200 freestyle Big Ten champion Cora Dupre announced she will be transferring from Indiana to the University of Alabama after one season. Dupre had a great first year with the Hoosiers, winning the 200 free and finishing fourth in the 50 free at the 2020 Big Ten championships.
Dupre is a big pickup for Alabama, as she was seeded to score in the 50 (16th), 100 (12th) and 200 free (8th) at NCAAs before the meet was cancelled from COVID-19. The Crimson Tide had a really strong season in 2020 as the team was scored to finish 11th at NCAAs, which would have been the school’s highest finish since 1994 when they were ninth. They were seventh at SECs this past season as well.
Cora Dupre in high school. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Adding a sprint specialist like Dupre to a team that is only losing two of its nine NCAA qualifiers could give them the boost they need to finish in the top ten. This past season, the Crimson Tide celebrated its first women’s individual titles at SECs in five years when Rhyan White won the 100 & 200 backstroke, and Kensey McMahon won the 1650.
Cora Dupre will be a sophomore next year and already has times that would score in the A-Final at the SEC Championships. The Crimson Tide are returning a stacked team with rising juniors White & McMahon, as well as junior Morgan Scott and senior Flora Molnar were also seeded to score individually at NCAAs.
The school’s lone SEC team title came in 1985 and has not been higher than fifth at SECs since 2003.
Dupre will be joining an Alabama freshman class alongside:
- Gracie Felner
- Reese Hazan
- Isabella Matesa
- Maddie Mechling
- Diana Petkova
- Selina Reil
- Jada Surrell-Norwood
Dupre, originally out of Cincinnati, Ohio and the Mason Manta Rays, will be joining fellow Cincinnati natives Nicholas Perera and Ashley Voelkerding in Tuscaloosa this season. She is an extremely versatile swimmer as she can also branch out to sprint backstroke and butterfly.
Cora Dupre’s Best Times:
- 50 free: 21.90 / 25.49
- 100 free: 47.84 / 56.08
- 200 free: 1:43.61 / 2:01.00
- 100 back: 52.47 / 1:02.98
- 100 fly: 52.90 / 1:01.78
- 200 IM: 1:57.33 / 2:16.81
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