Georgia Welcomes Nation’s Best to Athens for NCAA Championships

Wednesday, March 20

Athens, Ga.

6 p.m.

University of Georgia

NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving Championships

Georgia Welcomes Nation’s Best to Athens for NCAA Championships

March 19, 2024 | Women's Swimming & Diving

Championship Central Psych Sheet

ATHENS, Ga. – For the third time in program history, the University of Georgia women's swimming and diving team plays host to the nation's best swimmers and divers as it hosts the 2024 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming & Diving Championships, running from March 20-23 at the Bauerle Pool at Gabrielsen Natatorium.

This year's meet returns the national championships for the Classic City for the first time since 2006, when Georgia narrowly missed out on a title with a second-place finish. The Bulldogs won the first of seven national championships in 1999 at Gabrielsen, with Wednesday marking the 25^th anniversary of the clinching day. The natatorium also hosted the men's championships in 2002 and was scheduled to host women's in 2020 before the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The meet opens in earnest on Wednesday with the 200y medley relay and 800y freestyle relay, followed by the full competition slate on Thursday, March 21. For each day of action, prelims will begin at 10 a.m., followed by diving prelims at noon, diving consolation at 5:15 p.m., and finals at 6 p.m. Live coverage of the meet will stream on ESPN+, with live results available on GeorgiaDogs.com and to paid subscribers on the MeetMobile app.

Nine members of the Georgia women's team qualified for the NCAA Championships, including fifth-year senior Zoie Hartman, seniors Sloane Reinstein and Meghan Wenzel, juniors Duné Coetzee, Eboni McCarty, Abby McCulloh, and Rachel Stege, sophomore Shea Furse, and freshman Helena Jones. Wenzel joined the roster for the third time after finishing sixth on 1-meter and 12^th on 3-meter at last week's NCAA Zone B Championships in Athens. Hartman is appearing in her fourth NCAAs, while the junior quartet is making its third appearance together.

The Bulldogs' championship roster is boosted by four relay alternates: senior Julianna Stephens, junior Briana Roberson, and sophomores Olivia Della Torre and Emma Norton. Stephens and Roberson are both making their second NCAA appearances, while Della Torre and Norton are joining Furse and Jones in their nationals debut.

Georgia looks to improve upon last season's 16^th-place finish in Knoxville, which featured Stege finishing fifth in the 500y freestyle and eighth in the 1,650y freestyle and Coetzee taking eighth in the 500y free. Coetzee joined Hartman, Reinstein, and Jillian Barczyk to place eighth in the 800y freestyle relay and reach the podium.

Entering this meet, McCulloh is the highest-seeded Bulldog, holding the nation's fastest time by over five seconds in the 1,650y freestyle with her SEC Championship-winning time of 15:40.96. McCulloh is also one of three Bulldogs seeded top-eight in the 500y freestyle, with Stege ranked second and Coetzee fifth. Hartman is seeded eighth in the 200y IM, 11^th in the 100y breaststroke, and 12^th in the 200y breaststroke as she looks to become the most decorated All-American in program history. In the 100y backstroke, McCarty is seeded ninth after placing 14^th in the event last season. Additionally, all five Georgia relays qualified for the meet, including the ninth-seeded 800 freestyle relay.

For all news and updates about Georgia swimming and diving, follow the Bulldogs on Twitter (@UGASwimDive), Instagram (@ugaswimdive), and Facebook (UGA Swimming and Diving).