BURNSVILLE, Minn. - The University of Sioux Falls Swimming Team, which has finished third in each of the last four years, has been picked third in the NSIC Swimming & Diving Preseason Coaches' Poll. 

Minnesota State, the defending NSIC Champions received all eight first place votes (coaches cannot vote for own team) and amassed 64 points, seven points ahead of St. Cloud State. SCSU received  57 points and the other first place vote, while Sioux Falls was third with 49 points.

Augustana's Taylor Beagle was named the NSIC Preseason Swimmer of the Year while St. Cloud State's Mady Brinkman earned NSIC Preseason Diver of the Year honors. Both student-athletes repeated as preseason athletes of the year following their NSIC Swimmer & Diver of the Year accolades from 2020-21. 


The NSIC sponsored women's swimming and diving during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 academic years with the aid of affiliated members. In 2016-17 season, NSIC Swimming and Diving returned as a seven team all NSIC sport. In 2019-20 the NSIC moved to eight participating members with the addition of Southwest Minnesota State and is now a nine-team league with the addition of Concordia-St. Paul in 2020-21.  


The NSIC Swimming and Diving season will get underway on October 1 with the regular season culminating at the NSIC Swimming & Diving Championship on February 9-12, 2022 at the Midco Aquatic Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; hosted by the University of Sioux Falls.  


Led by the return of several veterans, including All-American Elizabeth Spaans, USF Swimming will again try to earn a top-three finish at the NSIC Championships in Sioux Falls on Feb. 9-12. 

The Cougars, who open the season with a double dual against St. Cloud State and Augustana on Oct. 15-16 at the Midco Aquatic Center in Sioux Falls, S.D., bring back a strong core of swimmers, led by Spaans, who was named CoSIDA Academic All-District this summer and is USF's Athlete to Watch. A seven-time NSIC title holder (team/individual), Spaans earned All-American honors in 2020 and has made two trips to the NCAA DII national meet.


"The beginning of a new season is always exciting. The influx of new swimmers makes things lively," said Head Coach Chris Hamstra. "It's amazing to watch the returners show them the ropes. We have a great bunch of ladies and we are ready to dig in, train hard and represent the University of Sioux Falls with distinction." 


A year ago at the NSIC Championships, the Cougars, who earned 12 dual wins and were nationally ranked, finished third for a fourth straight year at the NSIC Championships. USF which had seven individuals or relays crowned champions at the 2021 NSIC Championships, had 10 provisional marks and 36 All-NSIC performers during the 2021 season. USF returns a group that includes Domenica Solano, Ilinde du Plessis, Valerie Childs, NSIC Freshman of the Year Paulina Ruelas, and Abigail Ford, who all made a major impact a year ago in dual competitions as well as the league meet. The Cougars have also added a strong recruiting class which bolsters the solid returning core to create another USF squad poised to make a run at the top of the conference championship leaderboard come February. 


Bio: Elizabeth Spaans, Senior, Back/Free/IM, Brandon, SD, Sioux Falls Christian, Psychology/Social Work/Spanish 
~ CoSIDA Academic All-District At Large Team 
~ Three-time Academic All-NSIC and All-Academic Team of Excellence honoree 
~ Owns seven NSIC titles – team or individual 
~ Named CSCAA All-American in 2020 
~ Three-time D2 ADA Academic Achievement Recipient 
~ Advanced to nationals in each of the past two years while leading USF to three straight third place finishes at the NSIC Championships.