Completed Event: Swimming & Diving versus NCAA Women's Championship on March 18, 2026 , , T-21st/48 (35)
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GoDuke the Magazine Blue Devil of the Month: Alyssa Marsh
2/17/2020 10:22:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
This story originally appeared in the 11.6 Issue of GoDuke the Magazine -- Feb. 2020.
The Duke swimming and diving record book is a dynamic document.
Each year there are multiple records being set on both the men's and women's sides. Of all 46 school records, 23 of each gender, no current records are from before 2010.
A lot of the change can be contributed to head coach Dan Colella. In his 15th season at Duke, Colella has changed the culture of Duke's program and powered the student-athletes to shine on a national level. Already this season, both of his squads reached their highest rankings in the CSCAA polls in Duke history.
But, there is one name that stands out – Alyssa Marsh.
***
Marsh grew up surrounded by greatness. The daughter of legendary swim coach David Marsh, Alyssa was always around the pool deck at Auburn as she lived there for the first ten years of her life.
During her time at Auburn, she witnessed her dad lead the Tigers to seven men's national championships and five women's national titles, sweeping the NCAA championships on four occasions (2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007).
That environment can draw you in. Even after her family moved to Davidson, N.C., she always thought that she would go to Auburn and swim, but that was not the case. When Marsh's recruitment began, she didn't know anything about schools in North Carolina, but her mom encouraged her to look at Duke – and she was sold.
"Duke ended up stealing my heart from the beginning because of the people," Marsh said. "I didn't know much about the school, the culture, the basketball or the academics at first, but the people when I came here were just amazing and so welcoming and cool."
There were many reasons that Marsh came to Duke, but one that stood out was Colella. Coming from a swimming family and getting to know many collegiate coaches over the years, Marsh knew the typical relationship between a college coach and their athletes. She felt as though Colella's interactions were different.
"He's an awesome leader and one of the reasons that Duke felt so fitting for me," Marsh stated of her coach. "He has a really good view on balancing the student-athletes lives. He treats and respects us as individuals over just athletes."
Marsh saw Duke in a way that many people did not. The Blue Devils were on the rise and she wanted to be a part of building something special.
"That's one of the reasons that I am here in the first place," Marsh said of Duke's team culture. "I knew I wanted to be on a team that's on the rise and able to get to places we have never been before. Our goal this year is to be best team that we have ever been and break a bunch of records."
***
Marsh's name is etched in the book six times – three individual events and contributing on three relay events.
All three of the individual event records came from a three-day span in November at the NC State GAC Invitational at the Greensboro Aquatics Center in Greensboro, N.C. Her three individual records tie former Blue Devil and Team USA distance swimmer Ashley Twichell.
Setting three school records in three days wasn't planned. Going into the week, there was a sense of calmness among her. She was confident and prepared for the meet. Meets like this against strong and new competition, like Wisconsin's Beta Nelson, is what she had worked for and what she enjoys.
Marsh wasn't worried about all the existential things going on around her. She didn't stress out about making NCAA standard times or making the NCAA cut. If she was going to she would and if she didn't, there would be another opportunity. So, she focused on one thing- swimming. And she did. Fast.
"Going into the meet I didn't put a lot of pressure on myself and just knew I can race the best I can," Marsh said.
On day one of the GAC, Thursday, Nov. 21, Marsh's first event in the pool was the 50 freestyle preliminaries. She swam a 21.90, an NCAA "B" cut time and beating her previous career-best by two-hundredths of a second. Later that night, she came in second in the finals.
Just 24 hours after setting the 50 free record, Marsh took the pool in the 100 butterfly. Her 51.05 was a "B" cut time and dropped .48 seconds off her previous career best. After coming in second in the preliminaries, Marsh took the top spot on the podium in the finals.
The senior went three-for-three in setting records on the final day of competition that Saturday. In the 100 freestyle, Marsh finished the preliminaries with a school-record time of 48.11. Later that night she finished third in the finals.
At the end of the weekend, Marsh led all women's competitors with 114 points over the three-day meet. With the addition of a third-place finish to the performances listed above, she competed in four individual events, placing in the top-3 in the A-Final of all of them.
"It was a really successful weekend for our whole team and for me individually," Marsh said. "It just boosted my confidence a little bit more from our teams success last year. It was awesome to have a meet where the energy was high and the team performed well, but we still have a lot to improve."
***
Looking towards the end of the year, Marsh's goals parallel the team's goals: to be the best Duke has ever been. For her, that means being the best teammate she can be in relays and outside the pool as well as individually going for All-America recognition at NCAA's.
For her last season, she is trying not to put pressure on herself. She just wants to have fun with her team and enjoy her last season in Durham. One way she can have fun with her team is on relays. If you ask her, Marsh's favorite event to swim is the 50 butterfly and the only time she gets to swim that is the 200 medley relay.
Marsh came to Durham for a reason. Although she's not done yet, her name will live on past her time at Duke.
