The NCAA Division I meet is always one of the fastest meets in the world — competition is third only to the Olympics and Olympic Trials. The meet was held at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion, the home pool of The Ohio State Buckeyes.
Sophomore Alicia Aemisegger, an All-America in two events last year, earned All-America distinctions this year in three individual events, finishing the weekend with three top-10 finishes. She finished fourth in the 400-yard individual medley, fifth in the 500-yard freestyle and eighth in the 1,650-yard free.
Aemisegger joined senior Brett Shiflett, junior Justina DiFazio and freshman Meredith Monroe on the first Princeton 800-yard freestyle relay team since 1981 to earn an Honorable Mention All-America distinction, as they placed 16th nationally.
“Having seven people going to [NCAAs] was very special, not only because we’re from the Ivy League, but because we were all genuinely proud of each other, and the team was genuinely proud of everyone who made it,” sophomore Courtney Kilkuts said. “Any other team would be more than happy to have so many make it to NCAAs.”
Competition began Thursday morning, with Kilkuts and Aemisegger competing in the morning preliminary heats. Kilkuts, the Ivy League champion in the 200-yard IM and 100-yard breaststroke, posted an individual top morning time in the IM but failed to qualify for the finals. Senior co-captain Lisa Hamming also competed and posted a top time in the IM but did not make the top 16.
Princeton also competed in the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard medley relay, posting top-25 times in the morning.
Aemisegger qualified for the finals in the 500-yard freestyle in four minutes, 39.69 seconds, the second-best time in prelims. Later that night, Aemisegger was battling for second after 300 yards, with the rest of the field within .2 seconds of each other. While Aemisegger had evenly split the majority of the race, Auburn’s Maggie Bird and Texas A&M’s Kristen Heiss negative split the last 200, barely out-touching Aemisegger at the wall. The winning time of 4:33.60 broke an 18-year-old NCAA record set by former Olympian and world-record holder Janet Evans.
Princeton had six of seven compete Friday morning, with Aemisegger and Shiflett posting the top individual times for the Tigers. Shiflett, the Ivy League champion in 100-and 200-yard free, posted the 28th fastest prelim time in the 200-yard freestyle, clocking in at 1:47.16. DiFazio, also an Ivy League champion, turned in a 1:50.34, another top national time.
Aemisegger topped off the night for the Tigers, as she entered finals with the third-fastest time of the morning, just .3 seconds off the top time set by Stanford’s Julia Smit. Aemisegger battled it out against the top national IMers, staying within a second of the top two finishers at all times. After falling behind in the first 50 yards of the backstroke leg, Aemisegger more than made up the ground during her freestyle. She came from behind to take fourth, as the top finisher posted an all-time top-10 time in the 400-yard IM.
The Tigers ended Friday night with arguably the best race of the meet. The Princeton squad of Aemisegger, Shiflett, DiFazio and Monroe raced to the bitter end during the 800-yard freestyle relay, coming back from a two-second deficit at the beginning of the last 200 yards to place as the 16th-fastest team in the nation. Monroe, anchoring the relay team, needed a personal best by a full 1.5 seconds to place in the top 16. With 25 yards to go, Monroe made it happen, spliting 28.06 in the last 50 yards.
Monroe would go on to have her best meet of the season, posting another personal best time and an Ivy League record in the 200-yard backstroke, finishing 19th overall at prelims with a time of 1:57.15.
Aemisegger, a finalist in all the individual events in which she competed, continued her streak with an eighth-place finish in the 1,650-yard free. After setting a record for the number of top-eight NCAA finishes for a Princeton swimmer, Aemisegger has her eyes set on Beijing, as she trains for Olympic Trials this summer.
With the Princeton swimming program on the rise, it’s only a matter of time before it begins to contend for the title.
“The results from this meet show that we’re definitely national contenders, not just Ivy League champions,” Kilkuts said. “The times we posted this season will help build our momentum, and it will definitely help in recruiting and in the future growth of the program.”
With five of the seven NCAA competitors returning next year, Princeton looks forward to clinching its fourth-straight Ivy League championship after winning eight of the last nine,and 18 overall.
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