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NISCA All-American Amaia Sherman, a native of Littleton, Colo., is headed 1,000 miles west to attend Pomona College this fall. Sherman is a senior at Heritage High School and trains year-round with the University of Denver Hilltoppers.
She told SwimSwam:
I am so excited and honored to announce my verbal commitment to continue my athletic and academic careers at Pomona College!! I am so incredibly grateful to my coaches, family, and friends for their endless support and help in accomplishing this goal! A special thanks to Coach Gowdy for giving me this opportunity! GO SAGEHENS
During Sherman’s freshman and sophomore high school seasons, she contributed to decisive victories for the Heritage Eagles at the Colorado High School State 4A Championships.
She was her team’s highest-scoring freshman at the state championships in 2021, and in 2022, Sherman was part of two relays that placed 1st. The 200 medley relay (1:44.27) and 200 free relay (1:35.43) champions were fast enough to be awarded NISCA All-American honors.
In 2023, Heritage High School moved up to the more competitive 5A Colorado High School State Championships, including the state’s biggest high schools, where they placed 3rd overall.
Sherman put points on the scoreboard in both of her individual events that year as a junior, taking 8th in 100 back (57.51) and 18th in 100 fly (58.41).
Sherman also scored as part of the 3rd-place 200 free relay (1:35.63) and 5th-place 200 medley relay (1:45.34).
The following month, Sherman capped off her junior year at the Speedo Short Course Sectionals in Austin, achieving new best times in the 100 back, 100 free, and 50 back.
Among a field of 136 swimmers in the 100 back, Sherman finished 23rd (56.58) in prelims by dropping two-tenths of a second. She dropped another tenth in finals to place 20th overall with a new personal best of 56.47.
She also reset her 50 back PB at the sectionals meet to 26.80, dropping more than three-tenths of a second in her 200 medley relay lead-off.
Top SCY Times
- 50 free – 24.27
- 100 free – 53.52
- 200 free – 1:57.61
- 100 back – 56.47
- 200 back – 2:02.27
- 100 breast – 1:10.11
- 200 breast – 2:33.99
- 100 fly – 57.69
- 200 IM – 2:08.77
- 400 IM – 4:58.19
Pomona–Pitzer is a combined DIII intercollegiate athletic program for Pomona College and Pitzer College. The Sagehens compete in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) and have earned the championship title 23 times, most recently in 2022.
At the 2023 SCIAC Championships, the defending champions lost to conference rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) Colleges by a mere 10 points.
If Sherman had been on the roster at the time, her best times would have claimed 1st place in both the 100 and 200 back – scoring 40 points for Pomona-Pitzer.
Sherman’s best times in the two events are faster than the 56.68 and 2:02.54 that earned CMS senior Jamee Mitchum her trips to the top of the podium.
In the 100 fly, Sherman would have placed 6th, behind Pomona-Pitzer juniors Alex Turvey (53.96) and Abby Smith (56.04) who took 1st and 3rd. While their time on the roster will not overlap with Sherman, she will have two years to train alongside Asha Bansal, the 8th place (58.99) finisher last season as a freshman.
Sherman also has best times that could have scored from the ‘B’ final at the 2023 SCIAC Championships in the 50/100/200 free, 200/400 IM, and 100/200 breast.
At the national level, the Sagehens were 9th at the conclusion of the 2023 NCAA DIII Championships. Already Sherman’s best time in the 200 back is fast enough to have qualified for finals at the meet, and her 100 back is within a half second of the 56.14 it took to earn a second swim.
Pomona-Pitzer did not have any swimmers entered at NCAAs for either the 100 or 200 back, further increasing Sherman’s value to the program.
Charlotte Dixon has also committed to join the Sagehens this fall, bringing in best times in the 200 free (1:50.35) and 100 free (51.50) that would have placed 1st and 2nd at the conference championships last season as well as NCAA championships finals-qualifying times in the 100 back (55.96) and 200 back (2:01.49).
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