked eighth in the conference this year in the 50 free, and looks like she could be a bubble ‘A’ finalist in the 100 free and 100 fly as well.
SHOWDOWNS
100 Breast/200 Breast
The breaststroke events are one of the few strokes where we know Texas’ stars are going to be racing, since both Anna Elendt and Lydia Jacoby don’t race a ton of non-breaststroke events. That’s great for us, the fans, because it means we’re going to get to watch two awesome races. They’re essentially tied in the 100 breast coming into the meet, with Jacoby having been 57.45 and Elendt 57.48 this season. They’re close in the 200 breast as well, where Elendt has been 2:06.43 and Jacoby has been 2:06.66.
200 Fly
We don’t yet know exactly who will be racing the 200 fly at this meet, but whichever Longhorns end up swimming it will make for a great race. Texas has the top three 200 flyers in the NCAA this season in Emma Sticklen, Kelly Pash, and Dakota Luther. Last year, Sticklen was the only one out of that group to race the 200 fly, but that could be different this year.
We should also note that Olivia Bray was an ‘A’ finalist in the 200 fly at NCAAs last year, but hasn’t yet raced the event this season. If Bray is planning on racing the 200 fly at NCAAs, which we don’t know if she is or isn’t, she’ll need to swim the event at this meet.
200 IM
Again, we don’t know who among the top Texas swimmers are going to be racing the 200 IM, but between some mix of Kelly Pash, Emma Sticklen, Olivia Bray, and Dakota Luther, we should get a really good race.
Pash is the top swimmer in the conference and currently ranked sixth in the NCAA in the 200 IM, having already been 1:53.81 this season. Sticklen has been 1:54.70, while Bray has been 1:56.14. Luther has only been 1:59.29 this season, but her personal best is a 1:56.67.
SWIMSWAM PICKS
- Texas
- West Virginia
- TCU
- Iowa State
- Kansas
There’s one thing we know for sure going into these championships: Texas will win the meet. It’s as much of a given as we have in this sport. Behind that, things are incredibly difficult to project.
The final standings were so tight from second to fifth last year that we could easily see significant amounts of shuffling in the finish order this year. Kansas came in second last year but they lost a lot of their top performers as well, which it looks like is going to hurt them this year. The Jayhawks just don’t have quite the same depth as they did last year.
Meanwhile, both West Virginia and TCU are looking strong, both featuring some promising young talent on their rosters.
Olivia McMurray recently went 4:39 in the 500. I’d recon she’s one to watch out for. Obviously Erica Sullivan is the heavy favorite, but McMurray certainly has a chance to get on the medal stand.
What’s the reasoning behind flipping the spots on the schedule of the 200 free relay and 400 medley relay at conference meets and NCAAs? It’s a shame that the 400 medley relay is swum before the individual 100’s and Elendt and Jacoby won’t race for the relay spot.