SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State swim and dive team will be aiming for its third straight conference title and fifth in the last six years when it travels to the Lone Star State this week for the 2024 Mountain West Championships, scheduled for Feb. 21-24 in Houston, Texas.
The four-day meet commences on Wednesday at the CRWC Natatorium on the University of Houston campus and will be streamed live via the MW Network with links available on GoAztecs.com.
SDSU will square off against seven other conference foes that sponsor women's swimming and diving, including Air Force, Colorado State, Fresno State, Nevada, San José State, UNLV and Wyoming.
The Aztecs have won seven MW Championships in program history (2011, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023), capturing the crown last season with a league-record 1,638 points.
The Scarlet and Black will be seeking to become the first school to claim at least three straight MW titles since former member Brigham Young was crowned champion in four consecutive years from 2007-10.
SDSU returns 11 competitors that combined for 32 all-Mountain West honors at last year's conference meet, including reigning MW Swimmer of the Year Alex Roberts, who captured event titles in the 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke.
In all, San Diego State took home 10 individual goal medals and swept all five relay competitions last season (200 medley, 400 medley, 200 free, 400 free, 800 free), as Wilma Johansson was named MW Swimmer of the Meet, while Moa Bergdahl was tabbed MW Freshman of the Meet.
Johansson claimed gold medals in the 200 and 500 freestyle while contributing to SDSU's victorious 800 freestyle relay team. In addition, she placed second in the 200 butterfly with a school-record time of 1:57.17.
Bergdahl, meanwhile, received top freshman recognition after collecting a silver medal in the 100 breaststroke to go with top-seven placements in the 200 breaststroke (5th) and 200 individual medley (7th).
Other returning individual winners from last season's MW Championships include Christiana Williams (100 breast, 200 breast) and Meredith Smithbaker (50 free, 100 free), while Valentina Lopez Arevalo won the gold in platform diving competition.
Lopez Arevalo has claimed 14 event titles during the 2023-24 campaign (six apiece in the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard and two on the platform), collecting four Mountain West Diver of the Week awards in the process.
Smithbaker and Roberts captured event titles at the highly competitive Art Adamson Invitational on the campus of Texas A&M University last November. SDSU finished fifth in a stacked seven-team field that included current nationally ranked squads in host Texas A&M (11), LSU (25) and UCLA (rv), along with Power-5 schools Houston, Washington State and Utah.
Smithbaker won the 50 freestyle with a career-fast swim of 22.24, which ranks third in program history and places her fifth on the MW all-time charts. Her clocking of 22.24 is also tied for 36th nationally as of Feb. 20. Smithbaker totaled a team-high 45 points at that meet, posting a sixth-place finish in the 100 free (49.48) and a seventh-place effort in the 100 breast (1:01.17), both of which were season-bests. For her efforts, the Aztec junior received MW Swimmer of the Week distinction for the second time this year.
Meanwhile, Roberts took home the gold in the 200 backstroke at the Art Adamson Invite with a season-fast swim of 1:53.45, which ranks 20th in the nation as of Feb. 20. She also broke the Aztec Aquaplex pool record in the 200 back (1:55.40) helping San Diego State defeat the University of San Diego in a dual meet on Jan. 26.
Not to be outdone, Williams garnered Mountain West Swimmer of the Week accolades for the first time in her career after setting a pair of Aztec Aquaplex pool records in the 100 (59.91) and 200 breast (2:10.74) in a dual-meet win over the University of San Diego on Jan. 26. She became just the fourth swimmer in SDSU history to surpass the 1-minute barrier in the 100 breast, while her time in the 200 breast marks a season best.
Additionally, both of Williams' performances lead the Mountain West and represent NCAA "B" cut times. On the national level, her 100 breast time ranks 36th, while her 200 breast result is good for 39th in the country as of Feb. 20.
The Aztecs have also received key contributions from Reka Nyiradi, who has earned three MW Freshman of the Week honors this season. Against Air Force on Dec. 19, the SDSU newcomer swam a season-best 1:49.66 in the 200 free, which ranks fifth in Aztec Aquaplex history. She also posted a season-fast swim of 4:24.22 in the 400 IM during time trials following the USD dual meet on Jan. 26, which is good for seventh in pool history.
Continuing their success of the last decade, the Aztecs have once again completed a dual-meet schedule without a blemish on their record, posting a 15-0 mark during the 2023-24 campaign. With those results, SDSU raised its record to 124-2 since January 2013 and extended its dual-meet winning streak to 65 straight dating back to January 2018.
Following this week's Mountain West meet, San Diego State will begin preparations for the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships, set for March 11-13 in Flagstaff, Arizona.
The NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships are also scheduled for next month, March 20-23, in Athens, Georgia.
Aztec Swim and Dive Set for MW Championships
