GREENSBORO, NC – With a near personal-best performance (55.74 prelims), sophomore Ilinde du Plessis of the University of Sioux Falls Swimming Team placed 16th in the 100 back and earned Honorable Mention All-American honors at the 2022 NCAA DII Swimming and Diving Championships.  

"I am so proud of Ilinde (du Plessis) with her performance," said USF Head Coach Chris Hamstra, noting that her finish in the 100 back provided USF with a team point as the Cougars are 34th overall in the women's standings. "I am excited to see what happens the rest of the way," he said. 

A sophomore Vereeniging, Gauteng, South Africa, du Plessis continued her outstanding season at USF with the performance. In the prelims, she finished in 55.74 which was just .02 off her career best of .55.72. In the finals, she finished in 56.75. Ranked 23th entering the competition, du Plessis moved up seven spots to earn the Honorable Mention All-American status and earn USF team points. She will be back in the pool on Saturday in the 200 back prelims. du Plessis, who has recorded 10 top-eight finishes at the NSIC Championships, will enter the championships with a seed time of 2:01.14.

Aside from du Plessis, USF senior Elizabeth Spaans also completed in the 100 back and finished her career with a 29th place finish in 56.70, which was just off her seed time of 55.85.

Spaans, who was named a CSCAA All-American in 2020, competed in her third NCAA DII Championships. On Wednesday, she finished 34th in the 200 IM but did not advance to finals. A CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree, she was part of three third place USF teams that placed third and one that placed fourth in 2022 at the NSIC Championships. At the NSIC Swimming and Diving Championships, Spaans claimed NSIC titles in both the 100 IM and 200 IM while also helping the 800 Free Relay team to a victory and meet record. As a result, Spaans was part of 10 team or individual NSIC titles. A three-time Academic All-NSIC honoree, she landed three B cut times in 2022 with 2:03.41 in the 200 IM, 55.85 in the 100 Back, and 56.15 also in the 100 Back.  

Also on Friday, Inte Pas, a freshman from Nieuwerkerk aan den IJ, Netherlands, completed in the 100 breaststroke and placed 28th in 1:03.89, which was just off her seed time of 1:03.82. Pas, who was named NSIC Swimmer of the Week earlier this year, will complete in the 200 breaststroke on Saturday. Her time of 2:16.80 is seeded 13th in DII.