Meet the 22 Mid-Major Swimmers Qualified for the 2023 Women’s NCAA Championships

2023 NCAA WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 15-18, 2023
• Allan Jones Aquatic Center–Knoxville, Tennessee
• SCY (25 yards)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Invited Swimmers By Team
• Alternates List
• Eligible Relays

The NCAA has released the official psych sheets (including the invite line) for the 2023 Women’s NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships. The meet takes place later this month from March 15-18 with the University of Tennessee playing host for the first time.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term ‘mid-major’, it refers to the Division I conferences that are not the Power-5 (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC) conferences. This year, swimmers from the AAC, Summit League, Mountain West, CCSA, MAC, Ivy League, A10, Horizon League, CAA, and Mountain Pacific conferences all qualified for the NCAA championships.

See our previous coverage:

• NCAA reveals pre-selection psych sheets
• Projecting the cutline
• Scoring the psych sheets
• Full event coverage

This list of mid-major qualifiers only includes swimmers. 41 divers will also qualify for NCAAs based off their performances at the NCAA Zones meets, which could add to the total of mid-major athletes competing in Knoxville.

There are several swimmers who have qualified for their first NCAAs, highlighted by UNC-Asheville’s Delaney Carlton. Not only is this her first qualification, it’s the first time that the Bulldogs have sent a swimmer to NCAAs. Earlier this season at the CCSA Championships, she earned only their second-ever conference title with a win in the 50 freestyle.

Below is a table that breaks down the mid-major teams who have at least one swimmer qualified for NCAAs. It includes the school, the number of individual swimmers the school is sending, and the number of individual swims they have that are seeded to score.

As the table shows, most schools have qualified just one swimmer. The exceptions are Akron and SDSU, both of which have three swimmers qualified to compete in Knoxville.

There are three swimmers are seeded to score: Penn’s Anna Kalandadze (6th 1650 free, 11th, 500 free), Hawaii’s Laticia-Leigh Transom (15th, 100 free), and Cincinnati’s Joleigh Crye (16th, 100 breast).

Additionally, Akron’s Maddy Gatrall sits just on the outside of a second swim with her 17th seed in the 100 back.

In total, 23 swimmers from mid-major schools are set to compete at NCAAs. That’s down from last year’s 26, but one thing to keep in mind with that stat is the fifth-year transfer option. Both Daisy Platts and Felicia Pasadyn competed for mid-major programs last year when they swam at NCAAs, but have since transferred to Power 5 programs — Auburn and Ohio State, respectively — for their fifth-years of eligibility. Thus, while both will be at the meet this year, the mid-majors numbers have taken a hit.

Despite the lower number of mid-major swimmers attending compared to last yer, the number is still well above what it was in 2021, when just 16 mid-major swimmers made NCAAs.

The only returning individual scorer from last year’s NCAAs is Christie Chue, who finished 14th in the 200 breast, getting FIU on the board.

Here are the 26 swimmers from mid-major programs who qualified for 2023 NCAAs, along with their events and seeds.

