Alabama
Women's NCAA Championships
Kensey McMahon Wins Second NCAA Title to Close 2023 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships
3/18/2023 9:03:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
McMahon won her second national title in the 1650 freestyle by nearly three seconds
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Alabama's Kensey McMahon closed out her collegiate career in the grandest fashion. In her last two swims for the Crimson Tide, McMahon won the 500 and 1,650 freestyles at the 2023 Women's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.
The UA distance ace closed things out Saturday with a dominant win in the 1,650, swimming a 15:43.84 to finish nearly three seconds ahead of the field. Her victory came just two days after taking the crown in the 500.
McMahon dropped four seconds off her gold-medal performance at February's SEC Championships en route to her win, and was just a tenth of a second off her own school-record. With her victories, McMahon is the first member of the Alabama women's swimming and diving program to win multiple NCAA titles. She also earned All-American honors in all five years of her Tide tenure.
Overall, the Alabama women took 14th in the team standings with 111 points, marking the Tide's third-consecutive top-15 finish at the NCAA Championships.
Head Coach Margo Geer Said
"We had a strong week this week and made some history along the way. I'm really happy for Kensey and how she was able to close out her collegiate career on such a high note. I'm really proud of all of the fifth-years (Kalia Antoniou, McMahon, Rhyan White, Cat Wright) and the positive impact they've had on our program. Outside of the fifth-years, it was a really valuable learning experience for a lot of our girls on the team, in terms of just getting more experience, both individually and in the relays. As a team, I definitely have have high goals. We want to continue to push this program and keep building on our top-15 finish."
Two-time NCAA Champion Kensey McMahon Said
""It definitely doesn't feel real. The mile has been something I've been dreaming of and working toward for the last several years. Winning the 500 definitely came as a little bit of a surprise but coming back and winning the mile is definitely a cool way to end my collegiate career. There was a lot of back-and-forth tonight, it was a really competitive field. There was a lot of depth, and so I just made sure that I was doing my own thing, and then, when we got to that last 300 (yards), I was like, 'Just go, I've done plenty of 300s.'"
Crimson Tide Highlights
- Kensey McMahon swam a 15:43.84 in the 1650 freestyle to tally her second NCAA Championship of the weekend after winning the 500 freestyle on Thursday
- Rhyan White placed 11th in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:51.93, earning Second Team All-America honors
- Kalia Antoniou also earned Second Team All-America honors, recording an 11th-place finish in the 100 freestyle, touching in 47.89
- Avery Wiseman became the third Crimson Tide swimmer of the night to earn Second Team All-America honors after finishing 13th in the 200 breaststroke (2:08.00)
Up Next
- Alabama will travel to Minneapolis, Minn., for the men's NCAA Championships, March 22-25
- All sessions of the men's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships will be streamed live on ESPN+ with live results available on MeetMobile
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