2021 Women’s Mountain West Conference Championships Fan Guide

MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE – WOMEN

• Wednesday, February 19 – Saturday, February 22
• Swimming: Las Vegas, Nevada (UNLV) Diving: Colorado Springs, Colorado (Air Force)
• Defending Champion: San Diego State (2x) (results)
• Live results (coming soon)
• Championship Central
• 2021 MW Championship Psych Sheet
• Wednesday Finals Heat Sheet

The 2021 Mountain West Conference Championships are set to kick off on Wednesday with the women’s competition. Under COVID-19 protocols, the swimming portion of the meet will occur in Las Vegas at UNLV, while the diving meet will occur at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. 

Order of Events 

Wednesday 

200-yard medley relay

800-yard freestyle relay 

Thursday 

500-yard Freestyle 

200-yard Individual Medley 

50-yard Freestyle

1m Springboard diving 

Friday 

400-yard Individual Medley

100-yard Butterfly

200-yard Freestyle

100-yard Breaststroke

100-yard Backstroke

3m Springboard Diving

Saturday  

200-yard Backstroke

100-yard Freestyle

200-yard Breaststroke

200-yard Butterfly

1650-yard Freestyle 

3m Springboard Diving

Platform Diving 

Events to Watch: 

50 Freestyle: Last year’s 50 freestyle came down to the touch as San Diego State’s Klara Thormalm beat-out teammate Elizabeth Menzmer by .01, finishing in 22.41 and 22.42, respectively. Both swimmers return for this year’s meet. However, this year, Thormalm looks to be in a tight battle against UNLV’s Caitlyn Schreiber, who holds the conference’s top time this season with a 22.92, to Thormalm’s 22.93. 

100/200 Breaststroke: These events look to be run-away victories for the aforementioned Thormalm. The conference record holder in both events, she has already posted times of 1:00.04 and 2:12.01 this season. Her meet records stand at 59.36 and 2:08.30 from last season, which she should challenge this year. The wildcard in the 200 breaststroke is Nevada’s Wiktori Samula, who finished 2nd in the 200 breaststroke last year as a sophomore. Due to only competing in one official dual meet this season, Samula is only seeded with a 2:18.78, but should move up. 

200 IM: With last year’s conference champion Courtney Vincent graduated and 5 out of the 8 A-finalists out of the picture, this year’s meet will feature a wide-open field. UNLV freshman Ruby Howell leads the conference with her time of 2:02.96 from the UNLV invite. Her teammate Calysta Bartlett is right behind her with a time of 2:03.44. The highest returning finisher from last season is San Diego State’s Kristina Murphy, who finished 3rd last year and returns as the 3rd-fastest swimmer in the conference this season with a time of 2:04.05. 

SWIMULATOR PICKS

1. UNLV (W)    1373
2. San Diego St    1024
3. Wyoming (W)    999
4. Air Force (W)    801
5. Fresno State    746
6. Colorado St.    598.5
7. Nevada    309
8. San Jose St    205
9. New Mexico    23.5*

*New Mexico is not competing during the 2020-2021 season due to Covid-19. 

SwimSwam’s Picks:

1. San Diego St
2. UNLV 
3. Nevada 
4. Wyoming 
5. Air Force
6. Fresno St
7. Colorado St
8. San Jose St

After last year’s dominant performance where the team scored the most points in Mountain West Championship history, San Diego State looks poised to repeat. The team returns the 2020 MW Swimmer of the Year and Conference Championship Swimmer of the Meet Klara Thormalm, who is looking to wrap up her college career with a bang. In addition, they also return last season’s diver of the year Ximena Lechuga Gonzalez, who is a favorite across the diving events. 

Expect Nevada to move up significantly from their seed-times since the team did not have a mid-season invitational to compete at. Last year’s runner-up has only competed in one dual meet this season, where they lost to a strong UNLV. However, the Nevada team did not lose many seniors and should challenge their in-state rivals for second place. 

UNLV has had a great season, coming out with a record of 5-0 and defeating Nevada for the first time in 17 years during their dual meet last month. The battle for second place should be close between the two teams, with UNLV having the home-pool advantage. Currently, UNLV holds the top time in the conference in all 5 relays, contributing 320 points to their projected total. If they can maintain this advantage, they’re capable of challenging San Diego State for the conference title.