• Luana Alonso, Sophomore (SMU) — 100 fly (36th), 200 fly (44th)
  • 2023 AAC runner up in the 100 and 200 fly
  • Tokyo Olympian representing Paraguary, competed in the 100m fly
• Natalie Arky, Senior (Denver) — 100 back (52nd), 200 back (38th), 100 fly (55th)
  • 2023 Summit League champion in the 100 back, 200 back, and 100 fly
  • 2022 Summit League Women’s Swimmer of the Year
• Blanka Bokros, Junior (UNLV) — 100 fly (52nd), 200 fly (26th)
  • 2023 Mountain West champion in the 100 and 200 fly
  • Broke the Mountain West conference record in the 200 fly (1:55.44) which had stood since 2009
• Delaney Carlton, Senior (UNC-Asheville) — 50 free (34th), 100 free (67th)
  • 2023 CCSA champion in the 50 free
  • Undefeated in both the 50 and 100 free since January 2020
• Christie Chue, Sophomore (FIU) — 100 breast (22nd), 200 breast (23rd), 200 IM (61st)
  • 2023 AAC champion in the 200 breast and 200 IM
  • Finished 14th in the 200 breast at 2022 NCAAs
• Joleigh Crye, Freshman (Cincinnati) — 100 breast (16th)
  • 2023 AAC champion in the 100 breast in a conference record time of 59.07
  • First Cincinnati swimmer to qualify for NCAAs since 2017
• Abigail Daniel, Sophomore (Akron) — 100 fly (21st), 200 fly (42nd), 200 IM (29th)
  • 2023 Mid-American Conference champion in the 100 and 200 fly
  • MAC conference record holder in the 100 fly in 51.65
• Maddy Gatrall, Junior (Akron) — 50 free (52nd), 100 back (17th), 200 back (31st)
  • 2023 MAC champion in the 100 back with a conference record of 52.03, runner-up in 200 back
  • Collected 10 wins at the midseason Magnus Cup Invite
• Weronika Gorecka, Senior (Akron) — 200 free (41st), 100 back (43rd), 200 back (27th)
  • 2023 MAC champion in the 200 free and 200 back, runner-up in 100 back
  • Helped Zips to their 9th MAC championship in 10 years
• Arielle Hayon, Sophomore (Rice) — 100 fly (30th), 200 fly (40th)
  • 2023 AAC champion in the 100 and 200 fly
  • C-USA’s Freshman Swimmer of the Year (2022)
• Anna Kalandadze, Senior (Penn) — 500 free (11th), 1650 free (6th), 400 IM (48th)
  • 2023 Ivy League champion in the 500 free and 1650 free, third place in 400 IM
  • Owns the highest seed from a mid-major swimmer at 6th in the 1650 free
• Julia Knox, Sophomore (GW) — 200 breast (55th), 200 IM (53rd), 400 IM (33rd)
  • 2023 A10 champion in the 200 IM, runner up in 400 IM, third in 200 breast
  • A10 record holder in the 200 IM, owns program records in the 200 breast, 200 IM, and 400 IM
• Susan LaGrand, Fifth-Year (Oakland) — 200 back (28th), 200 IM (44th)
  • 2023 Horizon League champion in the 200 back, 200 IM, and 400 IM
  • 2x Horizon League Athlete of the Year
• Nicole Maier, Junior (Miami (OH)) — 100 free (26th), 500 free (43rd), 400 IM (19th)
  • 2023 MAC champion in the 200 and 400 IMs
  • MAC conference record holder in the 400 IM
• Kristina Murphy, Fifth-Year (SDSU) — 200 breast (29th), 200 IM (52nd), 400 IM (40th)
  • 2023 Mountain West champion in the 200 IM, runner up in 200 breast and 400 IM
  • 4x Mountain West Scholar Athlete
• Toni Naccarella, Fifth-Year (Buffalo) — 50 free (39th), 100 free (33rd)
  • 2023 MAC champion in the 50 and 100 free
  • 2nd time qualifying for NCAAs
• Benedict Nagy, Senior (Nevada-Reno) — 400 IM (37th)
  • 2023 Mountain West champion in the 400 IM
  • 3x defending conference champion in the 400 IM
• Alex Roberts, Junior (SDSU) — 100 back (42nd), 200 back (21st), 100 fly (54th)
  • 2023 Mountain West champion in 100 and 200 backstrokes
  • Helped SDSU set a conference record to win 2023 title with 1,638 points
• Katie Stevenson, Senior (William & Mary) — 50 free (59th), 100 free (38th), 200 free (55th)
  • 2023 CAA champion in the 100 free, runner up in 200 free, third in 50 free
  • Program record holder in the 100 and 200 free
• Laticia-Leigh Transom, Fifth-Year (Hawaii) — 50 free (43rd), 100 free (15th), 200 free (29th)
  • 2023 Mountain Pacific champion in the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 back
  • Helped Hawaii qualify their first relays for NCAAs in decades
• Nikki Venema, Senior (Princeton) — 100 free (37th), 200 free (24th)
  • 2023 Ivy League champion in the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 fly
  • Program record holder in the 100 and 200 freestyles
• Christiana Williams, Junior (SDSU) — 100 breast (44th), 200 breast (18th),
  • 2023 Mountain West champion in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes
  • Mountain West record holder in the 200 breaststroke with a 2:08.23