Commodores Oh So Close – Vanderbilt Commodores

Aubrey Hull, Melissa Cowen come within tenths of a second of making finals in Knoxville
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Aubrey Hull and Melissa Cowen just missed finals Wednesday morning as Vanderbilt swimming continued competition at the 2026 SEC Championships at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.
Hull paced the Commodores in the 100 back and Cowen led Vandy in the 100 breast, and Amelia Harper added a career-best time in the latter event on the first day of individual races at the meet.
“There were some opportunities there to advance, it’s frustrating that we just couldn’t put those little pieces together,” head coach Jeremy Organ said. “I think there’s a lot of confidence in swims Aubrey and Melissa have coming up and that we can keep putting ourselves in a position where we can get to those second swims. But still, there were a lot of really good things to take from the morning. Now we just have to keep that momentum and that mindset going and try to get back to work tomorrow.”
The Commodores will return to the pool at 8:30 a.m. CT Thursday for preliminary heats in the 100 fly, 400 IM and 200 free. Finals are slated to get underway at 4:30 p.m.
Meet Highlights
-Hull finished 28th out of 52 competitors in the 100 back in the first event of the day.
-After placing 31st overall, Kate Heintz led the Dores in the 200 fly.
-Cowen also ended up 31st in a field of 46 swimmers in the final event of the morning, missing finals by less than six-tenths of a second in the 100 breast.
Notes
-After touching the wall in 53.93, Hull came up short of advancing to finals in the 100 back by only 15 hundredths of a second.
-Her overall finish in the event was an improvement of five spots from her performance as a freshman last winter.
-In the 100 breast, Harper met the CSCAA National Invitational Championship B cut in her fourth discipline this season with a career-low 1:02.61 time.
-Heintz’ 2:01.90 mark in the 200 fly was her best of the campaign and less than a second off the fastest of her collegiate career.
-Madelyn Porter and Meredith DiPasquale touched the wall in the 200 fly in 2:03.83 and 2:04.28, respectively, as both achieved the CSCAA NIC B cut with their lowest times of the season in the event.
-The duo of Grace Ciaramitaro (56.85) and Ryen Bosuro (58.08) recorded season-best marks in the opening heat of the morning.
-The Commodores also had a pair of individuals —Taylor Carey (1:04.00) and Liv Gooding (1:04.74)—add season-low times in the 100 breast.
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