WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Penn State women's swimming and diving will compete at the 2024 Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind. this week. The event will begin on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 5 p.m. and run each day following until Saturday, Feb. 24 beginning at 10 a.m. each day. Each day of the Championship will have live results and be streamed on B1G+.
Penn State women's swimming and diving will have to face some tough Big Ten teams, including two top-ten CSCAA ranked teams, No. 6 Indiana and No. 8 Ohio State.
The Nittany Lions are looking strong coming into this championship meet. There are several Penn State record holders who will be competing this weekend.
Senior Emma Harvey is coming off of the National Championships where she competed for Bermuda. She placed 14th in the world in the 50 back and 25th in the world in the 50 fly. The 14th in the 50 back is the highest placing score in Bermuda history. She also is ranked 19th in the world in the 100 back when she got a Bermuda national record with a time of 1:01.88.
Senior Cat Stanford enters the competition holding the fifth-fastest 50 free time in Penn State program history. She has been exceptional in this event this season, with a top-three spot in that event at three meets so far.
Sophomore Catherine Meisner has been one to watch out for this season particularly in the 500 free as she has four first place finishes in that event. There are several first-place wins and top-three finishes in other freestyle events as well including the 200 free, 100 free and freestyle relays.
In their last regular season meet against Villanova, the Nittany Lions had 15 first place finishes. They were especially strong in freestyle events with freshman Morgan Jenny winning the 1000 free, Meisner taking yet another win in the 200 free, and the top two spots going to junior Maura Fluehr and senior Abby Henderson.
The women divers swept the 3 meter in their last meet with freshman Kailey Koval placing first, sophomore Charlize Beniquez placing second, and senior Kenzie Clark coming in third. Koval also placed first in the 1-meter at the last meet.
The 2023-2024 Season:
The Penn State Nittany Lions have swam in eight meets this season, including the Princeton Big Al Invitational.
The women's team was able to take wins against St. Bonaventure, Navy, West Virginia, Army and Villanova, and came in second place at the Princeton Invitational. Their only losses were to Virginia Tech, Notre Dame and Pitt.
At last year's Big Ten Championships, Penn State women's swimming and diving came in eighth place.
For updates on Penn State swimming and diving, follow the team on Instagram (@pennstateswimdive), Twitter (@PennStateSwim) and Facebook (Penn State Swimming & Diving).
