Mariam Sheikhalizadehkhanghah, center, reacts after competing in a heat of the women’s 50-meter freestyle swimming event during the Paris Games. Sheikhalizadehkhanghah is excited to return to the University of Arizona and compete in the Big 12. (Photo by Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images)
PARIS – Weeks before starting her sophomore year of college at the University of Arizona, Maryam Sheikhalizadehkhanghah made her second appearance on the Olympic stage in Paris, swimming the 50-meter freestyle for team Azerbaijan.
At just 20, Sheikhalizadehkhanghah has made a name for herself in multiple countries. Born in Iran, she immigrated to Azerbaijan at a young age to pursue her swimming dreams and then made another pivotal choice to move to the U.S. to attend and compete for the University of Arizona.
“It’s a really good feeling and I’m really glad that I could represent my country for a second time and I’m also really proud of myself because it’s a lot of challenges and a lot of hard working to be able to stay at this place,” Sheikhalizadehkhanghah said. “I’m also really proud that I also represent my university as a Wildcat here.”
Sheikhalizadehkhanghah made her swimming capabilities known at a young age. At 11, she broke 13 national swimming records in Iran, at 14 she was invited by the Swimming Federation of the Republic of Azerbaijan to represent the country on the international level and by the time Sheikhalizadehkhanghah was 17, she was the first woman to qualify for the Olympics in the history of Iranian women’s swimming.
In 2021, Sheikhalizadehkhanghah made her Olympic debut in the Tokyo Games, swimming the 100-meter butterfly. She finished first in her heat during the preliminary competition but did not advance.
Overall, Sheikhalizadehkhanghah ranked 30 out of the 33 women competing.
On August 3, Sheikhalizadehkhanghah dove back into the Olympic pool but swam the 50-meter freestyle this time.
Sheikhalizadehkhanghah placed third in her heat, coming in at 26.76 seconds, half a second behind the heat’s frontrunner, Elizaveta Pecherskikh of Kyrgyzstan.
Although she may not have made it onto a podium in either of her Olympic appearances, Sheikhalizadehkhanghah said she liked the set up of the Tokyo Games better.
“I really liked the last Olympic Games because everything was on time and with the schedule. But here, our competition pool is one hour from the Village,” Sheikhalizadehkhanghah said. “I also liked the food. It was really clean in Tokyo and here there might not even be enough food for all the athletes.”
The distance to venues in Paris has been a topic of many athletes’ complaints this summer, along with the lack of air conditioning and dietary options in the Village.
The Olympic Village was constructed in the northern part of Paris, Saint-Denis, and the venue for the swimming races, Paris La Défense Arena, is nine miles west in Nanterre.
Due to the uncomfortable hour-long drive in buses that did not have air conditioning, six of South Korea’s swimmers moved out of the Village to stay in a hotel within walking distance of the venue.
“It feels kind of silly that we spend two hours a day just in the bus,” Sheikhalizadehkhanghah said.
As Sheikhalizadehkhanghah’s time in Paris comes to an end, she said she is ready to head back to Arizona and compete in the newly formed Big12 Conference.
“I’m really excited about Big12 because last year, I was a freshman and it was really amazing because it was the first and last time in the Pac-12 for me,” she said. “But this is (the) Big12 and I think we will also come back really strong.”
University of Arizona, Arizona State, University of Utah, and University of Colorado, joined the list of schools in the Big12 conference this year. The addition of the four formerly Pac12 schools expands the conference to 16 Division 1 universities.
As the collegiate swimming season approaches, University of Arizona also welcomed new Swimming and Diving head coach Ben Loorz.
Loorz brings a track record of championship wins from his time at University of Nevada Las Vegas. In the 2023-2024 season Loorz guided the UNLV men’s swim team to a WAC conference championship and earned his fourth consecutive WAC Swimming Coach of the Year.
“We sought to hire a head coach with a successful record of coaching, recruiting and holistically developing student-athletes at the highest of levels,” University of Arizona Vice President and Director of Athletics Desireé Reed-Francois said to reporters. “Coach Loorz is a proven leader who is nationally recognized in the swimming and diving community with a championship vision for our program. He is a tireless recruiter with an exceptional history of developing championship culture and will grow upon the legacy of the program as we enter the Big 12 Conference. We are proud to welcome Coach Loorz, his wife Jenn, and their family to the University of Arizona.”
As well as looking forward to getting back into the pool in Tucson, Sheikhalizadehkhanghah said she is also excited to welcome the incoming freshman class of University of Arizona swimmers.
“I really try to inspire them,” Sheikhalizadehkhanghah said. “I want to help my teammates to be the best version of themselves.”