Photo Courtesy of UR Athletics
The University of Rochester’s Women’s Swimming and Diving team competed in the NCAA Division III Championships held in Shenandoah, Texas this past weekend.
The team was represented in the meet by five exemplary athletes: senior swimmer Lauren Bailey, junior swimmer Vicky Luan, sophomore diver Danielle Neu and sophomore swimmers Emily Simon and Khamai Simpson.
Together, the ‘Jackets earned a total of 24.5 points and placed 28th out of the 46 competing teams.
On the first day of competition, Wednesday, Mar. 18, Luan came out strong with a time of 23.52 in the 50-free, breaking her own previously held school record and earning her a spot in the consolation final. Luan tied for 10th overall in this event, earning UR’s first points of the meet.
The same day of competition, Neu competed in the 3-meter diving competition, placing 21st overall.
On Thursday, the ‘Jackets earned their second 10th place finish of the meet, this time in a team event. In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the powerful performance in the preliminary race earned the foursome of Bailey, Simpson, Simon and Luan spots in the finals, where they clocked in with a time of 1:35.23.
Bailey and Neu hit the water once more during Friday’s events, with Neu competing in the 1-meter diving event and Bailey competing in the 200-butterfly event. Both athletes narrowly missed moving beyond the preliminary rounds in their respective events.
The ‘Jackets’ final chance to score points came on Saturday, March 21.
Here, once again, Simpson, Bailey, Simon and Luan teamed up for a freestyle relay, but this time the 400-yard freestyle. In the preliminary round, the girls had a strong swim, demolishing the previous school record and clocking in with a time of 3:28.01, which earned them a place in the finals.
In the 400-yard freestyle relay finals, UR finished 15th with a time of 3:28.52 and winning the ‘Jackets’ four points.
This action-packed meet concluded the season for the UR Women’s Swimming and Diving team. With a record of 6-3 for the year, the team hopes to build upon this winning record for the to next season.
Cozen is a member of the class of 2015.
