MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — BYU women’s swimming tacked on two more all-conference finishers with key performances from Tatum Cooley and the program’s 400 medley relay squad at the Big 12 Swim and Dive Championships on Thursday at The Aquatic Center at Mylan Park.
Cooley began the day in the 200 free preliminary race with a personal-best 1:49.09, good for No. 9 all-time at BYU. The challenge and opportunity, however, didn’t end there. Kansas’ Eleni Kotzamanis tied with Cooley for the eighth and final spot in the 200 free championship race.
A swim-off then ensued between the Cougar and Jayhawk swimmers. Cooley clocked yet another personal-best 1:48.31 to best Kotzamanis by nearly a second in the swim-off and seize the final spot in the championship round. There, Cooley would go 1:51.20 to finish eighth and tally 22 points for BYU with a Second Team All-Big 12 honor.
The freshman from Mesa, Arizona joined No. 2 Texas’ Erin Gemmell and Cincinnati’s Julie Rose as the only freshmen to earn women’s 200 free all-conference honors. Cooley also faced the Longhorns’ and Team USA’s 2020 Tokyo Games silver medalist Erica Sullivan in the final.
At 1:48.31 in the swim-off, Cooley jumped from ninth to fourth all-time at BYU.
The Cougars finished the day with 48 more points scored courtesy of the women’s 400 medley relay squad. Liza Slade, Mackenzie Lung, Emma Marusakova and Halli Williams combined to go 3:40.22, 3.23 seconds off their entry time.
Thursday’s action also saw impressive personal-best performances from Emma Marusakova in the 100 fly and Addison Richards in the 400 individual medley. Marusakova cut 0.8 seconds off her previous best to go 54.39 in the 100 fly and surpass Ellie Thornbrue-Brinton (2016) for the program’s fifth-best time. Richards moved into No. 9 at BYU in the 400 IM with a 4:22.94, nearly three-fourths of a second under her previous best.
The Cougars move into Friday’s competition with 411 points and a fifth-place standing.
Events resume on Friday at 10 a.m. EST with the 200 fly preliminary round. Tune-in to the 2024 Big 12 Swim and Dive Championships on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.