Blagg Impresses in 3-Meter, Takes Third at NCAAs
AUSTIN, Texas – University of Miami redshirt sophomore Alicia Blagg saved her best for last at the 2019 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships Thursday night.
Blagg, who finished 14th in the 1-meter springboard Wednesday night in an Honorable Mention All-America performance, was even better in the 3-meter at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
Blagg took home a bronze medal and All-America honors, finishing in third place with 379.80 points.
“I am over the moon with my performance,” Blagg said. “My 1-meter yesterday did not go the way I wanted, but for me to fight back and get third on 3-meter, there are no words.”
The Great Britain native, who was making her first-ever trip to the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships on the University of Texas campus, was second after the morning’s preliminaries with a score of 360.85.
Blagg said she hoped to carry her early momentum into the night’s finals, and was successful in doing so early on.
“My prelims this morning were solid and I was hoping to bring that into the finals,” she said. “My first three dives in the final were great, but my fourth one let me down – so I am taking away things from the final to work hard on and come back fighting for next year’s NCAA Championships and hopefully try and get a ‘W.'”
After the meet, Blagg was quick to praise her coach, Randy Ableman for the role in her success.
“I could not have done this without my coach and amazing trainer,” she said. “We are a team and we fought until the very end.”
