World Junior Record holder in the LCM girls 100 butterfly Mizuki Hirai has arrived on campus in Knoxville, Tennessee as she is set to join the Lady Vols for the spring semester. Hirai is from Japan and was originally scheduled to join the program in the fall, so her confirmed status had been up in the air.
Hirai arrived after winter training. Tennessee begins classes this upcoming Tuesday, January 20th, and the team has their next scheduled meet for January 24th at Georgia.
With her confirmed arrival, Hirai is a huge addition to the program as her best of a 56.33 in the LCM 100 fly converts to a 49.48, a time that would sit at #2 in the NCAA so far this season as only Torri Huske of Stanford has been faster with a 48.90. Only Claire Curzan of Virginia (49.68) and Miranda Grana of Indiana (49.98) have been sub-50 this season as well.
Tennessee’s top 100 flyer so far this season has been Emily Brown who swam to a 52.10 at the CSCAA Dual Meet Challenge. Sara Stotler led the team last season with a 51.50 but has since graduated.
The Tennessee women are currently 9th in the Swimulator scoring for the 2026 NCAA Championships. The team’s 200 medley relay sits 12th while the 400 medley relay sits 11th in the NCAA so far this season. Brown split a 52.16 on the fly leg for the team’s fastest 400 medley relay this season. It currently takes a 51.53 to score in the 100 fly.
Any word on if Lucio and Ethan made it?
Súper excited for her! And this is gonna be huge for Tennessee
Shes going to cook
Bam – Now the Lady Vol empire begins to take apart the rest of the NCAA!
Joining just in time to continue the trend of Tennessee underscoring at NCAA’s!