Eleven Lady Vol Swimmers Qualified for NCAA Championships

INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA released its cut lines for the 2024 NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving Championships on Wednesday, and 11 Tennessee swimmers qualified for the meet.

Based on the seeding heading into the championships, the Lady Vols are projected to have nine championship final finishes by four different individuals. In total, six different individuals are projected to score, while three more rank inside the top 20 in an event. All five UT relays are also projected to finish inside the top eight.

Senior Mona McSharry is the NCAA leader in the 100 breast—an event she placed second in last year at NCAAs. She will look to become Tennessee's first individual NCAA Champion since Christine Magnuson won the 100 fly in 2008. McSharry is also the No. 2 seed in the 200 breast.

Two Lady Vols enter NCAAs ranked inside the top eight in all three of their individual events: junior Josephine Fuller and freshman Camille Spink. Fuller is projected to be Tennessee's highest point scorer, ranking third in the 200 IM and 200 back and fourth in the 100 back going into the meet. Spink could cap off a sensational season with a strong performance at NCAAs, as she enters the championships ranked tied for third in the 100 free, fifth in the 200 free and tied for eighth in the 50 free.

Next week, five Lady Vol divers will look to punch their tickets to NCAAs, as they compete in the Zone B Diving Championships. The event starts Sunday, March 10, and runs through Wednesday, March 13, in Athens, Georgia.

The NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving Championships are March 20-23 in Athens. Here's a breakdown of all 11 swimmers who qualified:

Alyssa Breslin – 1650 Free
In 2023, Alyssa Breslin came out of nowhere to place herself into the conversation as one of the best milers in the country, winning silver at the SEC Championships before finishing sixth overall at the NCAA Championships. Although her top time of the year of 16:03.92 was good for fourth at SECs, she currently ranks 17th in the country overall. However, her lifetime best from last season's NCAAs (15:50.80) would be third nationally, so the potential to score big points in the 1650 free is very much on the table for Breslin. She narrowly missed last year's consolation final in the 500 free, placing 19th overall. She ranks 39th in the country currently in the event, but her top time this year (4:41.34) is only 0.2 seconds off her performance from NCAAs a year ago (4:41.14).

Elle Caldow – 100 Back, 200 Back
For the second year in a row, Elle Caldow earned her spot at the NCAA Championships. Specializing in the backstroke, she placed 28th and 30th in the 100 and 200 back, respectively, last year. She's coming off a ninth-place finish in the 100 back at SECs, when she recorded a personal-best 52.05 effort. She enters NCAAs ranked tied for 26^th in the 100 back (52.05) and 35th in the 200 back (1:53.91). She's ahead of her time in the 100 back from last year's national championship meet and is just 0.07 seconds off in the 200 back.

Brooklyn Douthwright – 200 Free, 100 Free, 200 IM
After winning the 200 free at the 2023 SEC Championships, Brooklyn Douthwright capped off a sensational sophomore campaign by being the NCAA runner-up in the event last March. Although she finished fourth in the 200 free at this year's conference meet, Douthwright actually posted a faster time in the finals than she did a season ago. She also earned a podium finish in the 100 free, taking bronze after posting a personal-best effort. In addition to that big jump, she also solidified her third event for championship meets, as she finished sixth overall in the 200 IM. She's improved her time by 1.38 seconds in the event since placing 32nd at last year's NCAAs. Douthwright has established herself as one of Tennessee's top swimmers for a reason, and she's in a prime position to score in multiple events at this year's national championships.

Douthwright enters NCAAs ranked eighth in the 200 free (1:42.61), 15th in the 100 free (47.76) and 22nd in the 200 IM (1:56.04). She's also a member of UT's 400 medley relay (2nd), 400 free relay (3rd) and 800 free relay (4th) that are ranked inside the top five nationally.

Emelie Fast – 100 Breast, 200 Breast
A 2020 Olympian for Sweden, Emelie Fast wasted no time making her mark on Rocky Top during her freshman season. During the SEC Championships, she picked up two medals after winning silver in the 200 breast and bronze in the 100 breast. Fast will look to finish her first year at UT strong, as she enters NCAAs ranked 10^th in the 100 breast (58.44), 10th in the 200 breast (2:07.02) and 44th in the 200 IM (1:57.44).

Josephine Fuller – 200 IM, 200 Back, 100 Back
Ranked as the No. 9 recruit in the 2021 class, Josephine Fuller finished outside the top 30 in all three of her events at NCAAs as a freshman: 100 back (32nd), 200 back (38th) and 200 IM (57th). Last year, she garnered SwimSwam's Breakout Swimmer of the Year honor after winning silver in all three events at SECs before advancing to the championship final in both backstrokes and the consolation final in the 200 IM at the NCAA Championships–a massive improvement from her first year. Fuller set personal bests in all three events at the 2024 SEC Championships, winning silver in the backstrokes and bronze in the 200 IM.

