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Crystal Benjamin of Billings, Montana is set to compete for the University of Northern Iowa beginning this fall. In Cedar Falls, Iowa, Benjamin will specialize in breast and IM events for the Panthers. Benjamin, who swam for the Billings Aquatic Club Stingrays, attended Skyview High School.
I chose University of Northern Iowa because I loved the atmosphere of both the campus and the team. The campus had an awesome business and finance program. The team was fun to be around and I could see myself fitting in. Along with that I loved the town of Cedar Falls because it felt safe and had a great community.
Benjamin was the 400 IM Champion at the Montana LC State Championships this year, taking 1st in a time of 5:22.87. She recorded 6 additional top 5 finishes, which came in the 200 breast (3:00.90), 200 IM (2:32.93), 100 free (1:04.03), 100 breast (1:18.69), 50 breast (36.57), and 100 fly (1:11.06).
At the 2024 Montana HS State Championships in February, Benjamin became the 200 IM Champion by swimming a 2:09.21, a best time. She was also the runner up in the 100 breast, swimming a 1:07.69. She was just off her season best of 1:07.07, which she swam in prelims. Benjamin led Skyview to a 6th place finish out of 24 teams, scoring 29 points of their 107.5 points. She also contributed relay splits of 54.64 on Skyview’s 400 free relay and 24.58 on their 200 free relay.
Best times:
- 200 IM – 2:09.21
- 400 IM – 4:37.72
- 100 breast – 1:06.68
- 200 breast – 2:27.14
The University of Northern Iowa is a D1 Mid-Major School in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). This year, they finished 5th out of 9 teams with Faith Larsen leading the way with 2 wins and a 3rd place finish. Benjamin is on the cusp of what it took to score at the 2024 MVC Championships, as times of 2:07.36/4:37.47 in the 200/400 IM and 1:06.29/2:26.60 in the 100/200 breast made it back for a second swim.
The Panthers are sending 3 current and former athletes to the 2024 Paralympic Games this summer. One of them is Paralympic American Record Holder Olivia Chambers, a senior at UNI, who will swim 5 individual events in her Paralympic debut. Additionally, UNI’s assistant swim coach Ben Colin was selected to be 1 of 8 coaches who will support Team USA at the Games. Swimming at the 2024 Paralympic Games will begin on Wednesday, August 28.
In addition to Benjamin, Northern Iowa will add Aspen Cole (breast/free), Nat Harris (free/IM), Peyton Pasqualicchio (free), Sam Oeltjen (distance free), Paige Seehawer (distance free), and Elyse Brayton (back/free) this fall.
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