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Heading quite a bit north from New Zealand’s Southern Isle, Mya Ketel will be making her collegiate debut this fall for Saginaw Valley State University. The school located in University Center, Michigan, is an NCAA DII program that competes in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Speaking about the decision, Ketel stated,
After conversations with many coaches I decided on SVSU because of the coach’s understanding of my projected ability. The educational programme the school offers along with the athletic, academic support and guidance .The coaching fits well with my training ethos and the training programme is kind on the academic study schedule. Overall the university has a good feel and the team we are building for the coming year will be amazing.
Ketel, who calls the Nelson, New Zealand region home graduated from Garin College this past December and has been competing for her club team, Nelson South Swim Club in the intervening months. An accomplish netball player as well, Ketel recently hit new personal bests across all three of the breaststroke events at the New Zealand Swimming Championships in May of this year.
Ketel made the B-final in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke going from 1:17.67 to 1:15.72 in the 100, placing 11th overall. In the 200, the Kiwi went from 2:47.63 to 2:46.47 to finish 2nd in the final and 10th overall.
She made the most of her opportunities in the 50 breaststroke, where after entering with a time of 34.51, produced a 34.45 to sneak into the A-final as the 8th fastest qualifier. In the final, she made the most of the chance and using some outside smoke from lane 8 produced a new personal best of 33.95, which not only placed 6th overall, but was 3rd fastest among the 17-18 year olds.
Best Times (Converted):
- 50 Breast LCM – 33.96 – 29.69 (SCY Conversion)
- 100 Breast LCM- 1:15.72- 1:06.41 (SCY Conversion)
- 200 Breast LCM – 2:46.47 – 2:26.36 (SCY Conversion)
- 50 Breast SCM- 33.60 – 30.27 (SCY Conversion)
- 100 Breast SCM – 1:13.59 – 1:06.29 (SCY Conversion)
- 200 Breast SCM – 2:41.38 – 2:25.38 (SCY Conversion)
- 200 IM SCM – 2:31.82 – 2:16.77 (SCY Conversion)
Ketel appears to be well suited to a short course pool as both her 100 and 200 breast times in a 25 meter pool yield faster converted times than her recent PBs in the big pool.
The Kiwi will be joining a Saginaw Valley State team that finished 5th out of five scoring team at the GLIAC Championships this past winter. At the Conference Championships, the Cardinals were led by now junior Alexa Hieber who placed 6th in the 500 free, 4th in the 1000 free, and 5th in the 1650, all in new personal bests. She also took 16th in the 400 IM.
In Ketel’s events, the breaststrokes, Saginaw placed just one swimmer into each of the 100 and 200 breaststroke finals. In the short of the two, the 100, senior Grace Charnstrom earned a 12th place finish with her time of 1:05.89. In the 200, Kaylene Darbee, a rising senior, placed 16th in a time of 2:26.43.
Comparing Ketel’s best converted times to those from last year’s GLIACs, the New Zealander will have an instant impact for the Cardinals. Her converted best of 1:06.29 would have been 13th in the 100 prelims, while her 2:25.38 conversion would have placed 14th in the prelims. Her impact is not limited to individual events alone, however, as she likely could fill in for the graduated Charnstrom on both medley relays. Charnstrom was 29.21 with a flying start of the 200 medley and posted a split of 1:05.62 on the 400 medley.
Joining her in Michigan this semester is fellow foreigner Anastasiia Krasilnikova, a freestyler hailing from Georgia, as well a domestic recruits, Lucy Stevens, Livia Czata and Amanda Feril. Both Steven and Czata are Michiganders, while Feril will be making the trip north from Tennessee.
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