Senior Elias Petersen earned his second consecutive All-America recognition on March 27 at the NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Atlanta. Competing on the 3-meter springboard, Petersen scored a total of 375.10 in preliminaries, finishing 12th overall and securing a spot on the All-America second team.
Petersen’s performance marks the highest finish by a Utah Ute on the 3-meter board during head diving coach Richard Marschner’s tenure. Five of his six dives exceeded 60 points, with his Forward 3 1/2 Sommersault Pike earning him a score of 65.10 in the fifth round. He missed qualifying for the final round by just nine points.
“Being able to coach Elias has been a gift, and our relationship and how we’ve grown together shows everything that’s right with college sports,” head diving coach Richard Marschner said. “Having the opportunity to get to know and develop him as a person and a diver over four years has been incredible. He’s grown with the program and helped take this program to new heights, he helps with nearly everything and his work ethic is unparalleled. I’m so thankful to have had that opportunity to be his coach, and we’re going to miss him.”
Petersen also placed seventh on the 1-meter springboard earlier in the championships, earning first team All-America honors for that event—a distinction he previously achieved at last year’s NCAA Championships as well. With these results, Petersen becomes Utah’s career leader in points scored at NCAA Championships with a total of 32 between two seasons, and is now Utah’s first two-time all-American in one season since Sterling Richards in 2006.
Head coach Jonas Persson commented on Nick Chirafisi’s performance after Chirafisi finished his championship run by placing 33rd overall in the men’s 500 Free: “Nick had a good swim this morning,” Persson said. “He was a little bit over his personal best, but I believe he went out and performed at his absolute best. He had a great attitude and represented the University of Utah in a wonderful way. I can’t be more proud of Nick and how far he has come, and I’m super excited to see what he can do next year.”
The championships will conclude Saturday as Evan VanBrocklin competes in both the men’s 200 Fly and men’s 200 IM.
