2021 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships explained

2021 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships
Hostcity:	Greensboro, North Carolina
Dates:	March 17-20, 2021
Venues:	Greensboro Aquatic Center North Carolina State University
Previous:	2020
Next:	2022

The 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships were contested from March 17-20, 2021 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina at the 39th annual NCAA-sanctioned swim meet to determine the team and individual national champions of Division I women's collegiate swimming and diving in the United States.

Hosted by the NC State Wolfpack of North Carolina State University and the Greensboro Sports Foundation, the meet was the first NCAA Swimming & Diving Championship to be held since 2019, after the 2020 meet was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Stringent guidelines were imposed at the meet to comply with public health standards in the face of the continuing pandemic.^[1]

The Virginia Cavaliers won the meet-- their first NCAA Swimming & Diving title and also the first in the Atlantic Coast Conference.^[2] NC State finished second, and Texas third. Maggie MacNeil of Michigan was named the CSCAA Women's Swimmer of the Year, and Sarah Bacon of Minnesota was named Women's Diver of the Year. Todd DeSorbo of Virginia was named the CSCAA Women's Team Coach of the Year and Minnesota's Wenbo Chen was named the Women's Diving Coach of the Year.^[3]

Team standings

Rank	Team	Points
	Virginia	491
	NC State (H)	354
	Texas	344.5
	California	290
	Alabama	266
	Michigan	224.5
	Ohio State	215.5
	Georgia	181
	Stanford ^(DC)	159
	Tennessee	153

• (H) = Hosts
• ^(DC) = Defending champions
• Full results^[4]

Swimming Results

50 freestyle	Kate Douglass Virginia	21.13	Maggie MacNeil Michigan	21.17	Sarah Thompson Missouri	21.42
100 freestyle	Maggie MacNeil Michigan	46.02	Kate Douglass Virginia	46.30	Isabel Ivey California	46.95
200 freestyle	Paige Madden Virginia	1:42.35	Talia Bates Florida	1:43.49	Kelly Pash Texas	1:43.50
500 freestyle	Paige Madden Virginia	4:33.61	Evie Pfeifer Texas	4:35.02	Brooke Forde Stanford	4:35.22
1650 freestyle	Paige Madden Virginia	15:41.86	Evie Pfeifer Texas	15:46.41	Sierra Schmidt Michigan	15:51.09
100 backstroke	Katharine Berkoff NC State	49.74	Rhyan White Alabama	50.21	Phoebe Bacon Wisconsin	50.39
200 backstroke	Phoebe Bacon Wisconsin	1:48.32	Rhyan White Alabama	1:48.99	Isabelle Stadden California	1:49.66
100 breaststroke	Sophie Hansson NC State	57.23	Kaitlyn Dobler Southern Cal	57.46	Alexis Wenger Virginia	57.67
200 breaststroke	Sophie Hansson NC State	2:03.86	Ella Nelson Virginia	2:04.35	Mona McSharry Tennessee	2:05.01
100 butterfly	Maggie MacNeil Michigan	48.89	Kate Douglass Virginia	49.55	Kylee Alons NC State	50.35
200 butterfly	Olivia Carter Michigan	1:51.33	Olivia Bray Texas	1:52.87	Dakota Luther Georgia	1:53.01
200 IM	Alex Walsh Virginia	1:51.87	Zoie Hartman Georgia	1:53.34	Alicia Wilson California	1:54.51
400 IM	Brooke Forde Stanford	4:01.57	Ella Nelson Virginia	4:02.33	Lauren Poole Kentucky	4:02.73
200 freestyle relay	California Eloise Riley (22.09) Emily Gantriis (21.23) Elise Garcia (21.24) Isabel Ivey (21.22)	1:25.78	Virginia Kate Douglass (21.09) Lexi Cuomo (21.63) Kyla Valls (21.97) Alex Walsh (21.28)	1:25.97	NC State Katharine Berkoff (21.81) Kylee Alons (21.27) Sirena Rowe (21.47) Sophie Hansson (21.72)	1:26.27
400 freestyle relay	Alabama Morgan Scott (47.78) Kalia Antoniou (47.16) Flora Molnar (47.94) Cora Dupre (46.90)	3:09.78	Virginia Kate Douglass (46.76) Paige Madden (47.98) Alex Walsh (47.63) Lexi Cuomo (48.08)	3:10.45	California Robin Neumann (48.40) Emily Gantriis (48.20) Elise Garcia (47.94) Isabel Ivey (46.10)	3:10.64
800 freestyle relay	Virginia Kyla Valls (1:44.64) Paige Madden (1:41.63) Ella Nelson (1:43.11) Alex Walsh (1:43.18)	6:52.56	Kentucky Izzy Gati (1:44.27) Riley Gaines (1:42.81) Sophie Sorenson (1:44.97) Kaitlynn Wheeler (1:44.97)	6:57.02	California Robin Neumann (1:44.09) Ayla Spitz (1:43.87) Rachel Klinker (1:44.98) Alicia Wilson (1:44.12)	6:57.06
200 medley relay	NC State Katharine Berkoff (23.27) Sophie Hansson (25.92) Sirena Rowe (22.73) Kylee Alons (21.26)	1:33.18	Virginia Caroline Gmelich (24.13) Alexis Wenger (26.41) Lexi Cuomo (22.40) Kate Douglass (21.19)	1:34.13	Ohio State Emily Crane (23.92) Hannah Bach (26.58) Katherine Zenick (22.95) Taylor Petrak (21.51)	1:34.96
400 medley relay	NC State Katharine Berkoff (50.07) Sophie Hansson (57.01) Kylee Alons (49.29) Julia Poole (48.22)	3:24.59	Virginia Reilly Tiltmann (50.49) Alexis Wenger (57.71) Lexi Cuomo (50.62) Kate Douglass (46.31)	3:25.13	Texas Julia Cook (51.78) Anna Elendt (58.05) Olivia Bray (50.43) Kelly Pash (47.57)	3:27.83

