AUBURN, Ala. – It's been a little less than 20 years since Maggie Bowen-Hanna and Adrienne Binder (Brown) last attended the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships. They were competing then and winning. The duo helped Auburn win national championships in 2002, '03, '04, '06 and '07.
What do they remember from those days?
"Winning," Bowen-Hanna said. "That was the most memorable part. It was just the best time."
"Doing whatever it took," Binder said. "Just coming together as a team."
"Working so hard together for a goal, feeling so purposeful," added Bowen-Hanna. "You had a lot of faith in your teammates and trust and camaraderie. It was great. The glory years."
In March, Bowen-Hanna and Binder returned to the pool at the NCAA Women's Championships along with a handful of their former teammates – Tawnie Bethune, Mimi Bowen, Demerae Christianson, Magda Dyszkiewicz, Erin Gayle, Jeri Moss, Ashley Rubenstein and others. They traveled from all over the country, meeting in Atlanta at the McAuley Aquatic Center.
This time, they weren't on deck swimming. They were in the stands cheering on Auburn and one of their former teammates, first-year head coach Ryan Wochomurka.
"It's very emotional but good," Bowen-Hanna said. "It's coming full circle. I'm very proud of him and the program and what he's doing now. I just have a lot of confidence in the future."
"It feels really good to get back involved in the program," added Binder.
Wochomurka was a part of the glory years at Auburn, swimming on national championship teams in 2003, '04 and '05. Last spring, he was hired and tasked with building the S&D program back up to where it once was.
A natural leader from his days as a swimmer, Wochomurka has carried that over into his coaching career and is now back home. It was the perfect fit.
"He's an Auburn guy," Binder said. "He knows how to work hard. He knows how to compete when it matters and to show up when it matters. And I think he's going to instill that in this next generation of Auburn swimming.
"That's what made us great. Not necessarily having a talented pool of athletes, but a pool of athletes on our team that knew how to come together as a team, work hard, and hold each other accountable for that shared goal we all had."
It's a process that will take time. There were signs of progress this past season as both teams improved their finish at the SEC Championships. The women had 10 NCAA individual qualifiers, the most since 2016, and the men earned their best finish at NCAAs since 2018 with six All-Americans – also the most since 2018.
But Wochomurka has the support of his former teammates and the alumni. He's one of their own, and the Auburn Family always backs its own.
It's why after nearly 20 years, there's still a connection between Bowen-Hanna, Binder and the others who once swam together at Auburn. It's why when the idea of meeting up at the NCAA Championships was brought up, everybody jumped on board.
"I don't think every university or every swimming and diving program has that longevity of that connection," Binder said. "But it's so important to us because we had it, we built it and shared so much – good and bad – that we will always be there for each other."
"It's a lifelong family," Bowen-Hanna said. "When you see somebody with Auburn, you just have a connection, and you get it. It's a state of mind. A family forever."
