Rice University’s Ava Portello finished second to teammate Ella Dyson at both the 2025 MPSF Open Water Swimming Championships in Long Beach, California and the 2024 College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) National Collegiate 5K Open Water Swimming Championship in Sarasota, Florida.

The 2025 CSCAA National Championship is coming up again this week and the Rice teammates are looking forward again to dominating the podium.

Portello, a sophomore from Davis, California, is also featured in the Blue IQ: Staying Safe in Ocean Currents (see below), an educational series created, produced, and narrated by fellow Rice University swimmer Bruckner Chase.

She has been on a roll lately, being named American Swimming Athlete of the Week for the second consecutive week and setting a program record in the 500-yard freestyle with a 4:41.79 along with a 1:47.42 in the 200-yard freestyle and a 16:26.29 in the 1,650-yard freestyle, second to Dyson in 16:22.18. It will be a close one in Sarasota.

The 2025 CSCAA Open Water Championship will take place on December 13th at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota. USA Swimming has designated the event as an approved qualifying event for its national championship. The top five finishers for each gender earn invitations to the USA Swimming 5K Open Water Championships.

Rice coach Seth Huston is known for his passion for open water swimming and has attracted some of the finest women open water swimming in the collegiate ranks, leading the Rice women to the 2022 and 2024 CSCAA Open Water Swimming National Championship titles – hoping for a third title this year. Huston said, “Ella and Ava and their teammates push each other every day in practice.”

For more information on next week’s collegiate championship, visit here.

2024 Women’s Team Title Results

1. Rice University 3:17:44 with lla Dyson (1:03:32) + Ava Hamblett (1:07:05) + Amelia Kane (1:07:07)
2. University of South Carolina 3:22:16 with Nora Fluck (1:06:42) + Sianna Savarda (1:07:15) + Emma Reiser (1:07:32)
3. Purdue University: 3:23:38 with Adele Sands (1:07:20) + Reagan Mattice (1:07:22) + Caitlin M Hurley (1:07:34)

2024 5 km Women’s Top 20 Results

1. Ella Dyson of Rice University 1:03:31.40
2. Miriam Frass of Youngstown State University 1:06:40.41
3. Marlene Blanke of Villanova University 1:06:41.78
4. Nora Fluck of University of South Carolina 1:06:41.80
5. Ava S Hamblett of Rice University 1:07:04.17
6. Amelia L Kane of Rice University 1:07:06.71
7. Ava C Portello of Rice University 1:07:08.73
8. Peri Gaguzis of Villanova University 1:07:10.77
9. Sianna Savarda of University of South Carolina 1:07:14.11
10. Libby Michel of University of Cincinnati 1:07:14.11
11. Adele E Sands of Purdue University 1:07:19.48
12. Tori N Shoemaker of University of Alaska Fairbanks 1:07:20.70
13. Reagan G Mattice of Purdue University 1:07:21.51
14. Celine S Petruschke of University of North Carolina Asheville 1:07:23.61
15. Ella S Dyjak of Florida State University 1:07:26.92
16. Natalie M Stuart of University of Richmond 1:07:28.43
17. Ashlyn Massey of University of Miami Florida 1:07:28.89
18. Lise Coetzee of Tulane University 1:07:30.58
19. Emma Reiser of University of South Carolina 1:07:31.79
20. Caitlin M Hurley of Purdue University 1:07:33.43

© 2025 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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