Diving Results

1-meter	Sarah Bacon Minnesota	357.20	Aranza Vazquez North Carolina	348.45	Brooke Schultz Arkansas	335.85
3-meter	Sarah Bacon Minnesota	408.60	Aranza Vazquez North Carolina	384.75	Camryn Hidalgo Georgia Tech	356.40
Platform	Tamin Gilliland Indiana	338.40	Delaney Schnell Arizona	331.80	Macyey Vieta Purdue	316.80

Modifications due to Covid-19

• No spectator seating was offered due to North Carolina public health restrictions (no exceptions for family/friends)
• No athletes were permitted on deck unless they were competing or using a warmup pool
• Team seating was socially-distanced- located in the observation stands at the Greensboro Aquatic Center
• Relay events were conducted as timed finals with an empty lane in between each team
  • Judges were removed from the deck area to improve social distancing. A high-speed camera system was in place to review relay exchanges
• Restrictions were tightened around alternate athletes:
  • Swimmers forced to withdraw from the meet due to a positive Covid-19 test could only be replaced within 24 hours of the selection announcement
  • Uninvited relay participants were required to swim in at least one relay in the meet, and were not permitted to fill alternate slots if a scratch occurred for any reason. Penalty for non-compliance was a disqualification of the team's final relay
• Teams received dedicated practice times and were not permitted in the facility outside of those times
• Teams and athletes not competing in a session were not permitted in the facility
  • Teams could identify up to two alternate athletes not competing in a session who would be permitted to enter the facility
• Teams only received two deck passes for swim coaches, and one deck pass for dive coaches. Coaches were not permitted to be on deck unless one of their athletes was competing at that time, and were expected to leave the deck at the end of the event
• Team recovery areas were not available within the Greensboro Aquatic Facility. Sports Medicine staff were permitted to operate within the neighboring Greensboro Coliseum
• Teams were tested for Covid-19 every other day over the course of the competition via nasal testing
  • At the Women's meet, there were no confirmed positive tests^[5]

See also

• List of college swimming and diving teams

Notes and References

1. News: Keith. Braden. 22 February 2021. NCAA CONFIRMS DRAMATIC CHANGES TO D1 SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR 2021. SwimSwam News. 2 April 2021.
2. Web site: 21 March 2021. Virginia Captures ACC's First NCAA Swimming & Diving Title. 2 April 2021. Atlantic Coast Conference.
3. News: 23 March 2021. Virginia's DeSorbo, Minnesota's Chen Lead Top Division I Awards. College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America. 2 April 2021.
4. Web site: 20 March 2021. 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming & Diving Championships Results. live. 2 April 2021. Virginia Sports. https://web.archive.org/web/20210516053111/https://storage.googleapis.com/virginiasports-com/2020/12/4a416d15-2021_di_women_final_results.pdf . 2021-05-16 .
5. News: Keith. Braden. 26 March 2021. NO CONFIRMED POSITIVES FOR COVID-19 AT NCAA D1 SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS. SwimSwam News. 2 April 2021.