By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics


Missy Cundiff's school-record time in the 50 freestyle would have seeded her 13^th in last year's event. This year, Cundiff's clocking of 21.98 seconds places her No. 26 going into the NCAA women's swimming and diving championship, which begins Thursday in Atlanta.

Prelims will begin at 10:00 a.m. and Cundiff will hope to qualify for the 6:00 p.m. final session.

Times seem to be faster in or just after an Olympic year, and the NCAA's additional season of eligibility due to the pandemic means more swimmers are posting lower times. In 2021, there were 15 qualifying times in the 50 free below 22 seconds. This year, there are 26.

Cundiff, who is W&M's first Olympic qualifier since 2010, understands what she's up against. Her perspective is healthy.

"The times are fast this year, and it's going to be tougher," said Cundiff, who will graduate this spring with a BBA in accounting and a BS in psychology. "But it'll be fun to swim with some of the fastest people in the country — in the world.

"It would be awesome to make finals, but whatever happens, it's also great to just have the opportunity to swim at the meet. Even getting to the meet is an accomplishment in and of itself. I would love to final, but ultimately I want to have fun and swim a race I can be proud of."

Cundiff has reason to be proud of her record-setting senior year. Her 21.98 came in the prelims at the West Virginia Invitational in November. In the finals, she won with a time of 22.23.

Cundiff went undefeated in the 50 free and won the CAA championship with a meet-record time of 22.26. She will graduate with the three-fastest times in the 50 free in program history.

"I couldn't be more proud of this moment for her," W&M coach Nate Kellogg said. "It validates what we say all the time: You don't have to compromise a world-class education to swim at the highest level."

Following the CAA championships, Cundiff's teammates served as training partners. But some got sick, and nobody wanted to risk getting Cundiff infected. For a while, she swam in the in the Bee McLeod Recreation Center pool by herself.

"I had a little bit of practice at that last summer when I was back home in Leesburg for my internship," she said. "I was training on my own in a pool across the street, and that was even more weird because you had old people water walking in the lane next to me.

"So I've had practice getting in a zone in a weird setting. It's not too bad."

Since then, others have helped out, including former men's swimmers Ben Skopic and Colin Wright. 

Cundiff's preliminary swim will be Thursday morning at the McAuley Aquatic Center on Georgia Tech's campus. Sixteen swimmers in Cundiff's event will advance to the finals, which will be Thursday night.

"Your first time at a meet like this, there's going to be some automatic pressure that comes with it," Kellogg said. "We don't want to overdo that. To make it to the meet is an accomplishment itself. I want her to enjoy this experience.

"If everything goes right, yeah, she could get a second swim. She's talented enough to do that. But the expectation is to give her best effort, and wherever she ends up will be good enough."

Either way, Cundiff feels like a winner.

"This has been more than I ever could have hoped for," she said of her final season. "Last year, we had a shortened season, and we didn't have too many opportunities to swim.

"But I remember thinking I always had next year. And it's really great to end my last year by realizing that goal."