Waxman Earns All-American Status for Utah Swim & Dive

Thursday, March 16

Knoxville, Tenn.

All Day

University of Utah

NCAA Championships

Waxman Earns All-American Status for Utah Swim & Dive

3/16/2023 7:39 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving

Sophomore from England places 14th in first diving event at NCAA Championships

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Holly Waxman achieved the highest finish ever by a Utah diver in the women's 1m and earned All-American status on Thursday on the first day of the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, which are being held inside the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.

"We couldn't have had a much better start for Holly and Kathryn today," said diving coach Richard Marschner. "I'm so proud of them both and I am thrilled for them that they did so well. This meet is so difficult and everyone dives at such a high level. It can be hard to maintain focus but they both zeroed in on what they had to do and put together incredible lists."

The day for Waxman and for teammate Kathryn Grant started with the 1m prelims, as both athletes vied for a spot in the top 16. Grant, competing in her first-ever event at the NCAA Championships, managed to pile up 253.65 points, which was good enough to place 25^th in a field of 50 competitors and went down as the sixth-best mark among divers from the Pac-12.

Waxman was able to put up a point total of 275.65 in the preliminary round, earning her 14th and a spot in the 1m consolation finals. In that round, Waxman improved her score to 283.75, besting the score she'd posted at the 2022 NCAA Championships and securing All-American honors. The sophomore from Leeds, England would end the event in 15th, higher than any Utah diver had ever finished in the women's 1m.

This goes down as the first time in program history the Utes have had two divers finish in the top 25 in the same event at the NCAA Championships and Utah was also one of only six teams to place multiple divers in the top 25 on Thursday.

"Holly accomplished her goal of scoring points for the team and she earned the highest finish on 1m in Utah history," said Marschner. "Now she can really dive loose and go for it on 3m and tower. Kathryn showed her mettle yet again and put together an amazing performance as freshman. I'm really excited for her tower event on Saturday."

Up Next
Friday's schedule will include the 3m prelims at 10:15 a.m. MT and the finals at 5:20 p.m. MT and the list of competitors will again include Waxman. The platform competition will take place on Saturday, with prelims at 10 a.m. MT and the finals at 5:20 p.m and Waxman and Grant will both be diving in that event.

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