University of The Incarnate Word Wins First Collegiate Championship in Program History
by USA Artistic Swimming
Competition at the 2024 Collegiate Championship concluded in Lewisville, Texas yesterday. This year marked the first time the championship has been held utilizing the new artistic swimming scoring system that rewards difficulty and strategy, with the community electing to stick to the old system for an extra season in 2023. It certainly shook things up in the Lone Star state, as history was made when the UIW Cardinals were awarded the Overall Institution Award for the first time in program history with 95 total points. The UIW Cardinals topped the duet category for the first time since 2012 and earned the trio title for the first time in event history. It was a tight competition up until the very end, and they were followed closely in standings by Stanford with 92 points and Texas Woman's University with 69 points.
Overall Institution
1. University of Incarnate Word
2. Stanford University
3. Texas Woman's University
The event began with figures where athletes showed their commitment to technical excellence and artistic swimming basics with a new routine for A and B figures and new elements for C and D figures. In A figures, the top-10 was made up of four Stanford swimmers, four Incarnate Word swimmers and two Ohio State swimmers. Collegiate powerhouse Canadian Emily Armstrong from Ohio State took the first-place position followed by Nicole Goot and Yara Elain, both from Stanford. Top-5 for B figures included Claire Brett (Incarnate Word), Maddie Romney (Ohio State), Carly Ermer (Incarnate Word), Meghan Tromp (Incarnate Word) and Marieve Gagnon (Incarnate Word). Ava Monteys Vinardell from Texas Woman’s University won C figures and Josephine Basco from Wheaton took first in D.
Wheaton’s Olivia MacDonald made history as the solo champion, bringing Wheaton’s very first national artistic swimming title home after a clean swim where her difficulty and height were rewarded. MacDonald was also named the MPSF conference champion earlier this year. She was followed by Cardinal Lindi Schroeder and Pioneer Maya Schwickert who secured the silver and bronze medals, respectively. The top two athletes were able to execute clean swims free of base marks while the rest of the field missed out on critical points due to execution of declared hybrids.
Solo
1. Olivia MacDonald (Wheaton)
2. Lindi Schroeder (Stanford)
3. Maya Schwickert (Texas Woman’s)
Impressively, UIW took all top-three spots in duet before honorary placements were factored into standings. Elizabeth Battista paired with Mariia Kriuchkova for the gold medal followed by teammates Camryn Hoey and Abby Remmers and the duet of Paige Areizaga and Maria Bofill. The Cardinals represented in the final category of the first day. Stanford, Texas Woman’s and Ohio State followed behind.
Duet
1. Battista/Kriuchkova (Incarnate Word)
2. Hooey/Remmers (Incarnate Word)
3. Rau/Elian (Stanford)
Day two kicked off with the trio competition, a category unique to collegiate artistic swimming. UIW again had a strong showing, taking the first-place spot followed by two Stanford trios. Collegiate institutions select five total routines to count toward the overall institution score at the event, and this category gave UIW the confidence to head into the team final. With Stanford electing to count two trios and UIW choosing to risk it in the category with more points, if UIW’s athletes could avoid detrimental base marks in the team portion of the competition, they were poised for success.
Trio
1. Areizaga/Gauthier/Remmers (Incarnate Word)
2. Brunel/Elian/Schroeder (Stanford)
3. Tchakmakjian/Davis/Begossi (Stanford)
The strategy paid off. Even though Stanford A team avenged their defeat from the MPSF Championship and topped the team podium with a clean and difficult space-themed routine, UIW collected the most points thanks to strong second and third place team finishes overall. This is the second year in a row Stanford has claimed the team title. Fourth and fifth places went to two impressive Texas Woman’s routines.
Team
1. Stanford University
2. Incarnate Word
3. Incarnate Word
Other awards included the Athlete of the Year Award that went to Emma Tchakmakjian (Stanford University) and the High Point Athlete award that went to Yara Elian (Stanford University). The Collegiate Coach of the Year Award deservingly went to Alyson Haylor, who secured the Cardinal’s first-ever National Championship in just her second year leading the program. UCLA’s team maintained their title as the top club program despite the program is still new to the collegiate scene.
Full results from the event can be found on the event page HERE.