Tritons, weather and delays are no match for Aztec swim

Season opening win over University of San Diego extends Aztec dual meet unbeaten streak to 37.

by Justin Cox SPORTS EDITOR

After a strong 2021 season that included a Mountain West Championship, the San Diego State women’s swim team battled both the conditions and the University of San Diego in their 33-19 pentathlon victory on Friday at a rainy Aztec Aquaplex.

The win extends the Aztecs dual meet winning streak to 37, as the Aztecs have not lost a dual meet in more than four years.

“I think the good lord’s blessed our team,” head coach Mike Shrader said with a smile. “We’ve got a bunch of young ladies that work really hard on the diving boards and in the pool. Our senior class this year and our captains have great leadership, so it makes my job easy.”

The Aztecs dominated the Tritons as SDSU finished with the top four finishers in every event. The teams swam 100m races in freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke, backstroke and an individual medley to go along with 50m races in free, fly, breast and back.

A standout swimmer was senior Kristina Murphy, who finished second in 100m free and 100m fly, first in 100m breaststroke and 100m medley, and seventh in 100m backstroke.

“It was nice to get out and race again,” Murphy said. “It’s just nice to be back with a new team, so it was a great start to the season.”

While the Aztecs made it look easy in the pool, there were still some hiccups throughout the meet. Tropical Storm Kay brought wind and rain to San Diego on Friday and timing malfunctions led to multiple delays early in the meet. Despite the delays, the Aztecs kept energy high, dancing with teammates and listening to music to keep their nerves low and spirits high.

“I think a lot of that is just like our team camaraderie,” Murphy said. “Outside of the pool we are all really great friends, so we are all there for each other no matter what.”

After finishing first in the Mountain West in 2019, 2020 and 2022, the Aztecs hope to stand alone at the top of the conference. It’s a long road to the conference championships in February, but Shrader is confident his team will continue working and peak at the right time.

“We’ve been working really hard and the two things I look for, attitude and effort, have been phenomenal,” Coach Shrader said. “They’re really working on their consistency, which is the other part of that, so we’re really excited right now. It’s a very nice start for us.”

The Aztecs will compete again next month at Pepperdine on Oct. 6, so they have a couple weeks to continue to train and shave more seconds off their swims.

An Aztec swimmer completes a freestyle stroke during warm ups at the first swim event of the season. This meet took place on September 9, 2022, and was held at the Aztec Aquaplex.

Photo by Isabella Biunno