Alabama star sprinter Jada Scott has been cleared to compete for the Crimson Tide in the new season ahead of the Crimson Tide’s season-opener on Friday against Division II power Delta State. Scott missed the second semester of competition last season with a shoulder injury.
As a freshman last year, Scott made a big early impact for the Alabama women. Paired with fellow freshman Cadence Vincent, the two were among the top rookie sprint duos in the country last season before Scott’s injury. She won the 100 free, 100 back, and 200 IM in her SEC debut against Missouri in October, and was 7th in the 50 free at the Tennessee Invite in November.
In spite of dealing with a shoulder injury throughout the fall semester, she posted best times in the 100 back (53.77), 100 free (48.21), and 50 free in long course (25.86).
An Alabama spokesperson told SwimSwam that Scott spent most of the spring and the summer rehabbing, and that while they remained hopeful that she would be available for the start of the new season, she only recently received full clearance to return to competition.
While the team wasn’t sure as recently as Tuesday if Scott would be on the team’s travel roster for this weekend’s opener, she is listed as part of the team’s entries for Friday’s 1:00 Central Time first-dive against the Fighting Okra in Mississippi.
If Scott can return to full-strength, she has three-event scoring potential for Alabama, and her backstroke makes her a four-relay leg as well. Alabama finished 6th out of 12 teams at last year’s SEC Championship meet without Scott, 132 points behind 5th-place Georgia. The addition of the three-time defending NCAA runners-up from Texas will undoubtedly shake up the order of the deepest swimming conference in the country, though.
Hailing from San Antonio, Scott was a Texas High School State Champion in both the 50 free (22.42) and 100 breast (1:00.59) as a senior. She also finished 5th in the 50 free at the Speedo Winter Junior West meet that season.
She also won the 100 free as a junior.
The photo caption says “but she hasn’t raced in 10 minutes while rehabbing a shoulder injury” 🙂
Roll Tide! 🐘🐘🐘🐘