Rock Hill, S.C.----The Wingate University women's swimming team is picked to win the South Atlantic Conference championship meet, league officials announce this week. In voting by the conference's five head coaches, the Bulldog women earned three first-place votes and 18 points.
 
SAC Swimmers to Watch
 
In addition to the preseason poll announcement, the South Atlantic Conference honored student-athletes from each school as Swimmers to Watch. Wingate's honorees are:
 
Women
Nina Azirovic, senior team captain
Natalia Dwojak, senior
Vera Karlsson, junior
 
Next on the Agenda
2025-26 #WUSWIM schedule

Wingate returns to action Friday afternoon, facing Queens University of Charlotte in a dual meet at the Levine Center. The first event is slated for a 2 p.m. start. Bulldog fans please note the venue change for this event. Wingate concludes October with a visit to Catawba on the 31st.  
 
Looking back at 2024-25 … Wingate earns SAC title for third year in a row
 
- Natalia Dwojak was the SAC women's Swimmer of the Year
- Wingate received the '25 SAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award
- Class of 2025 alumna Marta Beesmans Barquero earned this honor
- The WU women finished 13th of 39 schools who scored points at the '25 NCAAs
 
Wingate Swimming quick facts
 
- Wingate has 45 NCAA national championship swims lifetime (31 women, 14 men)
- At NCAAs, the WU women have earned second place once (2016) and third twice
- The 'Dogs have earned fifth place at NCAA men's meet once with six sixth-place showings
- The Bulldogs swept the SAC championships in '23, '24 and '25, winning both titles
- WU won 11 Bluegrass Mountain Conference crowns while BMC members
- The 'Dogs won seven BMC men's titles and four BMC women's crowns
- WUSWIM student-athletes have earned Academic All-America® honors 40 times
- WUSWIM's Academic All-America® breakdown includes 17 women and 23 men

Wingate University

Wingate University is a lab of difference-making that serves more than 3,400 students in North Carolina and offers 60 degree pathways, including 37 undergraduate majors, 10 pre-professional tracks and five dual-degree programs. Graduate students choose from seven master's and five doctoral programs. The University is home to the Cannon College of Arts and Sciences, the Levine College of Health Sciences, the Byrum School of Business, the Thayer School of Education and the School of Sport Sciences.
 
Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a leader in healthcare education where nearly one in five undergraduate students is preparing to be a pharmacist, physician assistant, physical therapist, occupational therapist or nurse. Student-athletes on Wingate's 30 teams compete in NCAA Division II and have brought home the SAC Echols Athletic Excellence Award the past 17 times it has been awarded. The University's motto is "Faith, Knowledge, Service." View current news and videos at www.wingate.edu.
 
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