Positioned to be a major point scorer for the Lady Vols, Fuller enters NCAAs ranked third in the 200 IM (1:52.58), third in the 200 back (1:49.75) and fourth in the 100 back (50.59). She's also a member of UT's 400 medley relay (2nd), 400 free relay (3rd), 800 free relay (4th) and 200 medley relay (8th) that are ranked inside the top eight nationally.

Kate McCarville – 500 Free, 1650 Free
Coming off a pair of sixth-place finishes at the SEC Championships, Kate McCarville qualified for her second-straight NCAA Championships in the distance freestyles. Her times in the 500 free (4:39.96) and 1650 free (16:10.44) from the conference meet are both faster than her marks from NCAAs last year. Notably, McCarville earned All-America Second Team honors in the 500 free after placing 12th overall a season ago. She enters NCAAs ranked 26th nationally in the 500 free and 28th in the 1650 free.

Mona McSharry – 100 Breast, 200 Breast, 50 Free
The reigning NCAA runner-up in the 100 breast, Mona McSharry has been nearly unstoppable during her senior campaign. After advancing to the finals in three different events at the Doha World Championships, she immediately left that meet and went straight to Auburn to compete at SECs, where she proceeded to sweep the breaststroke for the second year in a row, place third in the 50 free and help the Lady Vols medal in four different relays. She became the first female swimmer in the conference to win three straight titles in the 100 breast since 1997-2000, and she set the SEC Championship Meet record in both breaststroke events. She lifted the Lady Vol 400 medley relay to a gold thanks to a blazing-fast 55.94 split in the 100 breast, making her the second swimmer in NCAA history to go sub-56 seconds.

McSharry is the NCAA leader in the 100 breast (56.87) and ranks second in the 200 breast (2:03.84) and 22nd in the 50 free (21.97). She's also a member of UT's 400 medley relay (2nd), 400 free relay (3rd), 200 free relay (8th) and 200 medley relay (8th) that are ranked inside the top eight nationally.

Julia Mrozinski – 500 Free
The ceiling is high for Julia Mrozinski in the 500 free. As a freshman in 2022, she won the SEC Championships with a time of 4:35.95. During each of her appearances at the NCAA Championships, she's won the B final in the event to place ninth overall and garner All-America Second Team honors. She narrowly missed out on medaling at SECs this season, placing fourth with a time of 4:38.18. That time currently ranks 14th entering NCAAs, and she's five seconds faster than she was last season at this point. This could be the year that Mrozinski breaks into the championship final at NCAAs in the event. She also ranks 40th in the 200 free (1:44.94), and she's a member of the UT 800 free relay that is fourth in the country.

Regan Rathwell – 200 Back
After injuries presented setbacks throughout the early part of her career, redshirt freshman Regan Rathwell showed why she was one of the top recruits in the 2022 signing class during Tennessee's Last Chance Meet. During the 200 back, she threw down a personal-best time of 1:52.96, making her the fifth-fastest performer in Tennessee history. Her performance also vaulted her to the No. 18 time in the country heading into the NCAA Championships.

Camille Spink – 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free
One of the top-ranked recruits in the 2023 class, Camille Spink has lived up to her hype already as a freshman standout for the Lady Vols. She's coming off an impressive SEC Championships, where she won a combined seven medals, including three gold and two individual titles. She became just the second female swimmer in SEC history to win both the 50 and 100 freestyle events as a freshman. She narrowly missed sweeping her individual events, placing second in the 200 free.

Spink enters NCAAs ranked tied for third in the 100 free (46.69), fifth in the 200 free (1:42.37) and tied for eighth in the 50 free (21.74) in the NCAA. She's also a member of UT's 400 medley relay (2nd), 400 free relay (3rd), 800 free relay (4th) and 200 free relay (8th) that are ranked inside the top eight nationally.

Sara Stotler – 200 Fly
Sara Stotler is coming off a successful week at the SEC Championships, where she earned a bronze medal in the 200 fly along with being a part of the silver-medal squad in the 200 medley relay–the eighth-fastest lineup in the nation with a time of 1:34.89. She's qualified for NCAAs all three years on Rocky Top, but this will be her third year in a row swimming the 200 fly and 200 IM. In her first season, she placed 26th in the 200 fly and 27th in the 200 IM. As a sophomore, she qualified for the consolation final and finished 10th overall in the 200 fly thanks to a personal-best time of 1:53.94 and was 21st in both the 200 IM and 100 fly.

This season, Stotler is less than a second off her marks from last year's NCAAs, so she's a Lady Vol to watch as someone who could exceed her seeding and score points for the Big Orange. She enters NCAAs ranked 20th in the 200 fly (1:54.87), 37th in the 200 IM (1:57.12) and 41^st in the 100 fly (52.21).

University of Tennessee Athletics

Eleven Lady Vol Swimmers Qualified for NCAA Championships

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Players Mentioned

Alyssa Breslin

Elle Caldow

Brooklyn Douthwright

Emelie Fast

Josephine Fuller

Kate McCarville

Mona McSharry

Julia Mrozinski

Regan Rathwell

Camille Spink

Sara Stotler

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