Women’s Swimming & Diving Announces Class of 2027

PRINCETON, N.J. – The Princeton University women's swimming & diving team will welcome nine talented newcomers as its Class of 2027, as announced by Head Coach Bret Lundgaard.

The Tigers welcome Eleanor Sun, Grace Black, Mary McKenna, Dakota Tucker, Donata Katai, Edie Simecek, Veronique Rossouw, Kamila Isaieva and Hayley Clark.

"We are excited to welcome these P'27 Tigers to Princeton," said Lundgaard. "This is a special group of women who come from all over the world and represent a variety of backgrounds, experiences and journeys to Princeton. They are all unified in their passion for growth, challenge and commitment to putting their paw print on this program's future. Athletically they are an incredibly accomplished group that has experiences at the Olympics, World Championships and US, Ukrainian, South African Nationals and other high-level competitions.

The nine newcomers will join a group of returners looking to repeat as Ivy League Champions in 2023-24 and win the program's third Ivy title in the past four seasons. They will look to build off a season where 20 swimmers produced over 150 lifetime best times, and the Tigers set NCAA "B" cuts in four out of the five relays, becoming the only non-power five school to have more than two. The Tigers also broke eight school records and two Ivy records (200 Medley Relay and 200 Free Relay) in 2022-23.

Eleanor Sun

Hometown: Bethesda, Maryland

High School: Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart

Events: IM/Fly/Breast

Before Princeton: Attended 2019 USA Swimming National Select Camp … 2021 US Olympic Trials qualifier (200 fly, 400 IM) … 8x NISCA All-American … 3x Scholastic All-American … National Merit Finalist … Valedictorian … AP Scholar with Distinction

Personal: Daughter of Hanzhen Sun and Yan Sun … has a brother, Henry Sun

Grace Black

Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland

High School: Bryn Mawr School

Events: Back/IM

Before Princeton: Junior National Qualifier … IAAM Athlete of the Week … IAAAM All-Conference … USA Swimming Scholastic All-American

Personal: Daughter of James Black and Melissa Diehl Black … her father attended Holy Cross where he was part of the men's rowing team … has three younger siblings; Kate Black, Jimmy Black and Jill Black.

Mary McKenna

Hometown: Seaford, New York

High School: Saint Anthony's

Events: Free/IM

Before Princeton: 2022- 2023 Open Water National Junior Team … 3x Scholastic All-American … 3x NISCA All-American … St. Bonaventure- Principle's Honors List … National Honor Society … Saint Anthony's Class of 2023 Scholar-Athlete

Personal: Daughter of Christine McKenna … has a sister, Grace, who rowed at Boston College and is a member of the Class of 2023 … her brothers Brendan and Kieran are members of the Class of 2026 at Navy

Dakota Tucker

Hometown: Johannesburg, South Africa

High School: St Stithians Girls' College

Events: IM/Fly/Breast

Before Princeton: Represented the South African National team at World Short Course Championships in Melbourne, 2022 … represented South Africa as a Junior in 2019 at the African Junior Championships in Tunisia … selected for other national competitions including Junior Worlds and World Short Course in 2021 … achieved multiple national medals in the medley and butterfly events … matriculated high school with great results (including distinctions in Mathematics, Biology and IT)

Personal: Daughter of Wayne and Julie Tucker … has a sister, Skye Tucker, who is on the rowing team at Merrimack … has a sister, Summer Tucker, who is still in high school … accepted into the mechanical engineering program at Princeton

Donata Katai

Hometown: Harare, Zimbabwe

High School: Gateway

Events: Back

Before Princeton: Flag bearer for Zimbabwe at 2021 Tokyo Olympian 2021 … 2x Junior African Champion … 2x Cambridge High Achievers Award for highest IGCSE results in Zimbabwe

Personal: Daughter of Luigi and Des Katai … has an older brother (Josh), and older sister (Lynale) and a younger brother (Christian)

Edie Simecek

Hometown: Boulder, Colorado

High School: Fairview

Events: Fly

Before Princeton: High School State Champion in the 100 fly … 3x USA Swimming Scholastic All-American … Summer Junior Nationals Qualifier and A-Finalist … 4x CHSAA Academic All-State First Team … 100 fly Fairview record holder … NISCA Academic All American … National Merit Finalist

Personal: Daughter of Quint and Ingrid Simecek … has a younger sister, Rylan Simecek

Veronique Rossouw

Hometown: Pretoria, South Africa

High School: Midstream College

Events: Free/Fly

Before Princeton: National swim team & African medalist … national Age Group Record Holder … top 1% National Achiever in Afrikaans, English and Social Studies & Top 10% National Achiever for final results in high school

Personal: Daughter of Jacques and Henriette Rossouw … her father Jacques competed in triathlon in college … her mother Henriette competed in road running in college … has a younger sister, Danielle, who plays field hockey in high school

Kamila Isaieva

Hometown: Poltava, Ukraine

High School: Secondary Education School No. 25

Events: Breast

Before Princeton: Multiple Champion of Ukraine … Ukrainian record holder … multiple international championships … multiple World Gymnaziade Champion … European Junior Championships finalist … High level school life activity … leader of the class and perfect grades

Personal: Her mother, Iryna Isaieva, was into professional athletics at university … has a younger sister, Dana Isaieva

Hayley Clark

Hometown: Chapel Hill, N.C.

High School: Chapel Hill

Events: Free/Fly

Before Princeton: 4x HS All American 500 free … US Open Qualifier … 2020 USA Swimming National Diversity Camp … Summer Junior National Qualifier … Open Water Nationals Qualifier … 4x Scholastic Academic All American … graduated HS Summa Cum Laude

Personal: Daughter of Carlos and Amanda Clark … father Carlos played basketball at Holy Cross … has three siblings; Jameson, Jacob and Hannah

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results