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
Friday, October 27
Salt Lake City, UT
1:00 PM
University of Utah
112
vs
188
Arizona
Photo by: Eli Rehmer/Utah Athletics
Swim & Dive Drops Decisions to Arizona
10/27/2023 5:54 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving
Utah women suffer narrow defeat, 151-146, Utah men fall, 188-112
SALT LAKE CITY – Despite nearly a dozen first-place finishes and a smashing debut from freshman Emilia Nilsson Garip, the University of Utah swimming and diving team dropped a pair of decisions to the Arizona Wildcats on Friday at the Ute Natatorium, with the women ending up on the short end of a 151-146 margin, while the final on the men's side stood at 188-112.
"We were dealing with a lot of things that prevented us from bringing a full squad today," said head coach Jonas Persson, "which I think showed a little bit. A lot of people stepped up to fill those shoes and picked up points. We're better than what we showed today, but we had some really great swims from people like Jaek Horner and a lot of our freshman, who stepped up.
"On the women's side, I think we were a lot better. Losing by five points is not fun, but it also shows that we're very competitive, even though we don't have a full roster competing right now."
In the Pool
Four different Utes captured the top spot in multiple events and three of those two-time victors were swimmers. The first Ute to reach the winner's circle twice on Friday was Erin Palmer, who snagged first in the 100 breast for the third time in 2023-24, clocking in at 1:04.53, then bested the field in the 50 free, finishing in 23.47.
Norah Hay raced her way to triumphs in the 100 and 200 backstroke, a feat she also accomplished at the CMU Shootout in September. Hay distanced herself from the competition in the 100 back by reaching the finish in 55.76, while she recorded a mark of 2:00.26 in the latter event. Jaek Horner put up two victories for the Utah men, first by posting a time of 55.21 in the 100 breast, then by touching in 2:00.62 in the 200 breast.
The first Ute to reach the top of the podium on Friday was Chloe Thompson, who won the 1000 free in 10:27.07. Cameron Daniell picked up her first win of season in the women's 500 free, finishing in 5:03.97, and Nick Chirafisi triumphed in the men's 500 free in 4:34.33.
On the Boards
Competing in her first meet as a Ute, Nilsson Garip made a phenomenal first impression by finishing first in the 1m and the 3m and posting scores that were both NCAA Championship Qualifiers and third-all-time in program history in each event. She finished at the top of leaderboard in the 1m by crafting a total of 306.53, then won the 3m by a margin of more than 50 points with a mark of 344.48. Those scores are also among the 10 highest in the nation so far in 2023-24.
Also putting together NCAA qualifying performances for Utah were Holly Waxman and Elias Petersen. Waxman bested the NCAA benchmark in 1m with a mark of 294.15, then piled up 291.23 points to accomplish the same feat in the 3m. Petersen finished with a total of 332.70 in the 1m, more than 30 points ahead of the qualifying standard.
"We had a really good day on the boards," said head diving coach Richard Marschner. "I'm really happy with the process that we're going through. Our results are great as well, but we're also going through a really good process to get us ready for February and March when it matters the most. We had some excellent diving and some really good events.
"Emilia put up a couple of No. 3 performances on our all-time list on both boards. Holly was great on the 3m and I'm really happy with Elias. I'm excited for the process and how we're preparing ourselves for later on."
Looking Ahead
Utah's next challenge will be a Nov. 4 matchup at UNLV.
Follow the Utes!
For fans of the Utah men's/women's swimming and diving programs, follow the Utes on Twitter (@UTAHswimdive), Instagram (@utahswimdive) and Facebook (@UtahUtesSwimDive).
"We were dealing with a lot of things that prevented us from bringing a full squad today," said head coach Jonas Persson, "which I think showed a little bit. A lot of people stepped up to fill those shoes and picked up points. We're better than what we showed today, but we had some really great swims from people like Jaek Horner and a lot of our freshman, who stepped up.
"On the women's side, I think we were a lot better. Losing by five points is not fun, but it also shows that we're very competitive, even though we don't have a full roster competing right now."
In the Pool
Four different Utes captured the top spot in multiple events and three of those two-time victors were swimmers. The first Ute to reach the winner's circle twice on Friday was Erin Palmer, who snagged first in the 100 breast for the third time in 2023-24, clocking in at 1:04.53, then bested the field in the 50 free, finishing in 23.47.
Norah Hay raced her way to triumphs in the 100 and 200 backstroke, a feat she also accomplished at the CMU Shootout in September. Hay distanced herself from the competition in the 100 back by reaching the finish in 55.76, while she recorded a mark of 2:00.26 in the latter event. Jaek Horner put up two victories for the Utah men, first by posting a time of 55.21 in the 100 breast, then by touching in 2:00.62 in the 200 breast.
The first Ute to reach the top of the podium on Friday was Chloe Thompson, who won the 1000 free in 10:27.07. Cameron Daniell picked up her first win of season in the women's 500 free, finishing in 5:03.97, and Nick Chirafisi triumphed in the men's 500 free in 4:34.33.
On the Boards
Competing in her first meet as a Ute, Nilsson Garip made a phenomenal first impression by finishing first in the 1m and the 3m and posting scores that were both NCAA Championship Qualifiers and third-all-time in program history in each event. She finished at the top of leaderboard in the 1m by crafting a total of 306.53, then won the 3m by a margin of more than 50 points with a mark of 344.48. Those scores are also among the 10 highest in the nation so far in 2023-24.
Also putting together NCAA qualifying performances for Utah were Holly Waxman and Elias Petersen. Waxman bested the NCAA benchmark in 1m with a mark of 294.15, then piled up 291.23 points to accomplish the same feat in the 3m. Petersen finished with a total of 332.70 in the 1m, more than 30 points ahead of the qualifying standard.
"We had a really good day on the boards," said head diving coach Richard Marschner. "I'm really happy with the process that we're going through. Our results are great as well, but we're also going through a really good process to get us ready for February and March when it matters the most. We had some excellent diving and some really good events.
"Emilia put up a couple of No. 3 performances on our all-time list on both boards. Holly was great on the 3m and I'm really happy with Elias. I'm excited for the process and how we're preparing ourselves for later on."
Looking Ahead
Utah's next challenge will be a Nov. 4 matchup at UNLV.
Follow the Utes!
For fans of the Utah men's/women's swimming and diving programs, follow the Utes on Twitter (@UTAHswimdive), Instagram (@utahswimdive) and Facebook (@UtahUtesSwimDive).
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Distance Free
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Back/Free
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Breast/IM
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Sprint Free/Breast
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Free
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & DivingHear It From Harlan with Utah Diving's Holly Waxman
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