Portello Finishes 24th in 1,650 at NCAA Championships

Wednesday, March 18

Atlanta, Ga.

9 AM

Rice University

NCAA Championships

Ava Portello at 2026 American Championships

Photo by: The American Conference

Portello Finishes 24th in 1,650 at NCAA Championships

3/18/2026 6:00:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

ATLANTA — Ava Portello closed Day 1 of the NCAA Championships with Rice's first top-25 finish at the NCAA Championship since Casey Clark in the 100 fly 2015.

Entering the event as the No. 42 seed, Portello competed in the first heat of the event, finishing second in her heat. She placed 24th overall with a time of 16:14.80.

Her time marked a collegiate-best improvement of 8.04 seconds and ranks third in Rice program history, just 0.77 seconds behind Ella Dyson's 16:14.03 in second place.

Her performance is the best in the event since Rice Hall of Famer Brittany Messengale placed 12th in 2008 with a program record of 16:12.12, highlighting a major milestone for the Rice swimming program.

Head coach Seth Huston said, "Ava raced like she has been training. She has been looking great since the American and really did a great job patiently getting into her rhythm and pace."

Reese Cole will compete in the 400 IM tomorrow, with prelims starting at 9 a.m., followed by the 100 fly.