Women’s swimming earns second NCAA National Championship title

By Bella Giaquinto •

On March 16, the NSU women’s swimming team secured the 2023-2024 NCAA Division II National Championship. This marks its second consecutive year of holding the national championship title, with even higher hopes for next season.

“I felt confident we could come out on top, and we did,” Ben Hewitt, head swimming coach, said.

Emily Trieschmann, junior property management and real estate major, is the Swimmer of the Year for the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America. Coming off of a previous 2022-2023 NCAA Division ll championship win, Trieschmann knew the team could defend its status.

“As a team, we knew we were capable of it,” Trieschmann said. “We were just going to go in there, swim our races, and see what happens.”

Trieschmann played a major role in leading the Sharks to victory during the championship, as she won titles in the 200 Free, 500 Free, 1000 Free, and 1650 Free, and was also a part of the 800 Free Relay team. Trieschmann also set the NCAA record in the 1000-freestyle with a time of 9:38:98.

Maya Esparza, sophomore sports management major, highlights how the team stepped up to win the championship.

“Our goals as a team were to win again, but we weren’t sure it was possible as we just lost a bunch of people,” Esparza said. “But, we got a lot of good people and a lot of people stepped up and got faster.”

While the Sharks started off this season strong with a victory in the 800 Freestyle Relay on opening night, they faced many challenges as the season progressed.

“We had two Israelis on the roster and they have lots of friends and family who are on the front lines at the War in Gaza,” Hewitt said. “There were some losses on our team and that’s hard to overcome.”

Despite the circumstances, the team came together and pushed through the difficult times.

“This whole team faced a lot of challenges that were not expected and it was something that made everyone come together a lot more,” Trieschmann said.

Esparza shared the bond that the team built to stay positive throughout the season.

“We talk about our goals which has helped us grow not just as teammates but we’ve become friends and family and got really close to each other,” Esparza said. “They had my back no matter what happened.”

Hewitt is proud of the way his team came together and persevered.

“They are very supportive and emphatic of one another and have a support system in place on their team,” Hewitt said. “I’m truly proud of the response they had in every one of those situations.”

The Sharks also earned eight individual NCAA national championships.

For Trieschmann, this marked her last season as a NSU swimmer. As she prepares to graduate, Trieschmann encourages her fellow student athletes to keep practicing.

“Never stay content, you can always do better, and there can always be more,” Trieschmann said. “All the hard work that you put in will pay off in the end.”