Freshman Bello '23 earns two All-American honors for WashU swimming squad
GREENSBORO, N.C. (March 22, 2024) – The Washington University in St. Louis women's swimming and diving team earned 22 points on day three of the 2024 NCAA Swimming and Diving Champions. The Bears would eventually finish the championship event in 19th place with 46 points.
Adding to the point total for WashU's was the 800 freestyle relay team of sophomore Rin Iimi, junior Isabella Barrientos, first-year Rachel Bello and sophomore Ali Roche claimed eighth place with a time of 7:29.89 to earn All-America status and reach the podium. On the final day of the meet, Bello also competed with WashU's 400 freestyle relay team, earning 16th with a time of 3:29.04 and another All-America finish. Bello, a 2023 Marian grad was the lone freshman on the 800 freestyle relay team, and joined fellow freshman Peyton Watson as the only freshmen on the 400 freestyle relay team.
Although only a first-year swimmer, Bello earned her spots with some terrific individual and relay performances throughout the season.
Bello recorded Wash U's top time this season in the 500 freestyle (4:59.88) at the conference championship meet. She was also the anchor of WashU's 400 freestyle relay team (3:29.80) that finished 6th and WashU's 400 medley relay team (3:48.50) that finished fourth. Both performances account for the team's top times in those events this season.
Additionally, Rachel ranks highly in several events among her peers on the WashU team. At DePauw, Bello finished with a time of 11:05.92 in the 1000 freestyle, good enough for 4th-best on the team. At the Denison Invite, her time of 1:05.60 in the 100 breaststroke was the teams 4th-best performance in the event. Similarly, at the same meet, Rachel recorded a time of 2:24.73 in the 200 backstroke, also 4th-best among the Bears this season. Bello has recorded top-4 team times in the 200 and 400IM
Congratulations to WashU and our very own Rachel Bello!
