Dani Yoho, who was the first Fresno State swimmer to take gold in the Mountain West Conference Championship. Michael Price / The Collegian

By Tanya Murtagh

Senior swimmer Dani Yoho became Fresno State’s first ever individual Mountain West Conference champion on Feb. 21 by taking first place in the 50-yard freestyle. 

Yoho, a native of Sugar Land, Texas, began swimming at the age of 15. Growing up Yoho also played basketball, soccer and did track and field. She has always been competitive but chose swimming because she knew it was her forte, she said.

“I chose swimming because it was my best shot at a scholarship, and I really enjoyed competing,” Yoho said.

During the Mountain West Championships, Yoho became the first swimmer in Fresno State’s school history to win an individual title. Yoho did this in style by capturing the crown with her fastest time ever: 22.32 seconds.

“I was also incredibly happy to be able to get my goal time in the the 50,” Yoho said. “22.32 has been my goal time for the past couple of years, so being able to shatter my previous record was something I had really been working towards all year.”

During the championships Yoho also broke the Fresno State school record three times in 50 and her personal record in the 100 free.

“I was really happy to break my record in the 100 free,” Yoho said. “I wasn’t able to last year, and it was a really big goal of mine to be able to break it my senior year and also break 50 seconds.”

Yoho attributes some of her success this season to the experience she gained this summer while at the Olympic trials in Omaha, Neb.

“Training for trials this summer definitely helped me to stay in shape and prep for this season,” Yoho said. “I came back this year in much better shape and ready to finish my last year with a bang.”

Yoho is set to compete in the NCAA Championships at the end of March. This will be Yoho’s first time competing in the NCAA individuals, where she will swim in the 50 and 100 freestyle.

Yoho is also in the midst of preparing for her last swim meet as a senior.

“I’m going back up in my yardage and working on the small things to just maintain what I’ve trained for all yearl,” Yoho said.

Yoho will graduate in May and plans to start working right away.

“I plan on working in pharmaceutical sales when I graduate,” Yoho said. “After NCAA I plan on retiring from swimming. I’ve achieved everything I have strived for in swimming and plan on moving forward after college.”