Indianapolis, IN – (JonesboroRightNow) – June 22, 2024 – University of Arkansas swimmer Bella Cothern of Jonesboro finished 51st among 77 swimmers in the 50-meter freestyle Olympic trial preliminary competition on Saturday.
Cothern swam in Heat 1, Lane 2 in Saturday’s competition finishing third in her heat with a time of 25.79 just 1.32 seconds behind the fastest time of the prelims. Her seed time was 25.69. The fastest swim of the prelims was Torri Huske with a 24.47. The top 16 times advance to tonight’s semi-finals.
Cothern was coached by Will Green through her age group swimming career, both as a Jonesboro Jet and Dart Frog Aquatics (now Shark Wave Aquatic Team). She also swam at Jonesboro High School before beginning her college career at Arkansas in 2020. She just completed her senior year at the U of A where she qualified for the NCAA Championships, posted a 48.70 personal best in the 100 Freestyle at the NCAAs, finished 4th in the SEC 50 Freestyle Championship final posting a 22.04 personal best among her many accomplishments.