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Electing to join Canada’s only NCAA program, Abigail Williams of St. Johns, Newfoundland and Labrador has announced her commitment to swim at Simon Fraser University this fall. Williams is a sprint free specialist and swam club with the St. John’s Legends Swim Club.
Williams has had an extremely successful club career, setting multiple provincial records throughout her youth. To date, she has set the provincial records for the open age group in both the 50-meter fly (28.13) and 100-meter IM (1:06.92).
This year, Williams has already posted numerous lifetime best times across multiple meets. At the 2022 Eastern Championships, She swam to a lifetime best in both the 50 back (30.96) and 200 IM (2:27.11). She also added a 10th place finish in the 50 free, finishing in 27.46 during prelims. Many of her lifetime bests come from the Ontario Junior International Championships last fall, where she was a multiple event finalist. There, she clocked lifetime best performances in the 50 free (26.48), 100 free (57.06), 200 free (2:07.55), and 50 fly (28.13). Her highest finish came in the 100 free, where she took 14th.
Top SCM Times (and SCY Conversions)
- 50 free – 26.48 (23.85)
- 100 free – 57.06 (51.40)
- 200 free – 2:07.55 (1:54.90)
- 100 fly – 1:05.78 (59.26)
Simon Fraser University is unique in that it’s the only Canadian university that competes in the NCAA, swimming at the Division II level. Throughout the season, the program also balances competing in both short course meters competitions against Canadian teams and short course yard competitions against NCAA teams.
At the 2022 Division II NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, the Simon Fraser women finished in 8th place. Individually, the program was led by Kennedy Loewen, who finished as the runner-up in the 400 IM and also added a 4th place finish in the 200 IM. The program’s top sprint performances came from senior Kaleigh Sharkey, who was an A-finalist in the 100 free and B-finalist in the 100 fly.
With Williams’ converted times, she will be among the best sprinters on the Simon Fraser team when she arrives on campus this fall. Last season, she would have ranked behind on Sharkey in the 50 free and would have been the team’s third fastest in the 100 free. Her times would have put her just what it took to qualify for the NCAA Championships last season.
Last season, Simon Fraser entered it’s name into the NCAA record book on the men’s side, with Collyn Gagne blowing away the record in the 400 IM to win by nearly six seconds in a time of 3:42.49. Gagne will represent Canada later this year at the World Championships.
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