GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Tribe was well-represented at the 2023 Toyota U.S. Open Championships as five swimmers qualified for the event, marking the most since 2020-2021. Sophia Heilen, Lauren Klinefelter, Brock Rempe, Alex Valliere and Conor Sokolowsky traveled to Greensboro, N.C. to compete in the national meet.
 
Sophia Heilen and Alex Valliere opened the competition for the Tribe on the second day of the event, qualifying for the women's 200 IM and men's 50 Free, respectively. Heilen, the W&M record holder in the 200m IM, was just seven tenths of a second short of meeting her own top time. Heilen clocked in with a 2:20.79 time to finish third in her heat. Valliere made his U.S. Open debut in the 50m Free on Thursday, posting a 24.07 finish in the event.
 
On day three of the meet, the trio of Heilen, Klinefelter and Rempe continued the action in the 100m Fly and 100m Breast. Rempe posted a lifetime-best performance in the 100m Breast. He finished second in his heat, just two hundredths of a second behind the first-place swimmer, with a time of 1:04.86. Heilen posted a 1:02.25 time and Klinefelter recorded a 1:03.94 finish in the 100m Fly.
 
To wrap up the U.S. Open, Heilen and Sokolowsky competed in the final day. Sokolowsky swam a 2:14.03 time in the 200 Back. Appearing in her third event of the meet, Heilen raced the 200m Fly, clocking in at 2:24.34.
 
Up Next
Returning from the national stage, the Tribe resume competition in 2024 as they open their spring season. W&M will return to action on Jan. 13, 2024, at Old Dominion as the men's team looks to take on the Monarchs and the women's team will face ODU and East Carolina.
 
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