George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
NCAA Championship
Knox Embarks on NCAA Championships
3/15/2023 9:32:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Sophomore becomes GW’s first women’s swimmer to compete at NCAA meet since 1995
WASHINGTON - Julia Knox is ready to make history, doing what no GW women's swimmer has done in almost 30 years - compete at the NCAA Championships. Knox, who is in just her second year at GW, will add to her already lengthy legacy starting on Thursday with the 200-yard IM. Knox will then compete in the 400-yard IM on Friday, and she will finish with the 200-yard breaststroke on Saturday. Each day of the meet will be streamed on ESPN+, and live results can be found here.
Knox knows what it means to be representing GW on the national stage. "I'm just really excited," she said in a pre-meet press conference. "It's very good to see that someone [from GW] is able to do it, because it hasn't been seen in such a long time on the women's side."
The last time GW women's swimming and diving was represented at the NCAA Championships was when diver Katura Horton-Perinchief went in 2005. To find GW's last women's swimmer to race at the NCAA Championships, you have to go back to 1995, when Bambi Bowman and Meghan Mitchell competed at the national meet.
"It was pretty unexpected," Brian Thomas said when asked about Knox's qualification. "She had to drop five seconds to get there. The thing that was shocking about it was most swimmers don't get faster week over week. Most swimmers go to these last chance meets and do not get faster, so to be one of the few in the United States that did that was pretty special."
A native of Northern Ireland, Knox didn't always have her sights set on American collegiate swimming. "Once I had talked to Brian, I was like 'okay I want to come here', but before Brian had reached out, I was really unsure about coming to America at all."
Knox cited her teammates as part of what makes her successful, "I would not be here if it wasn't for my teammates."
Thomas also spoke about what makes the program's culture special. "We take a lot of pride in allowing our athletes to be themselves, and we want to be the kind of place where you can feel comfortable coming in and doing that."
One of Knox's teammates, men's swimming and diving member Djrudje Matic, has been especially supportive of Knox. "He's really made me feel more confident about my swimming and that I deserve to be there," Knox said.
Matic knows a thing or two about what it takes to compete on the national stage - he represented GW swimming and diving last season at the NCAA Championships.
"Julia's a trendsetter too now," said Thomas while comparing Knox to Matic, "As a coach, that's invaluable as we keep taking steps forward."
Knox begins her run at the NCAA Championships this Thursday with the 200-yard IM.
Players Mentioned
