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Currently swimming with the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, Mia Burke Dopson has announced her college decision, electing to join Florida Gulf Coast in the fall of 2022. Dopson is currently in her senior year at McDonogh School.
As soon as I stepped on the FGCU campus, met Coach Dave, and talked with some of my future teammates I knew that this was the school and swimming program I wanted to be a part of. Everybody made me feel so welcome and I knew I wanted to be a part of this team.
Competing primarily in sprint freestyle and backstroke, Dopson made finals in numerous events at the Sectionals meet in Richmond last May. Her highest finish at the meet came in the 200 back where she raced to a 12th place finish after dropping over a second from prelims. Her time in finals was 2:23.76. She also added finals appearances in the 50 free (27.46) and 100 back (1:06.85).
Two months before the Sectionals meet, she qualified for multiple finals and swam multiple best times at the ISCA International Senior Cup meet held in St. Petersburg, Florida. With meet swum as short course prelims and long course finals, she picked up new best times in both pools. During prelims of the 50 free she dipped below 24.0, stopping the clock in 23.98. That swim was just off of her lifetime best in the event, a 23.90 from February of 2020. She also narrowly missed her best time in the 100 free, touching in 52.47.
Best SCY Times
- 50 free – 23.90
- 100 free – 51.92
- 200 free – 1:53.27
- 100 back – 57.55
- 200 back – 2:02.59
During the 2020-21 season, the FGCU team tied for the conference title at the CCSA Swimming and Diving Championships with Liberty University. In the sprint events, the team was led by Wiktoria Czarnecka, a junior, who claimed the conference title in both the 50 and 100 freestyles. Czarnecka claimed the 50 title in 22.64 and the 100 title in 49.51. The eagles also claimed a pair of relay titles at the meet, capturing gold in both the 200 free and 200 medley relays.
In the backstroke events, Dopson would have been among the team’s best last season. While her 200 back would have been the team’s 6th best, her 200 back would have been the 4th best in the program last year.
Dopson will bring immediate scoring potential to the team when she arrives on campus in the fall. Her best time in the freestyle races would have scored in the B-final of the 2021 CCSA Conference Championships, while her 200 back would have put her in the A-final.
Joining Dopson in FGCU’s class of 2026 will be Liv Hettinger, Annabelle Thompson, and Cameron Kuriger.
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