Cowgirls Swim and Dive Season Preview: Skilled Management and Promising Newcomers Able to Tackle 2025-26 Season

LARAMIE, Wyo. (9/19/25) – University of Wyoming swimming and diving head coach Dave Denniston is happy concerning the excessive degree of expertise he has returning for the Cowgirls this yr, however he is additionally longing for this promising freshman class to actually get began.

“I’m really excited because we have great leadership returning and people who have already done it at a high level, with Tara and Macey being our top performers last year,” Denniston mentioned. “But then even coming into this season, there’s some great swims that have already happened by our freshmen leading into this from Isabelle Henderson, Ella Lesnever and Raiden Harris who all really had great summers. They have put themselves in positions to be competitive almost immediately as freshmen.”

The large names that stick out when discussing returners for the Cowgirls are indubitably junior Tara Joyce and sophomore Macey Hansen.

Joyce kicked off her profession at Wyoming by successful a Mountain West Championship within the 200-yard freestyle again in 2024 and continued to be a high performer within the Mountain West within the dash and middle-distance freestyles as a sophomore in 2025. Joyce additionally owns the varsity document within the 200-yard freestyle.

Hansen had a dream begin to her collegiate swimming profession in 2025, successful not one however two Mountain West titles within the 500-yard and 1650-yard freestyles, setting a number of faculty data and reserving her ticket to the NCAA swimming and diving championships. Hansen grew to become the primary UW swimmer since 2017 to qualify for NCAAs, the place she competed within the 500-yard and 1650-yard freestyles.

“I think there’s also a great opportunity to continue to see our divers shine with Alicia and Natalie both being seniors,” Denniston mentioned. “They’re going to be able to guide and mentor some of our younger talent on the board. So just overall, great energy by the team, and a lot of optimism and excitement going into it.”

Alicia Gonzalez and Natalie Six return to steer the Cowgirl divers this season. Gonzalez was named Mountain West diver of the week 4 instances final season, convey her profession complete of garnering the honour to eight. Gonzalez additionally took third on the Mountain West Championships on the 1-meter springboard. Six positioned eighth on the Mountain West Championships on the 3-meter springboard.

Denniston named seniors Ellie Fritscher, Gillette native Berkeley Christensen and Laramie native Natalie Six as staff captains simply over a month in the past.

“They’ve been phenomenal leaders already,” Denniston mentioned. “After a little bit of a coaching change within our staff, we needed some people to step up and make sure our culture stayed in a great place and to their credit, I think they’ve elevated our culture. Ellie is just a standout, great human being that cares about everyone, as does Berkeley and Natalie. Berkeley is a Wyoming girl through and through, so she gets the big picture of the implications of what our team means to the state. And Natalie being from Laramie, she’s just that person that’s always building connections. And really this year, [she’s been] building a big, strong connection between our divers and our swimmers that’s kind of been missing the last couple years.”

Wyoming swimming and diving opens their season on Friday, Sept. 26 with the Brown and Gold Intrasquad Meet.