LEWISBURG, Pa. - It was an incredible week for Mimi Watts of American University swimming & diving, as the junior captured three individual conference titles and was named the Eagles' first PL Women's Swimmer of the Meet in 17 years. Watts set individual school records in winning all three of her gold medals, while also being a part of two relay school records. In all, second-year head coach Garland Bartlett's men's and women's programs set six school records and had 19 swimmers and divers place in the top 16 in individual events.

Women's Notable

• After first setting her third individual school record in the 100 freestyle prelims with a time of 50.17, Watts did one better and swam her first sub-50 with a school-record and winning time of 49.80 in the finals. It was her first time swimming the event at the PL Championships, and was her third gold medal of the championships to put her total career medal count at six after winning two silvers and a bronze last year.
• Watts trailed Army's Clara Williams at the final turn of the 100 free but made up the distance in the final sprint to win by three-tenths of a second.
• Prior to Watts, the last Women's Swimmer of the Meet for American was Meghan Thiel in 2006 (and a co-honor in 2005). Thiel was inducted into the Eagles' Pop Cassell Hall of Fame in 2022.
• In the final event of the championships, the 400 freestyle relay, Watts teamed up with freshman Avery Barber, junior Sasha Uspenskaya and sophomore Marissa Kleckner to place seventh in a school-record time of 3:26.68.
• Junior Maddie Mara finished in a PR of 2:20.25 in the 200 breaststroke prelims to rank third all-time at AU and advance to her second consolation final of the week. In that final, she improved her time yet again, finishing in 2:20.21 to place third in the final and 11th overall.
• Also advancing to a second consolation final was freshman Sophia Hemingway with a PR of 2:02.53 in the 200 backstroke which improved on her previous fifth-best time at AU. She bested that yet again in the finals, going 2:02.10 to finish 12th overall.
• Freshman Gabby Kaczorowski had a strong swim in the 200 backstroke prelims with a PR of 2:07.70.
• In the 3-meter diving prelims, freshman Peyton Thurman scored 244.74 to place 11th and advance to the consolation final. She scored 241.65 in the final to place sixth, putting her at 14th overall.
• Senior Kayla Winters closed out her career by scoring points in the 1,650 freestyle with a 16th-place finish in 17:44.89.

Men's Notable

• The men's foursome of junior Nick Buckley, freshman Colin Clough, junior Carlos Cordero and junior Caleb Farris closed out the championships with a seventh-place finish in the 400 free relay, posting the fourth-best time in program history of 3:04.00.
• Farris advanced to his second consolation final with a PR of 45.43 in the 100 freestyle that ties him for fourth all-time in program history.
• Advancing to his first-ever final was junior Will Timme in the 200 breaststroke. His PR of 2:04.65 was good enough for the consolation final and improved upon his previous 12th-best time at AU.
• Freshman Nate Coleman posted a PR of 1:52.09 in the 200 backstroke prelims to improve on his already 14th-best time on AU's top 16 list. Junior Aldrich Elvambuena also had a PR of 1:55.07 in that event.
• In the 200 fly, freshman Jack Reilly was close to making finals with a PR of 1:54.01 that ranks 14th all-time at AU.
• Junior Joe Melin was a point-scorer for AU in the 1,650 freestyle, placing 16th in a PR time of 16:12.20 that ranks 13th all-time at American.

Team Finish

• With 221 total points, the women's team placed seventh for a second year in a row to tie their best finish since 2015.
• The men's team also placed seventh with 148.5 points, improving on their eighth-place finish from 2022.

Medals

• Women's 50 Freestyle - Mimi Watts - Gold
• Women's 100 Butterfly - Mimi Watts - Gold
• Women's 100 Freestyle - Mimi Watts - Gold

School Records

• Women's 50 Freestyle - Mimi Watts - 22.52
• Women's 100 Butterfly - Mimi Watts - 52.76
• Women's 100 Freestyle - Mimi Watts - 49.80
• Men's 200 Medley Relay - Aidan Delehanty, Will Deitch, Caleb Farris, Nick Buckley - 1:30.07
• Women's 400 Medley Relay - Sophia Hemingway, Maddie Mara, Mimi Watts, Marissa Kleckner - 3:44.43
• Women's 400 Freestyle Relay - Avery Barber, Sasha Uspenskaya, Mimi Watts, Marissa Kleckner - 3:26.68

Next Up

• The Eagles will hold their annual intrasquad Eagle Invite on Wednesday, February 22 at 3:15 p.m. 
• On February 24-26, some team members will head to the ECAC Championships at Navy.

Stay Connected

• For more information on AU swim and dive, follow the team on Twitter (@AU_SwimDive), Facebook (@AU.SwimDive) and Instagram (@au_swim_dive).