Tulane University
AAC Championship
Swimming & Diving Travels to Dallas for American Athletic Conference Championship
Feb 24, 2021 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Championship Central
NEW ORLEANS — The Tulane swimming & diving team (2-4) is set to open postseason action this week as the Green Wave head to Dallas, Texas to compete in the 2021 American Athletic Conference Championship.
The conference championship will be held from Thursday to Saturday in the Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium, with swimming prelims beginning each day at 10 a.m., diving prelims beginning at 12:30 p.m. and finals starting at 6 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
The Olive and Blue will face Cincinnati, Houston and host-SMU in the three-day competition. Fans are able to watch the meet live on ESPN+ and can track live swimming results here and live diving results here.
REGULAR SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
Senior Kate McDonald has continued on with her impressive performances in 2020-21, totaling 13 individual first-place finishes in her final season Uptown. McDonald was named the AAC Women's Swimmer of the Week after winning the 200-yard breaststroke (2:14.92) and 100-yard breaststroke (1:01.59) events at LSU.
Already making her way into the record books in her first year in New Orleans is freshman Danielle Titus. Titus has recorded five first-place finishes in 2020-21 and now holds the fifth best individual time in the 100-yard backstroke (55.21) and the 10th top time in the 200-yard backstroke (2:00.80).
Freshman Paige McKenzie's first year in NOLA is also off to a great start, as the newcomer earned AAC Women's Diver of the Week honors after winning the one-meter (272.55) and finishing second in the three-meter (245.85) events against West Florida.
As a team, Tulane defeated Delta State (201-42) to open the season and most recently earned a convincing win over West Florida (195.5-104.5) at home.
2020 AAC CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
Tulane finished fifth in last season's AAC Championship, while six student-athletes earned conference medals.
McDonald finished second in the league in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:00.34 and third in both the 200-yard breaststroke breast (2:11.08) and 200 IM (1:58.01) events.
McDonald's times in all three events are career-bests for the Evergreen, Colorado, native, while her 200 breast and 200 IM times are the fastest in school history and the 100 breast time ranks second in the Tulane record books. Following her performance at least year's conference championship, McDonald was named to the AAC All-Conference team for the third straight season.
Sophomore Lilly Byrne earned silver medals in the 500-yard freestyle and 1650-yard freestyle events, recording career top-times of 4:42.78 and 16:15.69, respectively. Byrne's times in both events mark the best-ever in program history.
Following a successful 2020 campaign, Byrne earned AAC All-Conference, AAC Freshman of the Year and CSCAA All-America honors while also qualifying for the NCAA Championships.
The Green Wave's 800-yard freestyle relay team, comprised of Byrne, former student-athlete Olivia Johnson, sophomore Kate Amar and junior Iza Pelka, also finished third with a time of 7:14.30.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Houston swimming and diving is looking to win the team's fifth straight conference championship in 2021. The Cougars are 3-1 this season, defeating SMU (162.5-137.5), Tulane (203-97) and Rice (168.5-91.5) and falling to No. 12 Texas A&M (171-126).
Cincinnati swimming and diving is 1-1 in 2021, defeating Xavier (153-94) before falling to No. 19 Louisville (165-91).Â
Host SMU heads into postseason action with a 2-5 regular season record, posting wins over North Texas (163-78) and Tulane (147-111) while dropping dual meets to TCU (175-120), Houston (162.5-137.5), Rice (155-106), No. 13. Texas A&MM (172-125) and No. 1 Texas (188-104).
Follow the program on Facebook and Twitter (@GreenWaveSwim) and on Instagram (@TulaneSwimDive). Fans can also follow Tulane Athletics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
WE ARE NOLA BUILT
Tulane University is located in the city of New Orleans. It is a city built on tradition and resiliency. The lessons Green Wave student-athletes have learned through their connection with this university and city have BUILT doctors, lawyers, business leaders, conference champions, all-conference players, all-Americans, professional athletes and NCAA tournament teams. The city of New Orleans has shaped us into who we are today. We are One City. We are Tulane. We are NOLA BUILT. Check out our story at NolaBuilt.com.
CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE
Thursday, February 25 (ESPN+)
Swimming Prelims: 10 A.M. (CT) | Diving Prelims: 12:30 P.M. (CT) | Finals: 6Â P.M. (CT)
Event #7Â 1-Meter Diving PRELIM Women
Event #8Â 3-Meter Diving PRELIM Men
Event #9Â 200 Yard Freestyle Relay Women
Event #10Â 200 Yard Freestyle Relay Men
Event #7Â 1-Meter Diving FINALS Women
Event #1Â 500 Yard Freestyle Women
Event #2Â 500 Yard Freestyle Men
Event #3Â 200 Yard IM Women
Event #4Â 200 Yard IM Men
Event #5Â 50 Yard Freestyle Women
Event #6Â 50 Yard Freestyle Men
Event #8Â 3-Meter Diving FINALS Men
Event #11Â 400 Yard Medley Relay Women
Event #12Â 400 Yard Medley Relay Men
Friday, February 26 (ESPN+)
Swimming Prelims: 10 A.M. (CT) | Diving Prelims: 12:30 P.M. (CT) | Finals: 6 P.M. (CT)
Event #23Â 1-Meter Diving PRELIMS Men
Event #24Â 3-Meter Diving PRELIMS Women
Event #25Â 200 Yard Medley Relay Women
Event #26Â 200 Yard Medley Relay Men
Event #23Â 1-Meter Diving FINALS Men
Event #13Â 400 Yard IM Women
Event #14Â 400 Yard IM Men
Event #15Â 100 Yard Butterfly Women
Event #16Â 100 Yard Butterfly Men
Event #17Â 200 Yard Freestyle Women
Event #18Â 200 Yard Freestyle Men
Event #19Â 100 Yard Breaststroke Women
Event #20Â 100 Yard Breaststroke Men
Event #21Â 100 Yard Backstroke Women
Event #22Â 100 Yard Backstroke Men
Event #24Â 3-Meter Diving FINALS Women
Event #27Â 800 Yard Freestyle Relay Women
Event #28Â 800 Yard Freestyle Relay Men
Saturday, February 27 (ESPN+)
Swimming Prelims: 10 A.M. (CT) | Diving Prelims: 12 P.M. (CT) | Finals: 5 P.M. (CT)
Event #37Â Platform Diving PRELIMS Women
Event #38Â Platform Diving PRELIMS Men
Event #39Â 1,650 Yard Freestyle Women
Event #40Â 1,650 Yard Freestyle Men
Event #37Â Platform Diving FINALS Women
Event #29Â 200 Yard Backstroke Women
Event #30Â 200 Yard Backstroke Men
Event #31Â 100 Yard Freestyle Women
Event #32Â 100 Yard Freestyle Men
Event #33Â 200 Yard Breaststroke Women
Event #34Â 200 Yard Breaststroke Men
Event #35Â 200 Yard Butterfly Women
Event #36Â 200 Yard Butterfly Men
Event #38Â Platform Diving FINALS Men
Event #41Â 400 Yard Freestyle Relay Women
Event #42Â 400 Yard Freestyle Relay Men
Players Mentioned
