Arizona swim and dive places second in first Big 12 Championship

Wildcats take home silver

Gabriel Paz

March 9, 2025

Arizona wildcats Seth Miller swam butterfly Oct 21, 2022. The swimming and diving meet was held at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center.

The University of Arizona swim and dive men’s and women’s teams, both had heavy accomplishments while participating in the Big 12 Championships in Federal Way, Wash. from Tuesday Feb. 25 to Saturday Mar. 1. Despite a second-place finish, Arizona had multiple athletes place first and also set a new school record.

The men’s squad collected a total of 1301 final points while the women’s ended the meet with a 1240. Arizona’s highest honors came from the women’s 100-yard freestyle.

Julia Wozniak was Arizona’s only 1st place winner, beating both her personal best and Arizona’s season best for the race with a final time of 48.56. This qualified them for the “B” Cut standard for the NCAA National Championship.

Riley Botton was seconds behind Wozniak finishing at 48.77. She beat her personal best along with making the “B” cut. Following them was sixth place finisher Alyssa Schwengel along with eight place finisher Lexi Duchsherer.

Another highlight saw both teams place 2nd in their respective 400-yard free relay.

The men’s team included Ralph Daleiden, Hunter Ingram, Jadan Nabor, and Taylor Luck finishing with a time of 2:49.41.

The women’s team included the women’s 100-yard freestyle racers, Lexi Duchsherer, Riley Botton, Julia Wozniak, and Alyssa Schwengel finishing at 3:15.62.

Along with them, plenty of other swimmers captured season records for Arizona times. Men’s second place finisher for the 100-yard backstroke, Will Meyers, finished at 1:40.81. Women’s 1650-yard freestyle swimmer, Malia Rausch, finished with a time of 16:36.77. Both athletes made an NCAA “B” cut.

Notably, during the 100-yard free preliminary round, Tomas Lukminas broke Arizona’s school record with a time of 41.56, collecting the third-place spot. The previous record was held by Daleiden (42.00).

Although the Wildcats had multiple dominating performances throughout the season, Arizona’s diving struggle did not allow them to find themselves in high spots on the podium. Zara Ayazi was the highest performing diver on both teams, with a score of 229.95 which landed her 7th place on the platform.

Ultimately, both men’s and women’s teams placed second among all programs. The men’s final points came out to 1301 while the women’s came out to 1240. Both teams were only beaten by the other Arizona school, rival ASU.