University of Minnesota Athletics
Players Mentioned
Three Gophers Qualify for 2025 Women’s NCAA Championships
3/5/2025 10:45:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
MINNEAPOLIS - Gopher swimmers Eliot Kennedy, Katie McCarthy, and Ava Yablonski will represent the University of Minnesota at the 2024 NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships on March 19-22 in Federal Way, Wash., it was announced Wednesday.
Fifth-year Kennedy, set to make back-to-back NCAA Championships appearances, will swim in the 500 free and 1650 free. Kennedy set a new personal bests in both events at the Big Ten Championships. In the 500 free, she recorded a time of 4:39.82, finishing 8th. In the 1650 free, her time of 15:54.05 earned a third place finish, shattering her seed time by around 14 seconds.
Sophomore McCarthy, securing a spot in her second NCAA Championships, will also take part in the 500 free and 1650 free, as well as the 400 IM. At the Big Ten Championships, she set a PR in the 500 free with a time of 4:40.44. McCarthy also clinched a personal best at the Last Chance Meet in Madison, Wisc. last weekend, recording a time of 16:05.75 in the 1650 free.
Junior Yablonksi will compete in the 100 back and 200 back for her debut NCAA Championships appearance. Yablonski twice set a new school record in the 100 back during the Big Ten Championships, first notching a 51.63 in prelims before reaching 51.61 in the opening slit of the 400 medley relay finals. She clinched a podium finish in both the 100 back and 400 medley relay. Yablonski also set a new personal record in the 200 back finals at this season's Big Tens, recording a time of 1:53.69, which placed her tenth.
The Maroon & Gold will also have the opportunity to add more participants in this year's NCAAs after the NCAA Zone Diving Championships, which will be held on March 10-12 in Iowa City, Iowa.
Washington State University will serve as host of the 2025 NCAA Championships. The meet will run from Wednesday, March 19 through Saturday, March 22 at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center. Wednesday's events will begin at 6:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. CT. All other days' events will begin with preliminary rounds at 10:00 a.m. ET/9:00 a.m. CT, then finals at 6:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. CT.