"I want to leave it better than I found it," Marsh said of how she wants to cement her legacy. "I came in and it was already an amazing group of people. The swimming has just been elevated every year and that is the team culture and what we have worked on. It's been an amazing ride to see Duke grow and its going to be awesome to see them continue to grow in the future."
The Duke swimming and diving record book is a dynamic document.
Each year there are multiple records being set on both the men's and women's sides. Of all 46 school records, 23 of each gender, no current records are from before 2010.
A lot of the change can be contributed to head coach Dan Colella. In his 15th season at Duke, Colella has changed the culture of Duke's program and powered the student-athletes to shine on a national level. Already this season, both of his squads reached their highest rankings in the CSCAA polls in Duke history.
But, there is one name that stands out – Alyssa Marsh.
***
Marsh grew up surrounded by greatness. The daughter of legendary swim coach David Marsh, Alyssa was always around the pool deck at Auburn as she lived there for the first ten years of her life.
During her time at Auburn, she witnessed her dad lead the Tigers to seven men's national championships and five women's national titles, sweeping the NCAA championships on four occasions (2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007).
That environment can draw you in. Even after her family moved to Davidson, N.C., she always thought that she would go to Auburn and swim, but that was not the case. When Marsh's recruitment began, she didn't know anything about schools in North Carolina, but her mom encouraged her to look at Duke – and she was sold.
"Duke ended up stealing my heart from the beginning because of the people," Marsh said. "I didn't know much about the school, the culture, the basketball or the academics at first, but the people when I came here were just amazing and so welcoming and cool."
There were many reasons that Marsh came to Duke, but one that stood out was Colella. Coming from a swimming family and getting to know many collegiate coaches over the years, Marsh knew the typical relationship between a college coach and their athletes. She felt as though Colella's interactions were different.
"He's an awesome leader and one of the reasons that Duke felt so fitting for me," Marsh stated of her coach. "He has a really good view on balancing the student-athletes lives. He treats and respects us as individuals over just athletes."
Marsh saw Duke in a way that many people did not. The Blue Devils were on the rise and she wanted to be a part of building something special.
"That's one of the reasons that I am here in the first place," Marsh said of Duke's team culture. "I knew I wanted to be on a team that's on the rise and able to get to places we have never been before. Our goal this year is to be best team that we have ever been and break a bunch of records."
***
Marsh's name is etched in the book six times – three individual events and contributing on three relay events.
All three of the individual event records came from a three-day span in November at the NC State GAC Invitational at the Greensboro Aquatics Center in Greensboro, N.C. Her three individual records tie former Blue Devil and Team USA distance swimmer Ashley Twichell.
Setting three school records in three days wasn't planned. Going into the week, there was a sense of calmness among her. She was confident and prepared for the meet. Meets like this against strong and new competition, like Wisconsin's Beta Nelson, is what she had worked for and what she enjoys.
Marsh wasn't worried about all the existential things going on around her. She didn't stress out about making NCAA standard times or making the NCAA cut. If she was going to she would and if she didn't, there would be another opportunity. So, she focused on one thing- swimming. And she did. Fast.
"Going into the meet I didn't put a lot of pressure on myself and just knew I can race the best I can," Marsh said.
On day one of the GAC, Thursday, Nov. 21, Marsh's first event in the pool was the 50 freestyle preliminaries. She swam a 21.90, an NCAA "B" cut time and beating her previous career-best by two-hundredths of a second. Later that night, she came in second in the finals.
Just 24 hours after setting the 50 free record, Marsh took the pool in the 100 butterfly. Her 51.05 was a "B" cut time and dropped .48 seconds off her previous career best. After coming in second in the preliminaries, Marsh took the top spot on the podium in the finals.
The senior went three-for-three in setting records on the final day of competition that Saturday. In the 100 freestyle, Marsh finished the preliminaries with a school-record time of 48.11. Later that night she finished third in the finals.
At the end of the weekend, Marsh led all women's competitors with 114 points over the three-day meet. With the addition of a third-place finish to the performances listed above, she competed in four individual events, placing in the top-3 in the A-Final of all of them.
"It was a really successful weekend for our whole team and for me individually," Marsh said. "It just boosted my confidence a little bit more from our teams success last year. It was awesome to have a meet where the energy was high and the team performed well, but we still have a lot to improve."
***
Looking towards the end of the year, Marsh's goals parallel the team's goals: to be the best Duke has ever been. For her, that means being the best teammate she can be in relays and outside the pool as well as individually going for All-America recognition at NCAA's.
For her last season, she is trying not to put pressure on herself. She just wants to have fun with her team and enjoy her last season in Durham. One way she can have fun with her team is on relays. If you ask her, Marsh's favorite event to swim is the 50 butterfly and the only time she gets to swim that is the 200 medley relay.
Marsh came to Durham for a reason. Although she's not done yet, her name will live on past her time at Duke.
"I want to leave it better than I found it," Marsh said of how she wants to cement her legacy. "I came in and it was already an amazing group of people. The swimming has just been elevated every year and that is the team culture and what we have worked on. It's been an amazing ride to see Duke grow and its going to be awesome to see them continue to grow in the future."
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