The 2024 Division I men’s swimming and diving championships began on Wednesday, March 27, in the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis and continued until Saturday, March 30. The University of Arizona was represented by swimmers Ralph Daleiden, Thomas Palmer, Haakon Naughton, Ryan Foote, Ryan Hardy, Seth Miller and Jadan Nabor, and diver Gage DuBois. The team finished in 27th place with a total of 19 points for the tournament.
Day 1: Wednesday, March 27
The first day included two events: the 200-yard medley relay and the 800-yard freestyle relay. The Wildcats participated in the medley relay, with swimmers Hardy, Foote, Miller and Palmer finishing 16th with a time of 1:23.89. They earned 2 points for the last scoring position and received an Honorable Mention All-American.
The day ended with the Wildcats tying for 20th place with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Day 2: Thursday, March 28
Thursday featured four events: the 200-yard individual medley, 50-yard freestyle, 1-meter dive and the 200-yard freestyle relay.
DuBois achieved the only top-eight position for the Wildcats, finishing sixth overall in the final with 13 points (381.95). Naughton swam the 200y IM preliminary, and secured 56th place with a time of 1:47.13. Palmer and Daleiden performed well in the 50y freestyle, with Palmer ranking 28th (19.28) and Daleiden 40th (19.51). To end the day, Palmer, Miller, Daleiden and Nabor competed in the 200y freestyle relay, finishing 21st (1:16.89).
The Wildcats rose to 22nd place after the conclusion of the seventh event out of 29 teams.
Day 3: Friday, March 29
The men’s swim and dive team only participated in the preliminary rounds on the third day, because they were unable to qualify for the finals.
In the 100-yard butterfly preliminary round, Naughton ranked 40th with a time of 46.56, and Palmer ranked 41st with a time of 46.64. Daleiden competed in the 200-yard freestyle preliminaries, landing in 24th place with a time of 1:32.75. DuBois competed in the men’s 3-meter dive, placing 25th in the preliminary round.
To finish Friday, Hardy, Foote, Nabor and Daleiden swam the 400-yard medley relay, landing them in 15th place with a final time of 3:05.80. This earned the team 4 more points and another Honorable Mention All-American, bringing the Wildcats up to 19 points for the day.
Day 4: Saturday, March 30
To conclude the championships, the Wildcats advanced three athletes to the preliminary rounds: Naughton ranked 35th with a time of 1:43.14 in the 200-yard fly, Daleiden placed 33rd with a time of 42.24 in the 100-yard freestyle and DuBois secured the 35th spot with a score of 286.00 in the platform dive. Finally, Daleiden, Nabor, Naughton and Palmer concluded the championships with a 19th-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay, clocking in at 2:50.03. This was an improvement over the 2023 championships, as the men did not qualify in the 400y freestyle relay last year due to an early takeoff.
The Wildcats ended the championships in a better position than the year prior, finishing in 27th place rather than 32nd. Nabor and Miller concluded their Wildcat careers after an impressive senior season.
Follow the Daily Wildcat on Instagram and Twitter/X
