2021 BIG 12 SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Swimming: Wednesday, February 24 – Saturday, February 27, 2021
- Diving: Monday, March 1 – Wednesday, March 3, 2021
- Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center – Austin, TX (Central Time Zone)
- Defending Champion: Texas men (24x) & Texas women (8x) (results)
- Live Video
- Championship Central
- Live results
As was the case on the men’s side of the meet, the Texas women established an early lead at 2021 Big 12 Swimming & Diving Championships and widened the gap as the meet went on.
At the end of the fourth and final day of competition, Texas had earned 1,055 points, compared to Kansas’ second place-winning 649. TCU, West Virginia, and Iowa State were 3rd, 4th, and 5th, respectively, with only 6 points separating them.
Final Women’s Team Scores:
- Texas – 1,055 Points
- Kansas – 649 Points
- TCU – 528 Points
- West Virginia – 526 Points
- Iowa State – 522 Points
Texas’ star performer at the meet and only swimmer to pull off a 3-for-3 result in individual races was senior Evie Pfeifer. Pfeifer began the meet on day 1 by winning the 500 freestyle in school record, Big 12 record, and Big 12 meet record fashion. Pfeifer swam a 4:36.35 to get under Joanna Evans‘ 4:36.87 which previously stood as all three of those records.
The next day, Pfeifer took the 400 IM title, narrowly out-touching teammate Kelly Pash. Pfeifer swam a 4:04.61 to defend her titles in the event while Pash touched just 0.32 seconds later in 4:04.93. Pfeifer’s final win came on the final night of the meet as she won the 1650 in a 15:48.6, notching another school, conference, and meet record. The swim improved upon Joanna Evans’ 15:51.74 Texas and Big 12 record and her 15:57.28 meet record.
Another top performer for the Texas women was Olivia Bray who was just behind Pfeifer’s 60 point haul with 57.
Bray would have had 60 points if she had won the 50 freestyle on day one but wound up second to fellow longhorn Grace Cooper. Cooper won the event with a 22.50 while Bray was a 22.55. It was a tight race all around as Emma Sticklen and Bridget Semenluk were in contention for the titles with their swims of 22.56 and 22.57, respectively.
Bray followed up her 50 freestyle victory with 2 subsequent wins in the 100 butterfly and the 100 freestyle.
Breakdown of Texas women’s scoring:
- Evie Pfeifer – 60 Points
- Olivia Bray – 57 Points
- Kelly Pash – 54 Points
- Kyla Leibel – 49 Points
- Emma Sticklen – 49 Points
- Grace Cooper – 47 Points
- Bridget Semenuk – 44 Points
- Julia Cook – 40 Points
- Anna Elendt – 40 Points
- Miranda Heckman – 39 Points
- Grace Ritch – 38 Points
- Ella Tierney – 36 Points
- Emily Reese – 29 Points
- Mary Smutny – 26 Points
- Sydney Silver – 24 Points
- Holly Jansen – 22 Points
While nearly every women’s event at the meet was won by a Texas swimmer, Kansas’s Manon Manning managed to take the 200 backstroke. Manning swam a 1:55.57 to beat out TCU’s Kaleigh Rice (1:56.95) and Kansas teammate Dewi Blose (1:57.37).
Manning also made it to the podium in the 100 backstroke, finishing 2nd with a 52.79 and placed 6th in the 50 free with a 23.02. Manning’s 1/2/6 finishes raked in a total of 50 points for her team.
While they didn’t pick up any individual wins at the meet, Lucia Rizzo was Iowa State’s top performer, earning 46 points. She began with a bronze medal in the 200 IM with a 2:00.13 and followed that up with a 4:17.46 in the 400 IM to collect a second bronze medal. In the 200 fly, she missed the podium but earned 5th with a 2:01.68.
