First-year Sara Daher took home four All-America honors at the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships this past weekend, pulling into a tie for second on Bates’ all-time list and gaining Bobcat of the Week accolades.
The native of Marblehead, Mass., picked up All-America laurels in the 200-yard individual medley, 400 IM, 800-yard freestyle relay, and 200-yard backstroke events to move into a tie with Melissa Sander ’96 for the second-most All-America awards for a Bates female swimmer. Current assistant coach Vanessa Williamson ’05 captured eight All-America plaudits in her career.
Daher began her run at the championships with a sixth-place finish in the 200 IM behind a time of 2:04.31 after recording a 2:04.10 in the prelims. She followed that the next day with a fifth-place finish in the 400 IM on the strength of a 4:23.84. Both her time in the finals and prelims (4:23.96) eclipsed the previous team record of 4:24.59 which she set at this year’s NESCAC Championships.
On day three, Daher teamed with first-year Julia Smachlo and sophomores Caroline Depew and Lindsey Prelgovisk to come in 10th in the 800 free relay with a 7:32.20, breaking the program record of 7:34.62 which the quartet established at this year’s NESCAC meet. Daher concluded her stay in Indianapolis with a 13th-place finish in the 200 back with a program-best 2:02.08.
Daher also recently earned a spot on the NESCAC Winter All-Sportsmanship Team.
