ECU swimming & diving announces team awards

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina women’s swimming and diving program handed out its year-end team awards at its annual banquet earlier this week.

On the season, the Pirates posted a 10-1 dual meet record and finished fourth in the 2024 American Athletic Conference Championships.

Overall, the Pirates set six school records, three freshman records and posted 19 new all-time Top 10 times/scores during the 2023-24 campaign. ECU had eight all-conference performances during the championships, tallied 47 total finalists (31 A Finalists and 16 B Finalists), and had four divers qualify for the NCAA Zones.

Sophomore Frida Zuniga Guzman earned Most Outstanding Diver honors while fellow classmate Emilee Hamblin was named Most Outstanding Swimmer. In her second year with the program, Guzman recorded 77 regular season points with eight wins and nine Top 3 regular season finishes. An all-conference performer who registered four A Finalist appearances, she scored a team-high 51 points in the AAC Championships and was named AAC Diver of the Meet. Guzman claimed gold in the 3-meter dive with a conference and school record score of 352.80 becoming the program’s first women’s diving champion since 1988 when the Pirates were in the CAA. She also took second in the platform event with a score of 256.35 which was another new program-high standard.

Emilee Hamblin tallied 117 regular season points posting eight wins and tallied 20 Top 3 regular season finished. She was an all-conference performer in the 200 freestyle at the league championships securing 42 total points and registering four A Finalist appearances. Hamblin recorded three Top 10 performances on the season in the 500 freestyle (third/4:49.48), 200 freestyle (fourth/1:48.40), and 200 Butterfly (10th/2:01.47).

Junior Kaylee Hamblin claimed Most Outstanding Newcomer honors after establishing two new records on the season. She set the new standard in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:00.06 at the WVU Invitational and was a member of the 400-medley relay team (3:40.99) that posted a first-place finish in the AAC Championships. An all-conference scorer who posted 31 points in the championships, Hamblin secured a second-place finish in the 100 breaststroke and finished fifth in the 200 breaststroke. During the regular season, she competed in 11 dual meets posting 23 Top 3 finishes (21 first place), earned AAC Swimmer of the Week accolades (Oct. 3, 2023), made four A Finalist appearances and was a NCAA B-Cut qualifier in the 100 and 200 Breaststroke.

Sophomore Heidi Bruining took home Most Improved Swimmer accolades after helping the Pirates to a pair of new relay standards in the 200 freestyle (1:30.81) and the 400-medley relay (3:40.99) at the AAC Championships. As an all-conference performer, she captured 16 total points and secured three A Finalist appearances during the championships. Bruining competed in 11 regular season dual meets scoring 180 points and posted 30 Top 3 placements with 14 first-place finishes. During her career, she ranks among the program’s Top 10 in 100 breaststroke (eighth/1:02.92), 200 breaststroke (eighth/2:15.15), 200 IM (fourth/2:01/31) and 200 freestyle (fifth/1:48.74).

Senior Flanary Patterson, an AAC Championship scorer who placed 11th in the Platform, was named Most Improved Diver. She competed in six regular season dual meets posting 27 points and claimed six Top 3 finishes with one in first place. Patterson qualified for NCAA Zones in the 1- and 3-meter dives and currently holds ECU Top 10 marks in the platform (seventh/185.80) and 3-meter dive (10th/274.60).

2023-24 ECU Swimming & Diving Award Winners

Most Improved Diver: Flanary Patterson

Most Improved Swimmer: Heidi Bruining

Most Outstanding Newcomer: Kaylee Hamblin

Most Outstanding Diver: Frida Zuniga Guzman

Most Outstanding Swimmer: Emilee Hamblin

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WNCT.