The moment a collegiate athletic department presents its yearly awards has a subtle message. The room where coaches and athletes sit together and the names that keep coming up are what truly show what a team is made of, not the large championship banners or the nationally televised meets.
This season at East Carolina University, that moment came with more significance than normal because the Pirates experienced a season in which a few players didn’t just play well. They transported items.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Program | East Carolina University Swimming & Diving |
| Nickname | Pirates |
| Conference | American Athletic Conference (The American) |
| Location | Greenville, North Carolina |
| Season | 2024–25 |
| Key Athlete – Swimming | Kaylee Hamblin, Senior |
| Key Athlete – Diving | Frida Zuniga Guzman, Redshirt Junior |
| Notable Junior | Sara Kalawska, Junior |
| Conference Championships | Feb. 19–22, Dallas, Texas |
| Upcoming Events | UNC Invite (Feb. 6–8), Davidson (Feb. 1) |
There were several mentions of Kaylee Hamblin, and with good reason. Mid-season, the senior breaststroke specialist had the kind of stretch that teams long for. She anchored a medley relay team that defeated Old Dominion and Central Connecticut State in the same afternoon in the William & Mary Quad-Meet on January 11th, where she won first place in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke with speeds of 1:03.24 and 2:16.77, respectively. In a single competition, seven victories in all. It’s the kind of production that doesn’t just happen; it’s the kind that’s developed over years of early mornings and inconspicuous practice sessions that nobody took pictures of.
When Hamblin faced Liberty a week later, he moved more quickly. Her relay teams continued to win the 200-yard and 400-yard medleys, while her 100-yard breaststroke time decreased to 1:02.81. By then, she had won eight solo events and four relay events in just two meets, receiving her second weekly award in the American Athletic Conference. Given that she won two consecutive conference weekly prizes, which typically recognize exceptional work, it’s plausible that this statistic undervalues what she accomplished.
Then there is Frida Zuniga Guzman, whose story could be the more subdued of the two. The redshirt junior diver has received weekly accolades five times this season and seven times over her ECU career, much like other players receive excuses. She defeated three opponents in a single day in the 1-meter and 3-meter dives at the same William & Mary quad competition. Six victories in a single session. Guzman seems to have found her comfort zone in the diving well, where she competes more against her own potential than against rivals.
She tested that ceiling against Liberty. Her 3-meter dive set a new pool record with a score of 359.25. At college meets, pool records don’t happen as frequently as people think. Pools remember lengthy competitive sessions, and breaking one indicates that you outperformed every athlete who stood in the same location before you. Although it’s still unclear if she can maintain that level of play in the conference titles, it seems foolish to wager against her based on the last few months.
The third Pirate to receive conference distinction this season is Sara Kalawska, a junior. She won the 100-yard butterfly in 56.49 and the 200-yard butterfly in 2:04.21, which at the time was the 23rd-ranked time in the country, at the season-opening competition in October. She appears to be more than just a contributor based on her national ranking in the first week of the season. She is a rival.
It’s not only individual skill that makes East Carolina’s swimming and diving program stand out when you watch this develop over the course of a season. It’s its concentration. In a single season, three athletes receiving conference weekly awards is the kind of depth that distinguishes schools that are developing something meaningful from those that are just riding one or two names. In late February, the Pirates travel to Dallas for the American Athletic Conference Championships. They’ve finished the awards ceremony. There will be a more difficult reckoning.
