After Shoulder Surgery, Transfer Jaycee Yegher Hopes to Race for UVa Next Year

Jaycee Yegher, a graduate student at the University of Virginia, won’t swim this season, according to the school’s head coach Todd DeSorbo. Yeagher, who swam for three seasons at Harvard, underwent shoulder surgery over the summer to deal with a “nagging pre-existing injury,” and the school is hoping to have her back for the 2022-2023 season.

Yegher was the 2020 Ivy League Champion in both the 100 yard breaststroke (59.76) and 200 yard breaststroke (2:08.47). A rare last-year-of-eligibility transfer to Virginia, Yegher finished her degree at Harvard in the spring with a degree in History of Science and Global Health.

She is now working on a master’s degree in public health.

The Ivy League, including Harvard, canceled its 2020-2021 swimming season, so Yegher only swam for the Crimson for three seasons.

Yegher is also a US Olympic Trials Wave 2 qualifier, where she finished 40th in the 100 breaststroke in 1:10.85. Her long course best is 1:07.98 from 2019.

The Virginia women are the favorites to repeat as NCAA Champions this season, and with their projected returning roster next season, they will likely retain that status. With that in mind, the Virginia women will lose their top 100 breaststroker Alexis Wenger next season to graduation. She has been 58.19. While the team has Alex Walsh and Kate Douglass at 58.3 and 58.6, respectively, neither swims breaststroke as a primary stroke.

The presence of Yegher would be the next-best on the team this year. Next year, she’ll be the veteran among a very young primary-stroke group.

The Cavaliers bring in two very good freshmen breaststrokers as part of a loaded class of 2022 next fall: Emma Weber from Colorado (59.0/2:09.0) and Zoe Skirboll from Pittsburgh (1:00.1/2:12.6)