Columbia News

The University of Missouri men's and women's swimming and diving teams achieved NCAA A Cut qualifying times in the 200 free relay events during the third day of the 2025 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships at Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Georgia. Four athletes from Missouri advanced to finals on Wednesday.

The women's 200 free relay team, composed of Sierra Smith, Zara Zallen, Katie Kuehn, and Grace Hanson, recorded a season-best time of 1:28.22, earning them sixth place and an NCAA A Cut qualification.

On the men's side, the relay team of Luke Nebrich, Grant Bochenski, Ethan Vance, and Darden Tate posted a time of 1:16.37 during time trials after the meet concluded. This result not only secured an NCAA A Cut but also became the second fastest time in program history.

"We're well into competition now on day three, but with the prelim final, we're really excited about four B finals in a meet where we knew it was going to be tough," Mizzou head coach Andrew Grevers said. "Between diving and swimming, we had a great day and then started things off right with two amazing relays. Women getting the NCAA A cut is a huge step in bringing more athletes to the NCAA competition. On the men's side, we didn't quite put it together in the first relay, but we got the points we needed. We reset, came back for the time trial and got the A-cut. All in all, it was a truly successful day on a day where the events weren't our strengths."

Freshman Luke Nebrich swam 19.02 in the men's 50 free final—placing him 11th overall—and now ranks second-fastest in school history behind Michael Chadwick's record set in 2017.

Sierra Smith qualified for finals in the women's 50 free with a preliminary swim of 22.20 seconds before finishing 16th at 22.39 seconds.

Grant Bochenski also performed strongly with times of 19.40 in prelims and 19.41 in finals for the men's 50 free event.

In diving events, Megan Jolly earned her highest score so far at these championships with a mark of 288.10 on women's three-meter springboard—tying her for 11th place.

Karolina Bank advanced to finals in women's 200 IM after swimming a preliminary time of 1:58.10—the sixth fastest ever by a Mizzou woman—before placing 16th overall with a final swim of 2:00.13.

Missouri continues its participation at the SEC Championships through February 22 before hosting its own Mizzou Qualifier event March 1-2 at Mizzou Aquatic Center.