Here are 12 Columbus-area high school girls swimmers and divers to watch in 2023-24 season
Three individual defending state champions and two members of defending Division I champion Dublin Jerome highlight our 12 central Ohio girls swimmers and divers to watch this winter.
Emily Brown, Dublin Coffman
The senior will try to pull off a fourth consecutive sweep of the 200- and 500-yard freestyle Division I state championships. Brown, who has signed with Tennessee, set state records in both events (1:45.88 and 4:51.17, respectively) last year after accomplishing the same feat the week before at district. She also anchored the state runner-up 400 free relay and was on the third-place 200 medley relay.
Millie Evans, Bexley
A junior, Evans was Division II district champion and state runner-up in the 100 butterfly as well as district runner-up and eighth at state in the 200 individual medley. The Penn State commit also was on the district championship and state runner-up 200 medley relay.
McCall Freiburger, Upper Arlington
The senior and Kentucky signee was part of two Division I state championships a year ago, the 200 free and 200 medley relays, in leading the Golden Bears to a state runner-up finish on the heels of a district title. Individually, Freiburger was eighth in the 100 free and 14th in the 100 breaststroke.
Carrie Furbee, Grandview Heights
A junior who has committed to Ohio State, Furbee won the 50 free and 100 free state titles last year in Division II to become the program’s first state champion. Furbee also swept the district championships in those events and anchored the 14th-place 200 free relay at state.
Hayden Hollingsworth, Upper Arlington
Another in a strong class of juniors in central Ohio, Hollingsworth is the defending Division I state champion in the 50 free and also was on the Bears’ title-winning 200 free and 200 medley relays. The Georgia commit was district champion in the 100 fly, in which she finished third at state, and district runner-up in the 50 free.
Milly Leonard, Dublin Jerome
The junior competed in four events at the Division I state meet, including the first leg of the winning 400 free relay that sealed the Celtics’ first team championship. Leonard was third in the 200 free and 500 free, mirroring her finishes at district, and was on the state runner-up 200 free relay.
2023-24 preview: Dublin Jerome leads deep pool of talent in central Ohio
Olivia Matson, Dublin Jerome
A junior who committed to Auburn in November, Matson should play an integral role in the Celtics’ quest for a state title repeat. Last season, Matson anchored the 400 free relay, swam on the 200 free relay, was first at district and second at state in the 50 free and finished 10th at state in the 100 free.
Ashlyn Morr, New Albany
The senior and Auburn signee, a three-time Division I state qualifier, will try for two individual podium finishes for the fourth year in a row. She was fourth in the 200 free and fifth in the 100 free last winter and was on the third-place 400 free relay and fourth-place 200 medley relay. Morr also was on the district championship 200 medley relay.
Isabella Pribonic, Newark Catholic
The junior is defending Division II district champion in both the 100 breast and 200 IM, and she finished sixth and 12th, respectively, in those events at state. As a freshman, Pribonic was eighth in the 100 breast at state and district runner-up.
Kaitlyn Sallows, Delaware Hayes
A junior and Louisville commit, Sallows was state runner-up in the 500 free and fourth in the 200 IM a season ago. She also was on the Pacers’ eighth-place 200 medley relay. Sallows was district runner-up in both of her individual events.
Bethany Spangler, Bexley
The senior and defending Division II district champion in the 500 free was instrumental in the Lions’ fourth-place finish at state. Spangler also was district runner-up in the 200 free. She finished sixth in the 200 free and seventh in the 500 free at state. She also was on the district champion and state runner-up 200 medley relay.
Sophia Stamm, Marysville
The senior and Akron signee seeks her first state diving championship after finishing second a year ago, her first season in Division I after two years at Division II Buckeye Valley. Stamm, the only junior in the top seven at state last year, was second by 0.9 of a point to current Illinois diver Elleka Boeres from Cincinnati Walnut Hills.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Here are 12 central Ohio girls swimmers to watch this season
