As swimming rolls into our own version of March Madness over the next two weeks of NCAA Championships, we’re going to take a look at a few of swimming’s own Cinderella’s and help the country get to know them a little better.
This year, there is perhaps no bigger “Cinderella” than the Boise State Broncos women’s swim team. This year, they’ve not only qualified two swimmers as individuals (Amber Boucher and Stephanie North), they’ve managed to qualify the first relay in the history of the Mountain West Conference, and the first in the history of the school, thanks to their 14th-best 200 free relay. This is all in their first season in the Mountain West Conference, where they took the team championship after two-straight WAC titles in 2010 and 2011.
The senior Boucher is the big star of the team. At last year’s NCAA Championship, she finished 12th in the 100 fly in 52.90, and just barely missed scoring in the 100 free as well. This year, she’s already been a 52.30 and is tied for the 11th seed. She’s an 18-time conference champion and holds 8 school recordsThis year, she earned invitations in all three of her individual events (50 free, 100 free, 100 fly). North, also a senior, is a sprint freestyler who tied for 29th in the 100 at last year’s championship meet. She comes into this meet with a huge 48.34 from the MWC Championships in that race, which earns her the 8th seed. North is also an outstanding relay swimmer and is a huge anchor for the Broncos – having split as fast as 22.0 in the 50 free.
Boise State head coach Kristin Hill credits those two with the overall jump in the program’s quality this season. “The two decided that it would be a lot more fun to attend with teammates, and they immediately returned to Boise and got to work on the returners that spring.”
The returner that this took a huge effect on was junior Stevie Hughey, who Hill describes as having “raw speed”. She fits that bill as a sprint butterflier/freestyler, with a best split of 22.6 in a relay at the Broncos’ conference championship meet.
The three veterans are juxtaposed by the huge-ceiling talent of freshman Sydney Johansen. This is a swimmer who has become an elite swimmer in a hurry – as a sophomore in high school, she was going 27’s in her 50 freestyle. By the time she graduated, she was down to a 23.9. By now, the end of her freshman year in college, she’s splitting 22.6’s on relays. Out of the 58 freshmen who earned invites to the National Championship meet, Johansen is one of only 7 outside of the six power conferences.
But that’s just an example, not meant to pigeonhole Johansen as a sprinter. Her versatility is unreal – She could have placed in the top five in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle; 100 and 200 breaststroke; 100 and 200 backstroke; and the 200 IM at the Mountain West Championships.
That versatility is going to be the key to what could turn into a very lofty finish at NCAA’s. Only the 200 free relay was invited, but I think their 400 free relay could actually place higher than the 200. Their 400 free relay was ranked 17th in the country this season (aka the fastest relay to not get invited) and that’s without Johansen swimming that relay at the conference championships – she was the breaststroke leg of their medleys instead. Johansen has surprisingly not swum a whole lot of 100’s for the Broncos this season, but based on the improvements she’s shown in other events, I’d guess that she’ll certainly be under 50 seconds, if-not under 49 on a relay start. That’s going to move the Broncos well up the rankings.
Something else working in their favor is that these four swimmers come together extremely well on relays. To a woman, they’re all better on relays than they are in individual races, and that can result in huge finishes. They’ll probably compile the four shorter relays at NCAA’s, and all could be scorers (though that will depend on Hughey’s ability to step up on the backstroke leg).
More importantly, this isn’t a team that’s going to be intimidated by what is easily the biggest stage that they’ve seen all year. The MWC Champiomships came down to the final relay, where the Broncos held a one-point deficit over San Diego State. They not only won that relay (San Diego State finished second), but they crushed the conference record by better than a second in the 400 free relay. They’ve swum some good opponents this season, and have held their own.
Idaho isn’t exactly a recruiting hotbed, but the Broncos have benefited from the lack of top-flight programs in the Pacific Northwest. Boucher and North, their two stars, are both from Oregon. They’ve got four swimmers from neighboring Washington as well. They’ve also recruited well in both Hawaii and Alaska.
They’ve built this program up from nothing (it’s only six years old) without reaching too far to sign recruits – their roster has only one international swimmer (a Canadian).
The Broncos will be in contention with George Mason (aka the fightin’ Ashley Danners) for the top-placing mid-major program.
Let the madness begin!
Thanks for bringing attention to Boise State. Coach Hill has done a heck of a job in her short time there and it’s been so exciting to watch their progess. Go Broncos!