STANFORD, Calif. - Two-time defending national champion Stanford women's swimming and diving added four members in the Class of 2023, as announced by Paul A. Violich Director of Women's Swimming Greg Meehan, Associate Head Coach Tracy Slusser and Head Diving Coach Patrick Jeffrey on Wednesday.
The newest Cardinal include Kira Crage, Alex Crisera, Emma Wheal and Julia Wortman. Crage specializes in the freestyle, Crisera's strokes include the free and back, Wheal primarily swims the sprint frees and Wortman is a diver. Two hail from California, one from Florida and another from Texas.
Meet the Class of 2023
Kira Crage
Events: 50, 100, 200 Free
Hometown: San Diego, Calif.
High School: Torrey Pines
Club Team: Rancho San Dieguito
Three Swim Facts: Four-time regional champion; three-time state finalist; All-American and Scholastic All-American
Three Fun Facts: Shaped her own surfboard and named it Venus; sews beach-going bathing suits with a friend and likes to make them for other friends; loves French culture and France and hopes to live there at some point.
Alex Crisera
Events: 50, 100, 200 Free; 100, 200 Back
Hometown: Manhattan Beach, Calif.
High School: Mira Costa
Club Team: Beach Cities Swimming
Three Swim Facts: National Junior team member; 10-time NISCA All-American and two-time Scholastic All-American; CIF-SS Division 2 champion in the 100 free in 2017 & 2018.
Three Fun Facts: Never broken a bone before; mother and father were student-athletes at Harvard; born in San Francisco but moved to Southern California when she was five.
Emma Wheal
Events: 50, 100 Free; 100 Fly
Hometown: Austin, Texas
High School: Westlake
Club Team: Western Hills Athletic Club
Three Swim Facts: 5-time Texas 6A state championship finalist; two NISCA All-American honors; four-time all-region, all-state, all-conference and all-area.
Three Fun Facts: Wants to pursue a career in environmental conservation and/or environmental and civil engineering; older brother swims at St Mary's College (Md.); loves interior decorating and art.
Julia Wortman
Events: Diving
Hometown: Wellington, Fla.
High School: Wellington
Club Team: Coral Springs Diving
Three Diving Facts: Top 12 at the 2017 USA Diving Junior and Senior Nationals on platform; Second at the 2017 USA Senior Diving National on synchronized platform; Second overall at 2018 state championships
Three Fun Facts: Fluent in American Sign Language; self-proclaimed foosball pro; dream job is to be a New York Times bestselling novelist.
Coach Jeffrey: "Julia will bring an unmatched level of enthusiasm to our team. She also fills the role of being an accomplished platform diver with a national level diving list."