Artistic Swimming | 3/25/2023 7:56:00 PM
WESTMONT, Illinois (March 25, 2023) – The second season in program history for Texas Woman's Artistic Swimming came to a historical end at the U.S. Collegiate Nationals on Saturday.
In just their second year as a program, the Pioneers once again made a big splash in collegiate artistic swimming.
The final day of competition showcased the Top 12 routines, as determined by the preliminary rounds.
Starting off the day with trios, the trio of
Anaya Kashikar,
Ada Monteys Vinardell and
Laura Klein Paredes performed third out of the 12 routines and set the tone early for great performances. They scored a 73.5667 to finish the day in ninth.
Their incredible energy ignited the FMC Natatorium and laid the foundation for the TWU trio of
Maribella Falconer,
Candela Fidalgo Garcia and
Ashley Latchford, who swam fourth. Their voodoo themed trio scored a 76.9667 to secure seventh place in exciting fashion.
Following the trio competition, the Pioneers swam in the duet finals. Falconer and
Kimberly Poitras, swimming their Illusion Duet, drew the fifth spot and swam a strong routine to shatter their former season-high set in the preliminary round with a 73.5333 to place seventh.
Two spots after, in the seventh position, the duet of Fidalgo Garcia and
Regina Ramirez swam their electrifying Heartbreaker routine to score a season-high of 75.7000 to place sixth.
After the duets, Latchford shone on the solo stage with her routine to Billie Eilish's idontwannabeyouanymore. Latchford elevated her performance and finished in fourth place for the second straight year.
The team routine capped off the U.S. Collegiate competition in exclamatory fashion. With their fiery dragon routine, the Pioneers' team – Falconer, Fidalgo Garcia, Klein Paredes, Latchford, Monteys Vinardell, Poitras, Ramirez and Kashikar – performed seventh, lighting up the pool. They scored a 77.2000, narrowly missing their program high of 77.6000, to finish in sixth place.
After the competition and the final scores were calculated and confirmed, the awards were announced, including the Overall Institution High Point Award, as the teams receive points for placement in the events.
For the second straight season, TWU placed fourth out of 13 teams with 59.0 points, knocking on the doorstep of big artistic swimming programs, UIW, Ohio State and Stanford, and surpassing notable programs as well.
"I am so proud of these athletes and this team," TWU Head Coach Sara Lilly said. "The resilience they showed as we faced injuries throughout the season and continuously pivoted was inspiring. They trusted in their training and committed to giving 100% at practice every day. They put some great swims into the pool at Collegiate Nationals, and I cannot wait to start training next season."
TWU once again inked history in the record books and continue to build a strong foundation for the future of artistic swimming.
The overall team rankings can be viewed below:
| 1 |
The Ohio State University |
| 2 |
Stanford University |
| 3 |
University of the Incarnate Word |
| 4 |
Texas Woman's University |
| 5 |
UCLA Artistic Swimming |
| 6 |
Wheaton College |
| 7 |
University of Florida Gator Synchro |
| 8 |
University of Arizona |
| 9 |
University of Michigan |
| 10 |
University of Minnesota |
| 11 |
Boston University Synchro |
| 12 |
University of Richmond |
| 13 |
University of Pennsylvania |
-PIONEERS-
The Solo Final Results have not been reported. We will update the article and Results packet when those are posted. The placing for Latchord was determined from the final award announcements.
