Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace
Athletes
Arianna Vanderpool-
Wallace is a sprint freestyle
specialist from
the Bahamas. She
graduated from the
sprint powerhouse, Auburn University,
where she was a multi-time
All-American and three-time NCAA
Champion. Born March 4, 1990
to Vincent and Tietchka Vanderpool-
Wallace, she has one brother
named Aleksandr.
Auburn University
Vanderpool-Wallace spent her four
years in college studying Hotel
and Restaurant Management and
competing at Auburn University. The
university had ties to The Bahamas,
having housed Bahamian swimmers,
Alana Dillette and Jeremy
Knowles. Prior to her senior year,
Vanderpool-Wallace was an 18-
time All-American the 2011 NCAA
Champion in the 100m freestyle and
the 50m freestyle. Vanderpool-Wallace
graduated from the Bolles
School in Jacksonville, Fla., where
she was rated a five-star recruit by
Swimming World Magazine.
College career
During her freshman season she
took 10th in the 100m freestyle
and 13th in the 50m freestyle, but
earned more All-American honors
on relays. At the 2010 NCAA
Championships she earned six total
All-America honors, including a
fifth-place finish in the 100m freestyle.
During her junior year she was
a double-winner in the 50m freestyle
and 100m freestyle, and she was
named the 2011 SEC Swimmer of
the Year. At the SEC meet she broke
the NCAA and U.S. Open Records
in the 100 freestyle, taking the title
from Cal’s Natalie Coughlin. In her
senior year at Auburn, she led off
the fifth-place 200 freestyle relay,
anchored the fifth-place 200 medley
and 400 medley relay and finished
second on the 400 freestyle relay.
Individually she came in third in the
50 freestyle, fifth in the 100 butterfly,
and won the 100 freestyle.
Early international career
Vanderpool-Wallace competed at
the Central American & Caribbean
Games in 2006, and a year later she
was part of the bronze-medal winning
400m medley relay at the 2007
Pan Pacific Championships.
Beijing Olympics
When she qualified for her first
Olympic Games in 2008, Vanderpool-
Wallace was only the second
female swimmer to ever qualify for
an Olympic Games. She competed
in the sprint freestyle events – Vanderpool-
Wallace finished 28th in the
100m freestyle and 24th in the 50m
freestyle.
2012 Olympics
At the 2012 London Olympics, Vanderpool-
Wallace was part of a small
Bahamas team that was sent to the
Olympics. She made it into the final
of the 50m freestyle, finishing eighth,
and ended up 10th in the 100m freestyle.
When she finaled in the 50m
distance, Vanderpool-Wallace made
history as the first Bahamian woman
to make the finals of a swim event at
the Olympics.
2015 world rankings
As of May 5, 2015 she’s one of the
world’s fastest swimmers in the 50m
freestyle. Currently training with
SwimMAC Elite, Vanderpool-Walllace
was honored by receiving The
Bahamas’ 2015
