Artistic Swimming | 4/14/2024 10:15:00 AM

DENTON, Texas (April 13, 2024) – The Texas Woman's artistic swimming team continues to make history this season.

After the conclusion of the 2024 USA Artistic Swimming (USAAS) Collegiate Nationals, individual awards were announced based on individual scoring in the championship.

For the first time in program history, the Pioneers celebrated multiple USAAS All-Americans, as Candela Fidalgo Garcia and Maya Schwickert were named All-Americans for the first time in their careers.

It marks the third and fourth All-American honors for the Pioneers as a program.

The awards are given based on the points accumulated at the 2024 U.S. Collegiate Championships.

At the Collegiate Nationals, Fidalgo Garcia placed fourth in the solo competition – her highest individual placement at Collegiate Nationals in her career. She also swam in the duet competition with Regina Ramirez, and the duo finished fourth, which is the highest placement of a duet in TWU history. Finally, Fidalgo Garcia swam with TWU's Team Minerva, which placed fifth – the highest team placement in program history.

Schwickert, in her freshman season with TWU, competed in the solo competition and finished the highest of any Pioneer in program history with a third place finish. Additionally, she paired up with Ashley Latchford and Makayla Crichton for a trio performance and placed fifth, which marked the highest placement by a Pioneer trio. Finally, Schwickert also swam with Team Minerva, who finished fifth.

This marked the first All-American honors for both Fidalgo Garcia and Schwickert, and the third and fourth overall in program history. 

"Maya and Cande's inclusion in the All-American Team is not just a testament to their exceptional talent, but a celebration of their unwavering dedication and relentless pursuit of excellence as Pioneers," said TWU Head Coach Barb Nesbitt Ng. "I am so proud of their hard work being recognized and know that this is only the beginning for both of them."

Fidalgo Garcia and Schwickert were also named All-Collegiate Award winners, along with Makayla Crichton, Ashley Latchford and Regina Ramirez. The awards are split into Division award winners, and the Pioneers swept the Division II awards. Additionally, the five awardees marked the most All-Collegiate Award winners in program history.

The Pioneers first senior in program history, Crichton, swam the trio with Schwickert and Latchford, which placed in the historical fifth place.

Crichton, Latchford and Ramirez all swam with Team Minerva who recorded the highest placement in program history in fifth place.

Ramirez also swam with Fidalgo Garcia in the duet and finished fourth – the highest placement in program history.

This marked the third All-Collegiate Award for Latchford and Ramirez, second for Fidalgo Garcia and the first career awards for Schwickert and Crichton. 

"We have such a strong presence of All-Collegiate award recipients with five athletes being recognized which is the largest number of any University across all Divisions," Nesbitt Ng said. "I am so proud of our student-athletes and their hard work this year as well as their ability to showcase all they have worked for at our National Championship in front of our home crowd."