Ann Carozza of West Chester Smashes NCAA Division II 100 Fly Record with 52.06

2022 NCAA Division II Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• Dates: Wednesday, March 9 – Saturday, March 12, 2022
• Location: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC (Eastern Time Zone)
• Times: Prelims 10:00 AM / Finals 6:00 PM
• Defending Champs: Queens women (6x) & Queens men (6x) – (Results)
• Live Results
• Psych Sheet – Women
• SwimSwam Fan Guide – Women
• Thursday Prelims Heat Sheets

West Chester senior Ann Carozza broke the NCAA Division II and championship meet records on Thursday morning in heats of the 100 fly. The West Chester, Pennsylvania native had come into the meet seeded with 52.76, a lifetime-best time she earned in November when she set the meet record at Kenyon’s Total Performance Invite. Prior to that, her best time was 53.75 from prelims at the 2020 NCAA Division II Championships. The meet was called off after that preliminary session so she wasn’t able to swim it again in finals.

After WCU canceled their entire 2020-21 season, Carozza and the rest of the Golden Rams bounced back with an excellent 2021-22 season: they won their 19th PSAC Championship and Carozza was named Swimmer of Meet.

Against that backdrop, Carozza came into this year’s NCAA meet as the top seed in the 100 fly. Swimming in the final heat of prelims, she took a full .61 seconds off her PB and finished more than a body length ahead of Nova S’eastern’s Celina Marquez (53.38), defending champion Lucia Martelli of Delta State (54.01), and Drury’s Rafaela Raurich (54.65).

Carozza broke a 2019 record that had been set by Polina Lapshina of Queens. Lapshina’s style was more about taking it out hard and seeing how long she could hold on, while Carozza is more conservative over the first 50 yards. That said, she improved her first half by more than half a second since November, and her back half was two-tenths faster, as well:

Women’s 100 Butterfly – Prelims

• NCAA DII Record: 52.16 – Polina Lapshina, Queens (NC) (2019)
• Meet Record: 52.16 – Polina Lapshina, Queens (NC) (2019)
• Lucia Martelli, Delta State – 53.03

Finals qualifiers:

1. Ann Carozza, West Chester – 52.06N
2. Luna Mertins, Lynn – 52.78
3. Cece Mayer, Queens (NC) – 52.98
4. Celina Marquez, Nova S’eastern – 53.38
5. Paige Mikesell, IUP – 53.87
6. Lucia Martelli, Delta State – 54.01
7. Ester Rizzetto, West Florida – 54.17
8. Isabelle Sering, Saint Leo – 54.19
9. Kaleigh Sharkey, Simon Fraser – 54.27
10. Aleksandra Maslova, Nova S’eastern – 54.31
11. Celeste Turner, Delta State – 54.41
12. Rafaela Raurich, Drury – 54.65
13. Mellie Wijk, Drury – 54.68
14. Kayla Tennant, Queens (NC) – 54.76
15. Manon Compagner, Carson-Newman – 54.82
16. Natalie Van Noy SR Queens (NC) – 54.98