Alabama Kicks Off 2024-25 Season By Sweeping Division II Delta State

Alabama vs. Delta State

• September 27, 2024
• Cleveland, Mississippi
• 25 yards (SCY)
• Score:
  • Women: #22 Alabama – 217.5 def. Delta State – 44.5
  • Men: #18 Alabama – 118 def. Delta State – 44
• Full Results
  • relay splits only available on Meet Mobile (search: “Alabama vs. Delta State”)

Alabama traveled to the Division II Delta State University for its season opener on Friday, September 27. The Crimson Tide swept the Statesmen, winning 30 of the 31 events on offer. Delta State is currently without a head coach after Dan’l Murray, head coach for 14 seasons, announced he was leaving the program earlier this month.

Women’s Meet

The Alabama women won every event at the meet. In addition to starting their season on the right foot, they got a boost to start their season as Emily Jones and Jada Scott returned to competition for the Crimson Tide.

Jones, a three-time All-American via Alabama’s 2023 NCAA relays, is an Australian backstroker who did not compete for Alabama during the 2023-24 season.  Scott joined the Crimson Tide last year and was off to a hot start during her freshman campaign but was sidelined during the second semester with a shoulder injury and only recently received full clearance to compete. Both will be important as Alabama looks to climb back up the NCAA standings this season.

Jones and Scott collected wins in their first meet back racing for Alabama. Jones won the 100 backstroke by nearly two seconds with a 54.54. She also contributed to both winning relays, putting up a 24.68 backstroke split to open the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay (1:42.64) along with Kasia Norman, Lockett Bowley, and Emma Sundermeyer. She joined Kailyn Winter, Ella Jones, and Maggie Robbins to win the meet-closing 200 free relay (1:34.02), leading off in 23.37.

Scott won the 100 breaststroke in 1:03.89, swam breaststroke on Alabama’s 3rd-place 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays. She turned in a 28.22 breaststroke split on the 200 medley relay and led off the Alabama ‘C’ 200 free relay in 23.16.

In her Crimson Tide debut, Victoria Raymond swept the butterfly events, swimming 54.45 in the 100 fly and 2:02.32 in the 200 fly. Raymond spent her freshman season at Tulane University.

Mackenzie Brandt and Kate Christian also won two events for Alabama, with Brandt winning the 200/500 freestyle (1:50.70/4:58.78) and Christian winning the 200 back/200 IM (2:02.79/2:06.76).

Other event winners included former ACC champion Liberty Williams (1000 free, 10:11.65), Charlotte Rosendale (50 free, 23.35), Winter (100 free, 51.45), and Sydney Sanders (200 breast, 2:23.41).

Delta State’s highest finish of the meet came in the 50 freestyle when freshman Zinna Nimander tied with Winter for 2nd in 23.65. This was one of Nimander’s first yards meet as she’s an international student from Sweden and the time was good enough for an NCAA D2 ‘B’ cut—a solid starting point for her. Zimander also finished 3rd in the 100 free (52.19).

Delta State’s other 3rd-place finishes came via Hannah Murray’s 200 IM (2:10.59) and Reagan Fulton’s 1-meter diving performance (188.18 points).

Men’s Meet

Alabama rolled on the men’s side of the meet as well. The only event they did not win was the 1-meter diving, where Delta State picked up its lone win of the meet with Braden Moore scoring 252.30. to lead a 1-2-3-4 finish for the Statesmen on the boards.

Other than that, the meet was all Alabama. The Crimson Tide added transfers Toni Dragoja and Kyle Micallef to spark their sprint freestyle group and both played their role well in their Alabama debut. Dragoja helped Alabama win both relays, posting a 20.41 free split on the 200 medley relay and dropping to a 20.19 split on the 200 free relay.

Dragoja and Micallef split the sprints, with Micallef clocking 20.21 in the 50 free and Dragoja swimming 44.04 to win the 100 free. Micallef also split 19.76 on Alabama’s 2nd-place 200 freestyle relay.

The Crimson Tide got plenty of help from their returning swimmers as Tommy Hagar, Bernardo Bondra de Almeida, and Leonardo Alcantara each won two events. Hagar, who saw big improvements during his freshman season in a Crimson Tide cap, won the 100 back (47.64) and 200 IM (1:48.29), while Bondra de Almeida claimed the 200 freestyle (1:40.88) and 100 fly (47.91), and Alcantara swept the distance events (4:21.50/9:33.59).

Last season’s 19th-place finish at the 2024 NCAA Championships was led by Charlie Hawke and Kaique Alves, 200 freestyle specialists who were Alabama’s two individual points scorers at the meet. Neither swam their signature event at this dual. Instead, Alves won the 100 breast in a personal best of 54.09 and finished 2nd in the 100 fly (48.23). Hawke only raced the 200 fly individually, finishing second in 1:50.35.

Both swam relays as well; Alves clocked a 24.53 50 breast split on the winning 200 medley relay (1:28.78) and a 20.09 free split on the 4th-place 200 free relay. Hawke swam a 21.21 50 fly split on the ‘A’ 200 medley relay and a 20.05 free split on the winning 200 free relay, combining with Bondra de Almeida, Dragoja, and Leyton Roe (1:21.21).

On both the women’s and men’s side, Alabama spread out their top swimmers among multiple relays rather than loading up the ‘A’ relay.

In addition to their dominance on the boards, freshman Michael Robinson was a bright spot for Delta State. He finished 2nd in the 50 free and 4th in the 100 free, swimming lifetime bests in both (20.08/45.49).

Fellow freshman Kacper Mochnal swam a lifetime best 1:53.67 for 3rd in the 200 fly in his second yards meet. Junior Mateus Franco added another 3rd place in the 100 free, clocking 9:42.36.

Up Next

Alabama faces their first in-conference test with a dual against Florida on Oct. 11. Delta State is back in action on Oct. 18 when they take on Ouachita Baptist.