Upcoming Event: Women's Swimming & Diving versus Alumni Meet on October 11, 2025 at 10:00 AM
10:00 AM
Women's Swimming & Diving
vs Alumni Meet
2018 Utah Women's Swimming and Diving Season Preview
9/14/2018 12:48 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Utes open season on Oct. 9 at defending national champion Stanford
The Utah women's swimming and diving team is fresh off another successful campaign, one that saw it capture the last five dual meets of the 2017-18 season.
Head coach Joe Dykstra is entering his sixth season at the helm and expects this one to be better than the last. With a core group of veteran swimmers, a top recruiting class, and an experienced diving squad, Dykstra is confident this team can compete with the rest of the conference.
"It is the best atmosphere around our program since I arrived in Salt Lake City. We expect to have another big year with this program."
The women's squad this year is led by senior captains Jordan Anderson, Darby Wayner, and Genny Robertson. Anderson and Robertson are both experienced swimmers who have made NCAA Championships in the past and Dykstra expects Wayner to get there this season.
"I am super excited about our captains. Not just about how well they are going to do competitively, but about the level of leadership they are bringing."
Anderson, a veteran from Granite Bay, California, is fresh off a ninth-place finish in the 400 IM at the Pac 12 Championships and qualified for the 200 fly and 400 IM at the NCAA Championships.
Robertson qualified and won the "B" final of the 100 breast at the Pac-12 Championships (1:01.00) and then took 10th overall in the 200 breast (2:10.85) after a NCAA appearance as a sophomore. Wayner qualified for the "B" final of the 100 breast at the Pac-12 Championships, placing 11th overall (1:01.48) and also made the "C" final of the 200 breast (2:15.60)
Another veteran, Gillian St. John, will enter her senior season with the program as well. Last year, St. John was a force for Utah, swimming a diverse range of events and dominating late in the season. She won the 200 IM against Oregon State and followed it with a sweep in the 50 free and fly at Washington State the next weekend, both Utah victories.
In addition to the returning swimmers, Dykstra gushed about this recruiting class being one of the best he has seen.
"On our depth chart in the 100 fly, the top three are all freshmen. Audrey Reimer comes in faster than our school record holder in the 200 back. Aryanna Fernandes and Emma Lawless are going to be two of our top swimmers right off the bat. We are really excited about all of them."
Foreign recruiting has often been one of Utah's strengths, having brought in swimmers from Egypt, England, France, Italy, and Brazil. This year, Dykstra has added another country to that list.
"Kristina Miletic will join us from Croatia and we expect her to be a dynamic presence for our distance group."
The combination of veteran swimmers with underclassmen will be an interesting mix, but nothing Dykstra has not dealt with before. Having so much depth is a good problem to have.
Richard Marschner returns to Utah for his tenth season as the head diving coach. Maintaining such consistency requires Marschner to recruit heavily while also streamlining the development of his returners.
"We had a lot of growth as a team last season. We had some kids work really hard this summer, as well as some freshmen that are coming in who we are really excited about. So, we are a young team but we also have a lot of talent."
Returning this year are Emma Ruchala, Clare Greenlow and Makenzie Caufield. All three will play key roles in the team's success this year.
"We're expecting great things from Clare and Emma," added Marschner. "They were making really good progress toward the end of last year."
For Utah, the competition is as good as ever, but with an experienced coaching staff and a well rounded team, anything is possible.
Head coach Joe Dykstra is entering his sixth season at the helm and expects this one to be better than the last. With a core group of veteran swimmers, a top recruiting class, and an experienced diving squad, Dykstra is confident this team can compete with the rest of the conference.
"It is the best atmosphere around our program since I arrived in Salt Lake City. We expect to have another big year with this program."
The women's squad this year is led by senior captains Jordan Anderson, Darby Wayner, and Genny Robertson. Anderson and Robertson are both experienced swimmers who have made NCAA Championships in the past and Dykstra expects Wayner to get there this season.
"I am super excited about our captains. Not just about how well they are going to do competitively, but about the level of leadership they are bringing."
Anderson, a veteran from Granite Bay, California, is fresh off a ninth-place finish in the 400 IM at the Pac 12 Championships and qualified for the 200 fly and 400 IM at the NCAA Championships.
Robertson qualified and won the "B" final of the 100 breast at the Pac-12 Championships (1:01.00) and then took 10th overall in the 200 breast (2:10.85) after a NCAA appearance as a sophomore. Wayner qualified for the "B" final of the 100 breast at the Pac-12 Championships, placing 11th overall (1:01.48) and also made the "C" final of the 200 breast (2:15.60)
Another veteran, Gillian St. John, will enter her senior season with the program as well. Last year, St. John was a force for Utah, swimming a diverse range of events and dominating late in the season. She won the 200 IM against Oregon State and followed it with a sweep in the 50 free and fly at Washington State the next weekend, both Utah victories.
In addition to the returning swimmers, Dykstra gushed about this recruiting class being one of the best he has seen.
"On our depth chart in the 100 fly, the top three are all freshmen. Audrey Reimer comes in faster than our school record holder in the 200 back. Aryanna Fernandes and Emma Lawless are going to be two of our top swimmers right off the bat. We are really excited about all of them."
Foreign recruiting has often been one of Utah's strengths, having brought in swimmers from Egypt, England, France, Italy, and Brazil. This year, Dykstra has added another country to that list.
"Kristina Miletic will join us from Croatia and we expect her to be a dynamic presence for our distance group."
The combination of veteran swimmers with underclassmen will be an interesting mix, but nothing Dykstra has not dealt with before. Having so much depth is a good problem to have.
Richard Marschner returns to Utah for his tenth season as the head diving coach. Maintaining such consistency requires Marschner to recruit heavily while also streamlining the development of his returners.
"We had a lot of growth as a team last season. We had some kids work really hard this summer, as well as some freshmen that are coming in who we are really excited about. So, we are a young team but we also have a lot of talent."
Returning this year are Emma Ruchala, Clare Greenlow and Makenzie Caufield. All three will play key roles in the team's success this year.
"We're expecting great things from Clare and Emma," added Marschner. "They were making really good progress toward the end of last year."
For Utah, the competition is as good as ever, but with an experienced coaching staff and a well rounded team, anything is possible.
Players Mentioned
Distance Free/Fly/IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Fly
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Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Back/Fly/Free
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Free/IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Back/Free/IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Breast
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Sprint Free
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Sprint Free/IM
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