Macias Selected To Represent Mexico At World Championships
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A fourth member of the University of Arkansas swimming and diving program has been selected to compete at the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, as sophomore-to-be Ayumi Macias will represent her home country of Mexico at the international event.
Three Arkansas divers qualified for the World Championships earlier in the summer. Incoming freshman Brooke Schultz (United States) and Maha Amer (Egypt) will each compete in the 3m springboard, while senior-to-be Nicole Gillis will participate in the 1m springboard and 3m synchro for South Africa.
“This is such a big step forward for our program,” said head coach Neil Harper. “To have four from next year’s team competing at the World Championship this summer demonstrates how quickly the quality of our program has improved. We are excited to see our athletes compete at the highest level and prepare themselves for another successful conference and NCAA championship run.”
The diving championships will be held from July 14-22, while the swimming portion runs from July 23-30.
The Aguascalientes, Mexico, native recorded a 36th-place finish at the NCAA Championships in the 1650 free with a time of 16:20.31, the second-fastest time on the team last season. She also brought home a 47th-place finish in the 200 free with a time of 1:47.64.
During her freshman campaign, the distance swimmer recorded the top three times by a Razorback in the 1650 free and three of the top four times in the 200 free, including the top two.
Macias notched Arkansas’ only A final appearance at the SEC Championships by a swimmer with a seventh-place finish in the 500 free. She also placed ninth overall in the 1650 free.
Macias tallied a total of 13 top-three finishes during her freshman year, including five first-place finishes. She achieved six top-three finishes in the 500 free and five top-two finishes in the 1000 free.
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