Bassi, Papadakis Represent at NCAAs

Despite a number of NCAA B cut times achieved by its the roster, the Harvard women’s swimming and diving team once again qualified only two representatives to the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga.

The Crimson sent sophomore diver Samantha Papadakis, who is also a Crimson editor, and junior swimmer Noelle Bassi, who also competed in the event last year. Once again, Bassi was selected to the All-America, breaking her own record in the 200-yard butterfly.

“I was disappointed that more of my teammates weren’t there,” Bassi said. “So many people work so hard and deserved to be there, but it’s extremely difficult to make the meet.”

Papadakis qualified to compete in both the one-meter and three-meter dive events by winning the one-meter dive event at the NCAA Zone Diving Championships with a combined score of 502.40 for the event.

“It was my first trip,” Papadakis said. “It was intimidating more so in the sense that there were teams with 18-plus girls rather than the actual diving events. My mentality was that I had nothing to lose, so going into the meet I was pretty confident with myself.”

The championship lasted over the course of three days—Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Like Papadakis, Bassi qualified to compete in two events: the 400-yard Individual Medley and her signature event, the butterfly.

Bassi had competed in the NCAAs before, finishing 18th in the 200-yard butterfly her freshman year.

“It doesn’t get easier,” Bassi said. “You know what to expect, but it’s still hard to mentally prepare for such a meet.”

Bassi didn’t swim in the 400-yard individual medley because she wanted to rest for the butterfly. In the finals of that event she registered a time of 1:59.29 and finished in 15th place.

On Thursday morning, Papadakis was the first of the two to compete when she dove in the one-meter event. She finished No. 28 out of 40 competitors with a score of 250.30 points.

“I was very happy with my one-meter performance,” Papadakis said. “I held my own and did exactly what I wanted to do. I would have liked to finish higher, but having the experience will definitely help me in the future.”

As only the top eight finishers in the preliminaries get to compete in the finals, Papadakis was done with the event and did not compete in the finals later that afternoon. The event was eventually won by Blythe Harley with a score of 353.50 points.

Papadakis did not get much of a break as she competed once again on Friday, this time in the three-meter dive preliminaries. She qualified No. 11 out of 40 competitors in the event heading into the weekend.

Papadakis ended up finishing No. 35 in the preliminaries with a score of 234.30, once again being shut out of the finals later in the day. The event was won once again by Hartley with a score of 373.15.

“I did not have my best day,” Papadakis said. “I would have liked to be slightly more on, but you have those days, and to simply be at the meet and see some of the nation’s best diving was a fantastic experience.”

On Saturday morning, Bassi swam in the preliminaries of the 200-yard butterfly. She was seeded No. 12 of 39 in the event with a time of 1:58.81.

She outdid that time in the preliminaries, finishing No. 11 with at time of 1:58.01, more than a second faster than her butterfly time from last year’s NCAAs.

With the time, Bassi qualified to swim in the consolation final later in the day. She finished No. 14 with a time of 1:59.43 and an All-American distinction. The event was won by senior Mary Descenza from Georgia, who blew away the competition with a time of 1:53.78, almost three seconds faster than the second place finisher.

“[Noelle] went an all time best time in the morning, so she was extremely happy about that,” Papadakis said. “She had hoped to do slightly better, but she accomplished great things at the meet and that in itself is something to be really proud of.”

—Staff writer Abigail M. Baird can be reached at ambaird@fas.harvard.edu.