Complete Results (pdf)

INDIANAPOLIS – The University of West Florida women's swimming & diving team climbed two spots over the final four events to finish in a program-record sixth place in the NCAA Championships at the IU Natatorium Saturday night.
 
In just its third year of existence, UWF again surpassed expectations at the national meet, scoring 213 points – also a program benchmark. A year ago, the Argonauts finished in 11th place with 117 points.
 
"At some point we'll tally up the records and accomplishments and everything like that, but this was a total team effort," head coach Andrew Hancock said. "We had 10 athletes move forward into the meet, and all 10 of them scored points and contributed. And points are hard to come by, and points are very valuable. We were very close to fifth, and we were very close to seventh, so every little bit counts. I couldn't be more proud of the girls."
 
The Argonauts concluded their four days in Indy with three individual national champions – the 12th, 13th and 14th in the history of the athletic department, six individual All-Americans and three relay teams that earned All-American status. Additionally, junior Monica Amaral and diving coach Barbara Parker were named the Diver of the Year and Diving Coach of the Year, respectively.
 
UWF entered the evening session in eighth place, eight points back of LIU Post in seventh and 18.5 points behind Wayne State for sixth.
 
The Argonauts picked up five points on each squad when sophomore Madeline Pitt's 1650 Freestyle time of 17:01.80 went down for 12th place overall. She concluded the meet scoring in the 400 Individual Medley, 1000 Free and 1650 Free.
 
Senior Peggy de Villiers touched 13th in the 100 Free in 51.06, allowing UWF to score five more points and climb into seventh place with three events remaining. De Villiers scored 10 individual points in three events and was part of four relays that earned three All-America honors with top-8 performances.
 
Junior Rebecca Halfast scored another five points in the 200 Backstroke when she registered a time of 2:01.45 for 12th place. In addition to her finish in that race, she swam on three relays, including top eight quartets in the 400 Free and 800 Free.
 
Senior Paulina Szydlo grabbed seventh place and 12 points in the 200 Breaststroke with a 2:15.98. Szydlo's performance was her second-consecutive top-8 finish in the 200 and pulled UWF to within nine points of WSU entering the final event of the program – the 400 Free Relay.
 
"Today was rough, it was painful, but I'm satisfied with how I did, and I'm very happy with how the team did," Szydlo said. "I had a lot of fun, so that was the perfect ending to my career. I don't regret anything, and I'm very thankful for everyone who made me who I am now, and who helped me achieve everything I've done in the last three years."
 
In the 400 Free Relay, in which UWF needed to finish seventh or higher to secure sixth place after WSU scored 14 in the consolation heat, the group of de Villiers, Halfast, Sophia Oliva and Theresa Michalak did just that. Michalak's leadoff leg of 49.33 established a school record for the 100 distance and put the team in the lead pack. Oliva and Halfast followed with strong swims and de Villiers move the Argos from sixth to fifth in the final 50, helping the team secure sixth overall.
 
"It was just an overwhelming sense of satisfaction, because I knew that regardless of what the outcome was, I had trained so hard for so long, there's nothing that could stop me from having an amazing race, and that's exactly what happened," de Villiers said.
 
Queens won its second-consecutive team title with 567 points, ahead of Wingate's 364.5. UC San Diego was third with 345, followed by Drury with 295 and Grand Valley with 226 – just 13 ahead of UWF. Wayne State was five points back of the Argos with 208 and LIU Post had 190.5.