Vear Leads Noles with All-America Honorable Mention

Knoxville, Tenn. – Florida State diver Samantha Vear earned an All-America honorable mention in the women’s 1-meter diving event at the 2023 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on Thursday at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center.

Vear finished in 10th place, becoming the seventh diver in school history to score at NCAAs on 1-meter and first since Ayla Bonniwell in 2017. It was the highest finish in the event since Katrina Young placed eighth in 2015.

“I am so incredibly proud of Sammy,” FSU head coach John Proctor said. “She’s a junior and this is her first postseason and to do what she’s done is just unbelievable. This is her first real pop at this and she really stepped up big today.”

At the halfway mark in prelims, Vear sat in 15th place, just under seven points out of eighth place. After getting through her toughest dive in the fourth round, Vear finished strong, scoring marks of 6.5-7.0 on her last two dives to close prelims with a total of 283.35 for 11^th place.

In finals, Vear improved her scores on all six dives and moved up to finish 10th behind a career-best score of 312.00. Vear will return to action on Friday for 3-meter, which is scheduled for 12:15 p.m.

Vear Leads Noles with All-America Honorable Mention

Photo: Anna Metzler: Credit - Justin Casterline

Anna Metzler contributed her career best in the 200 IM, touching at 1:58.02 to win heat one, finishing 43rd overall. Her time ranks third in FSU history. She will swim the 400 IM, her final collegiate race on Friday.

Maddy Huggins also competed in her first NCAA race, touching at 2:01.07 in the 200 IM for 61st place. Huggins will race in the 100 breast on Friday along with Julia Mansson.

Edith Jernstedt is set to compete in the prelims of the 100 fly on Friday as well, after suffering a disqualification in the 200 IM.

“We have a great vibe going here,” FSU head coach Neal Studd said. “It was great to see Anna put up a best time. Edith swam her prelim best but she made a mistake on her back-to-breast turn and got DQed. Tomorrow is a big day and we’re excited to get back at it.”

Prelims each day will begin at 10 a.m., and the top 16 swimmers in each event will advance to finals at 6 p.m. Diving prelims will take place at approximately 12:15. The top eight divers will advance to finals at night, and the divers that place ninth through 16th will compete again immediately after prelims.

All sessions will stream via ESPN+ and live results can be found on meet mobile and divemeets.com.

Friday, March 17

Prelims – 10 a.m.

400 IM – Anna Metzler; 100 fly – Edith Jernstedt; 100 breast – Maddy Huggins, Julia Mansson; 3-meter – Samantha Vear

Watch Swim: https://noles.co/3JgggbN

Watch Dive: https://noles.co/3mIdlRw

Finals – 6 p.m.

Watch: https://noles.co/404eTnt

Results: https://swimmeetresults.tech/NCAA-Division-I-Women-2023/

Saturday, March 18

Prelims – 10 a.m.

200 breast – Maddy Huggins, Julia Masson; 200 fly – Edith Jernstedt