PREVIEW: Swim & Dive at UNC Wilmington

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Tennessee swimming and diving opens its 2021-22 season with a meet at UNC Wilmington on Friday, Oct. 1, at Seahawk Natatorium, with diving beginning at noon followed by swimming at 2 p.m.

The meet is part of a weekend-long trip for the team during fall break. The squad will partake in team training on the beach and will also take to the waves for some surfing. On Saturday, UT will take on UNCW in an open water race in the ocean to cap the main events for the weekend.

Following the season opener, Tennessee will take on a pair of tough opponents from the ACC in NC State (Oct. 15-16) and Louisville (Oct. 21). The meet against Louisville will be UT's home opener for the season.

Here are some of the top notes about the 2021-22 team:

Four Olympians Highlight Roster

Four current UT swimmers competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics this past summer: Lyubomir Epitropov, Michael Houlie, Mona McSharry and Ellen Walshe. Besides Walshe, who is a freshman this year, everyone else is a key returner from last season.
Epitropov is the reigning SEC champ in the 200 breaststroke, helping the Vols to a third-place finish in the conference. The program record holder in the event will look to pick up where he left off last season.
The Vol record holder in the 100 breast belongs to Houlie, who won a silver medal in the event at SECs to go along with a bronze in the 200 breast.
In her first season with the Lady Vols, McSharry was named the 2021 SEC Female Freshman Swimmer of the Year. She holds the UT record in both the 100 and 200 breast and owns six All-America certificates and four SEC medals.
Walshe comes to Tennessee as one of the top-rated recruits in the country, specializing in the butterfly and IM.

Lady Vols Sign Nation's No. 2 Class

SwimSwam released its 2021 signing class rankings ahead of the season, and the Lady Vols notched the second-rated class in the country with a staggering 16 swimmers and one diver. The group consists of some of the top freshmen in the world as well as three huge transfers.
On SwimCloud, Tennessee signed seven of the top 45 incoming freshmen, including three inside the top 10.
- #5 Julia Mrozinski (Free/Fly/IM)
- #6 Summer Smith (Fly/Back/IM)
- #8 Brooklyn Douthwright (Back/Free)
- #18 Ellen Walshe (Fly/IM)
- #30 Sara Stotler (Free/Fly/IM)
- #37 Kate McCarville (Fly/IM)
- #45 Josephine Fuller (Back/IM)
Julia Mrozinski comes to Knoxville as a European Junior Champion, a German Champion and a World Championship finalist. She's a strong freestyle swimmer, with her top converted time in the 200 projecting her for an NCAA 'A' final.
SwimSwam tabbed Josephine Fuller as the ninth-ranked domestic recruit and the top signee for the Lady Vols. In its rankings release, SwimSwam said, "Fuller is coming off a massive season that saw her vault into the top spot in the class in the 200 back, clocking 1:52.73 to win the NCSA Junior Title in March. Not only is Fuller fast enough to make the NCAA 'A' final in that race, but she's also under the 2021 cutline in the 100 back (52.9) and engineered some big time drops to get down to 1:01.7/2:12.2 on breaststroke."
The three transfers are Emma Carlton (Texas A&M), AJ Kutsch (Auburn) and Bayley Stewart (Notre Dame).
Kutsch was on the 200 free relay team that took first at SECs in 2020, posting a split of 21.15, while Carlton and Stewart should be among UT's top backstroke swimmers.

Squad Returns Trio of SEC Champs

Three 2021 SEC Champions are back on the roster again this year, as Bryden Hattie (platform) and Kristen Stege (1650 free) join Epitropov (200 breast).
Hattie is coming off a stellar freshman campaign that ended with him earning a pair of CSCAA All-American honorable mention recognitions. He joins Dillon Richardson and Matthew Wade as one of the best diving trios in the nation, with all three boasting the potential to score a lot of points at NCAAs.
In her first season at Tennessee, Stege became the first Lady Vol to win the 1650 free since Leslie Mix in 1994 and broke the program record in the event. She also earned a silver medal in the 500 free.
Tennessee was on the brink of winning gold in three other events, with second-place finishes in the men's 100 breast (Houlie), women's 100 breast (McSharry) and the women's 400 medley relay (Harty, McSharry, Rothrock, Pintar), which returns three of its four members for this season.

Best From 2021 NCAAs

UT brings back a total of 16 All-Americans from last season (9 women, 7 men).
The Lady Vols placed 10th overall thanks to 14 top-16 finishes during the championships.
Mona McSharry placed third and fourth in the 200 and 100 breast, respectively.
Kristen Stege placed fourth in the 1650 free and ninth in the 500 free.
The Lady Vols' 400 freestyle and 400 medley relays were the fifth-fastest in the country, while the 200 medley relay was eighth.
Matthew Wade finished sixth on the 3-meter during NCAAs in 2021.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Emma Carlton

Brooklyn Douthwright

Lyubomir Epitropov

Josephine Fuller

Bryden Hattie

Michael Houlie

Kate McCarville

Mona McSharry

Julia Mrozinski

Dillon Richardson

Summer Smith

Kristen Stege

Bayley Stewart

Sara Stotler

Matthew Wade

Ellen Walshe

University of Tennessee Athletics