SARASOTA, Fla. – Junior Mya Nemechek has become the first national qualifier in New College of Florida athletics history, earning her place at the 2026 NAIA Women's Swimming and Diving National Championship, scheduled for March 4 through 7 at the Elkhart Aquatics Center in Elkhart, Indiana.
Nemechek qualified to compete in three events at the national meet, securing standards in the 200 Individual Medley, 200 Freestyle and 100 Freestyle.
While Nemechek learned earlier in the week that she would become the first student athlete in school history to qualify for a national championship event, juniors Michaela Hickok (400 Individual Medley) and Dominique Cos (400 Individual Medley and 1650 Freestyle) learned during Friday's selection show that they would be joining Nemechek at nationals.
"It's exciting to have the first-ever New College representative at the national level for anything," NCF Swim and Dive Coach Matthew Gilbert said. "We came into this season knowing we're going to be a small roster, but have a great foundation, so we definitely had some high expectations for Mya, knowing pretty well that we were going to make the national meet, but then kind of tapering those expectations into what do we want to try and do at the National meet?
"It's exciting to start this program, and in our first year, seeing someone qualify for that national meet, we're going to just build off of that in the coming years, and hopefully we'll get more and more qualified in the years to come."
A junior from Goodland, Kansas, Nemechek transferred to New College from Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska. Her journey to the national stage is anything but traditional. She did not swim in high school and trained only six weeks out of the year from age seven until the start of her collegiate career.
Despite that limited early background, Nemechek quickly developed into a national qualifier and a cornerstone of the Mighty Banyans during their inaugural season.
"I'm very excited to represent the school in this way and I hope that it sets a lot of encouragement for the other teams that are here," Nemechek said. "I can't wait to represent my school, and I hope that I go out there and just kill it."
NCF Swim and Dive is completing its first year in program history and recently placed seventh out of nine teams at the Sun Conference Championship meet with just five swimmers on the roster. Nemechek's qualification marks a milestone moment for the program and establishes a strong foundation as the Mighty Banyans continue to build toward the future.
