The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Championships
Women’s Swim & Dive finishes as National Runner-up at 2024 NCAA Championships
03.23.2024 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Emma Sticklen defended her 200-yard butterfly title with a pool record swim of 1:50.99.
ATHENS, Ga. – Texas Women's Swimming and Diving finished as the national runner-up at the 2024 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships and Emma Sticklen won her second consecutive 200-yard butterfly national title on Saturday at the Gabrielson Natatorium. Texas claimed national runner-up honors for the third consecutive year and placed among the top three for the fourth year in a row under head coach Carol Capitani. The stretch of four consecutive top-three results is the longest for Texas since 1992-95, and the three-straight top-two finishes are the best stretch since 1990-92.
Texas! Texas! YEE HAW! 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/ln24hMRhXn
— Texas Women's Swimming & Diving (@TexasWSD) March 24, 2024
Texas closed out the four-day meet with 441 points, the most for the program since 1992. Virginia scored 527.5 points to claim a fourth-straight national title, while Florida finished third with 364 points. Tennessee (277) and Stanford (250) rounded out the top five.
NATIONAL CHAMPION!!! 👑
— Texas Women's Swimming & Diving (@TexasWSD) March 23, 2024
Emma Sticklen defends her 200 fly crown with a pool-record swim of 1:50.99!!! 🥇🔥🤘#HookEm | #NCAASwimDive pic.twitter.com/pXdB8d9UYV
Sticklen thrillingly captured 200-yard butterfly gold, coming from behind in the final 25 yards to defend her title with a swim of 1:50.99, a pool record and the third-fastest time in Texas history.
The 200 fly championship final featured a trio of Longhorns with Kelly Pash and Olivia Bray joining Sticklen in the race. Bray, who posted the top time in the semifinals, went out quickly and had the lead after the first 50 with a split of 24.43 and maintained the lead at the midway point with a time of 52.74. California's Rachel Klinker moved ahead and held the lead heading into the last 50 yards with Bray in second, Pash third and Sticklen tied for fourth with Stanford's Lillie Nordmann. After the final turn, Klinker, Pash and Bray maintained the top three spots as they reached the surface, but Sticklen remained underwater for the full 15 meters allowed, surging into the lead and touching the wall ahead of Pash, who placed second in 1:52.09. Bray finished in fifth with a swim of 1:52.45
🔥🔥 EMMA! STICKLEN!!! 🔥🔥
— Texas Women's Swimming & Diving (@TexasWSD) March 23, 2024
Your BACK-🤘-BACK CHAMPION in the 200 fly! 🥇🏆#HookEm | #NCAASwimDive pic.twitter.com/4loEvxu4aU
Sticklen is the first Longhorn to defend her national title since Vera Ilyina won the 1-meter and 3-meter in 1997-98 and the first swimmer to win consecutive national titles since Leigh Ann Fetter captured three straight 50 free, 100 free and 200 free titles from 1989-91. Fetter also had a share of the 50 free title in 1988. Sticklen is the first Longhorn to win back-to-back titles in the 200 fly since Kim Linehan brought home the AIAW crowns in 1981-82.
Jordan Skilken followed with a bronze medal performance on platform, scoring 293.60 points for her fourth career All-American honor in the event. With Skilken's result, Texas divers finished the meet scoring 77 points, topping Purdue's 57 points to finish as the number one diving team at the meet.
Erica Sullivan opened the finals session with a sixth-place finish in the 1650 free, the 12th-fastest performance in the event in program history. The result gave Sullivan her third-straight All-American accolade in the event and seventh overall in her career.
Anna Elendt added a fifth-place swim in the 200 breast with a swim of 2:05.16, the eighth-fastest time in Texas history. Elendt now holds six of the eight fastest marks in program history in the event. Lydia Jacoby won the consolation final to place ninth overall, touching the wall in 2:06.82.
Campbell Stoll competed in the 200 fly consolation final, finishing 12th overall after placing fourth in the race with a career-best swim of 1:53.84. Her time moved her to eighth on Texas' all-time performer ranks.
The Longhorns closed out the championship meet with the quartet of Erin Gemmell, Bray, Grace Cooper and Pash placing 10th in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:11.51, the fifth-fastest time in UT history.
MEET NOTES
- Texas' 441 points scored is the most for the program at the national meet since 1992.
- Bray established the pool record in the 200 fly during the prelim session, swimming a career-best 1:51.51 to earn the top seed in the final.
- The Longhorns had three swimmers in the championship final of both the 100 fly and 200 fly.
- Texas had three swimmers in the 200-yard butterfly championship final for the fourth consecutive year with Sticklen and Pash appearing in four and Bray three.
- Dakota Luther swam for Texas in the final in 2023.
- Stoll swam a then- 200 fly career-best 1:54.74 during the prelims, moving into the Texas all-time Top 10 as the ninth-fastest Longhorn in the event.
- Gemmell clocked a 100 free career-best 47.78 during the prelims, .45 seconds shy of qualifying for the consolation final. Her time is the 19th-fastest for a Longhorn and moved her to fifth on Texas' all-time performer list.
Texas! Texas! YEE HAW! 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/ln24hMRhXn
— Texas Women's Swimming & Diving (@TexasWSD) March 24, 2024
2024 NCAA Championships – Final Team Standings (Top 10 teams listed)
1. Virginia – 527.5
2. TEXAS – 441
3. Florida – 364
4. Tennessee – 277
5. Stanford – 250
6. Louisville – 212
7. Indiana – 206
8. USC – 200
9. Ohio State – 162
9. NC State – 162
Texas Longhorns 2024 Individual National Champions
Emma Sticklen: 200 fly – 1:50.99
Texas Longhorns 2024 All-Americans
Berit Berglund: 400 medley relay
Olivia Bray: 100 fly, 200 fly, 800 free relay
Grace Cooper: 200 free relay, 200 medley relay
Anna Elendt: 100 breast, 200 breast, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay
Erin Gemmell: 800 free relay
Hailey Hernandez: 1-meter, 3-meter
Lydia Jacoby: 100 breast
Emma Kern: 200 medley relay
Ava Longi: 200 free relay
Bridget O'Neil: 1-meter, 3-meter
Kelly Pash: 100 fly, 200 fly, 200 IM, 400 medley relay, 200 free relay, 800 free relay
Jordan Skilken: Platform
Emma Sticklen: 100 fly, 200 fly, 200 free relay, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay
Erica Sullivan: 1650 free, 800 free relay
Texas Longhorns 2024 Honorable Mention All-Americans
Berit Berglund: 100 back
Olivia Bray: 100 back, 400 free relay
Angie Coe: 400 IM
Grace Cooper: 50 free, 400 free relay
Erin Gemmell: 200 free, 400 free relay
Lydia Jacoby: 200 breast
Emma Kern: 100 back
Kelly Pash: 400 free relay
Emma Sticklen: 200 IM
Campbell Stoll: 200 fly, 400 IM
Texas Program Records Set at the 2024 NCAA Championships
100 fly: Emma Sticklen – 49.70
200 free relay: Grace Cooper, Ava Longi, Emma Sticklen, Kelly Pash – 1:26.17
400 medley relay: Berit Berglund, Anna Elendt, Emma Sticklen, Kelly Pash – 3:24.92
Players Mentioned
