2024 Mountain West Championships (Women)
- Wednesday, February 21 – Saturday, February 24, 2024
- CRWC Natatorium, Houston, Texas
- Defending champion: San Diego State (2x)
- Live Results
- Championship Central
Event Schedule
Wednesday (2/21)
- 200 medley relay
- 1-meter springboard diving
- 800 freestyle relay
Thursday (2/22)
- 500 freestyle
- 200 IM
- 50 freestyle
- 3-meter springboard diving
- 400 medley relay
Friday (2/23)
- 200 freestyle relay
- 100 butterfly
- 400 IM
- 200 freestyle
- 100 breaststroke
- 100 backstroke
Saturday (2/24)
- 1650 freestyle
- 200 backstroke
- 100 freestyle
- 200 breaststroke
- 200 butterfly
- Platform diving
- 400 freestyle relay
The 2024 Mountain West Championships will return to Houston, Texas, on Wednesday, February 21st. San Diego State captured their 2nd-straight title last year, making it their 7th in since joining the conference in 2011.
The Aztecs have gone undefeated in their dual meet season, however, the race for the conference title will likely be a close one between the defending champions and UNLV, who last won in 2021.
Returning NCAA Qualifiers
Of San Diego State’s three qualifiers from last year, Alex Roberts and Christiana Williams return this season. Roberts’ highest finish at NCAAs was 20th in the 200 backstroke (1:53.21), while Williams finished as high as 35th in the 200 breast (2:11.10).
UNLV senior Blanka Bokros also returns this year following a 21st place finish at NCAAs in the 200 fly (1:55.62).
Swimmers To Watch
Blanka Bokros (UNLV) – Bokros is the reigning Mountain West champion in both butterfly events, and is narrowly seeded 1st in both heading into this year’s meet as well. Bokros owns season best times of 53.07 and 1:57.09, with her personal bests standing at 52.93 and 1:55.44. She qualified for NCAAs last year off of her performance in the 200 fly, and will need to improve her current season best at conference to receive another invite this season.
Christiana Williams (San Diego State) – Williams, a transfer from Tulane, was dominant in the breaststroke events during her Mountain West debut last year. She led a 1-2-3 SDSU finish in the 100 (1:00.23), while in the 200 she clocked a 2:08.86 to secure 1st. Williams is poised to repeat in both this year, as she’s the only swimmer in the conference under 1:00 (59.91) and leads the 200 by nearly a second (2:10.74). She’s also currently right on the bubble of what will likely earn an invite to NCAAs.
Erin Dawson (Colorado State) – Dawson has taken a huge leap forward since her sophomore season last year. After finishing 3rd in the 400 IM in 2023 with a time of 4:17.81, Dawson has already been as fast as 4:15.35 this season to lead the event by nearly three seconds. She’s also proven to be a potential threat in the middle-distance freestyle events, as she’s currently ranked 3rd in both the 500 and 200 free (4:52.07/1:48.47). She did not compete in the freestyle events at conference last year, so it will be interesting to see if she chooses to direct her attention to them this time around.
Showdowns
1650 Freestyle: The longest race has potential to be one of the closest ones, with the top three swimmers seeded within three seconds of each other. Colorado State’s Maya White leads the season so far with a time of 16:30.35, while Ava Olson and Maisyn Klimczak are just behind at 16:30.55 and 16:32.85, respectively. Klimczak (16:20.46) and White (16:27.35) were the top two finishers in 2023, however, the field is deeper this year with the addition of Olson who is a freshman.
200 Freestyle: This event is one of the deeper events this year, as it features four swimmers entered within a second of each other. Wyoming freshman Tara Joyce is the top seed at 1:48.02. She holds a personal best of 1:46.74, which would have decisively won this event last season. Last year’s champion, Wilma Johansson, sits at 4th with a season best of (1:48.76), while Erika Carlson and Erin Dawson are also in the mix with season best times of 1:48.11 and 1:48.76.
100 Backstroke: This is another event that is being shaken up this year by the addition of a freshman. Scarlett Ferris from Nevada owns the top time of the year with a 52.97, putting her nearly a second ahead of the defending champion Alex Roberts (53.73). Roberts won this event in 2023 with a 52.55, and owns a personal best time of 52.49. Ferris will likely need to improve on her best time to top Roberts at conference, but it should be a close race.
SwimSwam Picks (Top 3)
- UNLV
- San Diego State
- Wyoming
It will likely be a close one between San Diego State and UNLV. While UNLV is projected to win by about 40 points, San Diego State returns significantly more points from last year than the Rebels do. However, UNLV holds the edge over the Aztecs going into the meet as they have five swimmers who are positioned to score over 80 points each.
