William & Mary Athletics

Going strictly by the number of All-Americans, one of William & Mary's greatest programs ever was the women's swimming & Diving team of the 1970s, and of the Tribe's early greats was two-time All-American Mindy Wolff.  During her career from 1971-75, AIAW swimming was all one division, pitting small schools like W&M up against national powerhouses and Olympian-factories like Arizona State, Florida, and Stanford.  Despite that, the Tribe prospered, consistently sending athletes to the national meet and scoring there.



Wolff was one of those qualifiers, making the national meet each of her final three years.  Her top performances by place came in 1973, when she swam on both the eighth-place 200 free relay and the 11th-place 200 medley relay, earning second-team All-America honors in both.  Under current rules, which have eight teams in each final instead of the six that were used then, the 200 free relay team would have been first-team All-Americans.  Wolff also swam on two relays each year in 1974 and 1975 as well, while also swimming the 50 breast both years and the 100 breast as a junior in 1974.
 
Beyond the national meet, Wolff was just as successful.  While records and news coverage are nowhere near complete for that era and sport, what has survived and been uncovered more than tell a Hall of Fame story.  She broke the school record in the 100 breast in her very first meet, and would graduate as the school record holder in both that event and the 50 breast with marks that would last until Hall of Famer Erin Sheehey Downs '84 came along in 1980-81.  Wolff was a four-time state champion in her last two years, winning the 100 breast as a junior and the 50 breast as a senior in state-record time, as well as swimming on the winning 200 medley and 200 free relays in 1974 to help lead W&M to the team title.  Wolff also took second in the 100 IM and the 50 breast in 1974, and was third in the 100 breast as a senior in 1975.  Overall, the teams she helped lead went 21-7 (.750) in dual meets, while winning one state championship, finishing second two more times, and tying for 21st nationally in 1973.
 
Proving the adage that swimming is a lifelong sport, Wolff is still active in U.S. Master's Swimming to this day, and is once again one of the best in the nation.  She holds the national record for age group 65-69 women in the 50 breast, and also previously held the national record in that event for age group 60-64 women.  Wolff has been ranked No. 1 in the nation six times since 2013, including in the 50 breast the last two years and the 100 breast in 2018.  At the 2016 Spring National Championships, she won both the 50 breast and the 50 fly, and in 2018, upped her haul to three national titles, in the 50 breast, 100 breast, and the 50 free.  Last year, she repeated as the national champion in the 100 breast, one of six top-three finishes for her in the meet.