The University of Rhode Island women’s swim and dive team competed in the Atlantic 10 Championship across four days this week, finishing in 10th place while posting its best score since 2017 with 189 points.
“There is always a desire to place higher as a team, but we doubled the amount of finals appearances this year from last year, and I am really proud of that accomplishment,” Rhode Island Head Coach Lilli Falconer Deering said. “We scored way more points than we did last year and are closing the gap with more teams.”
Diving opened day one of the championship, with Rhode Island having two athletes qualify for the one-meter dive consolation final. Third-year divers Olivia Winslow and Lily Hsu finished 10th and 12th overall to earn a combined 12 points.
Rhode Island ended the day with 38 points, scoring the remaining 26 points across the 200-yard medley and 800-yard freestyle relay events.
Third-year swimmer Rylee Kelly returned to the water on day two, after being part of the 800-yard freestyle relay the night before, for her first individual event, the 500-yard freestyle.
“She absolutely crushed it in the 500,” Deering said. “We haven’t had anyone make it back in the 500 free in years, so this was very exciting for her to qualify and also swim a lifetime best by three seconds.”
Kelly originally set her lifetime best with a qualifying time of 4:56.72. She quickly one-upped herself in the consolation final, touching the wall at 4:55.12 to earn 12th place. She was able to take her momentum into day three with a seventh-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle.
“[Kelly’s day two performance] really helped boost her confidence going into the next day for the 200 free,” Deering said. “She has wanted that success in both events for quite some time, and so I am really happy for her and proud of her.”
Fourth-year swimmer Hannah Benavides joined Kelly with her own seventh-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Six swimmers qualified during their preliminary events on day three, up from two last year. Winslow and Hsu repeated their day one results, finishing 10th and 12th, respectively, in the three-meter dive to earn another 12 points.
URI wrapped up the night with its best relay performance of the championship, earning eighth in the 400-yard medley relay. Scoring 24 points for the team, the Rams also set a new program record.
Finishing at 3:45.90, fourth-year swimmers, Jackie Triglia, Benavides, Ella Hacker and third-year Abby Zadorozny, surpassed the prior record of 3:46.32 set in 2014.
“To have three seniors on that relay was just really special,” Deering said. “I am really excited to have their names up on the record board.”
Rhode Island added 76 points on day three to bring its total to 131, 17 points shy of 2024’s result entering the final day.
“I think we knew we were going to surpass last year’s total points, but we were aiming for 200,” Deering said. “We certainly weren’t disappointed with our point total, but excited about the future and breaking into that 200-point bracket.”
The Rams fell 11 points short of their 200-point goal, but brought in their best individual placements of the championship. Benavides in the 200-yard breaststroke and Hacker in the 200-yard butterfly each delivered sixth-place finishes. The team wrapped up its swimming season by finishing ninth place in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
“I’m really proud of the entire team this season; they trained harder this year than ever and the results are there to prove it,” Deering said. “There’s a general sense of accomplishment and excitement for the future.”
After being named interim head coach for the 2021-22 season, this marks the first graduating class that Deering has coached for all four years.
“I could not be more proud of them,” Deering said. “They are a really talented class and I knew that from the moment I finished recruiting them, and I think this year was just an incredible way to finish with them. They’ve left a great mark on the team and we are going to miss them a ton next year.”
Rhody’s divers are not done just yet, with the Zone A Diving Championship on March 10. All four divers will compete, with Winslow and Hsu being joined by second-year Anna Petke and first-year Amelia Kloss.
“This is a very competitive meet and is always a great opportunity for our athletes to compete against very high-caliber divers,” Deering said. “I am excited to see how they do; they are very well prepared.”
Everyone but Kloss will participate in both the one and three-meter dives, with Kloss only taking part in the one-meter. The championship will be held at Rutgers University.
