{"id":598913,"date":"2024-11-05T19:05:15","date_gmt":"2024-11-06T02:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=598913"},"modified":"2024-11-05T19:05:15","modified_gmt":"2024-11-06T02:05:15","slug":"connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Connecticut&#8217;s Ava Ward Heads South For College, Verbals To LSU For 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Connecticut&#8217;s Ava Ward Heads South For College, Verbals To LSU For 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>NEW COMMIT:\u00a0<\/strong>Junior National qualifier\u00a0<strong>Ava Ward\u00a0<\/strong>of Ridgefield, Connecticut, will had south for her college career, as she announced her verbal commitment to Louisiana State University beginning in Fall 2026.<\/p>\n<p>She told <em>Swimming World:<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"gmail_quote\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<div dir=\"auto\"><span style=\"color: #800080\"><strong>&#8220;I am proud to announce my verbal commitment to pursue my academic and athletic career at Louisiana State University! I would like to thank my coaches Emmanuel, Ronnie, Paul and Colleen for their unwavering support. I would also like to thank my parents, my sisters and my grandparents for always believing in me. Thank you Coach Leah, Coach Brogan, and the entire LSU coaching staff for this incredible opportunity. Geaux Tigers!&#8221;<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Ward does her club swimming with\u00a0Ridgefield Aquatic Club. She finaled in five events at Connecticut LCM Seniors this past summer before going on to earn three top-14 finishes at Richmond Futures. Back in March, Ward picked up a bronze medal in the 200 free at Connecticut Senior Championships.<\/div>\n<p>Her best times include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>100 free &#8211; 51.88<\/li>\n<li>200 free &#8211; 1:50.84<\/li>\n<li>500 free &#8211; 5:01.13<\/li>\n<li>100 fly &#8211; 56.51<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Currently a junior at Ridgefield High School, Ward won the 200 free and earned bronze in the 500 free at the 2023 Connecticut Open State Championships. She took fourth in the 200 free and ninth in the 100 fly at the state meet during her freshman season.<\/p>\n<p><i>If you have a commitment to share, please send a photo and quote via email to hs@swimmingworld.com.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Connecticut&#8217;s Ava Ward Heads South For College, Verbals To LSU For 2026 NEW COMMIT:\u00a0Junior National qualifier\u00a0Ava Ward\u00a0of Ridgefield, Connecticut, will had south for her college career, as she announced her<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":598914,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[61683,135105],"class_list":["post-598913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-high-school","tag-agon-high-school-recruits-page","tag-ava-ward"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>Connecticut&#039;s Ava Ward Heads South For College, Verbals To LSU For 2026 - Swimming World<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Connecticut&#039;s Ava Ward Heads South For College, Verbals To LSU For 2026\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Connecticut&#8217;s Ava Ward Heads South For College, Verbals To LSU For 2026 NEW COMMIT:\u00a0Junior National qualifier\u00a0Ava Ward\u00a0of Ridgefield, Connecticut, will had south for her college career, as she announced her\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swimming World\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-06T02:05:15+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ava-Ward-lsu-1.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chandler Brandes\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chandler Brandes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Chandler Brandes\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/571a5f6c6cac506743189b439604e9db\"},\"headline\":\"Connecticut&#8217;s Ava Ward Heads South For College, Verbals To LSU For 2026\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-06T02:05:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-06T02:05:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/\"},\"wordCount\":250,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ava-Ward-lsu-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Agon High School Recruits Page\",\"Ava Ward\"],\"articleSection\":[\"High School\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/\",\"name\":\"Connecticut's Ava Ward Heads South For College, Verbals To LSU For 2026 - Swimming World\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ava-Ward-lsu-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-06T02:05:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-06T02:05:15+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ava-Ward-lsu-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ava-Ward-lsu-1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":900},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Connecticut&#8217;s Ava Ward Heads South For College, Verbals To LSU For 2026\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"description\":\"The Global Leader in Aquatic News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"width\":1799,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Swimming World\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/571a5f6c6cac506743189b439604e9db\",\"name\":\"Chandler Brandes\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3214c075027079219bc3ee8653cf4a29?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3214c075027079219bc3ee8653cf4a29?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Chandler Brandes\"},\"description\":\"Chandler Brandes is currently a graduate student at the University of Louisville pursuing her Master's in Sport Administration. She graduated from the University of Vermont in 2019 with a degree in Public Communication and a double minor in Coaching and Sports Management. She is a former swimmer for the Catamounts and this is her sixth year on board with Swimming World.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/chandler-brandes\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Connecticut's Ava Ward Heads South For College, Verbals To LSU For 2026 - Swimming World","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Connecticut's Ava Ward Heads South For College, Verbals To LSU For 2026","og_description":"Connecticut&#8217;s Ava Ward Heads South For College, Verbals To LSU For 2026 NEW COMMIT:\u00a0Junior National qualifier\u00a0Ava Ward\u00a0of Ridgefield, Connecticut, will had south for her college career, as she announced her","og_url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/","og_site_name":"Swimming World","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","article_published_time":"2024-11-06T02:05:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ava-Ward-lsu-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Chandler Brandes","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@swimmingworld","twitter_site":"@swimmingworld","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Chandler Brandes","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/"},"author":{"name":"Chandler Brandes","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/571a5f6c6cac506743189b439604e9db"},"headline":"Connecticut&#8217;s Ava Ward Heads South For College, Verbals To LSU For 2026","datePublished":"2024-11-06T02:05:15+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-06T02:05:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/"},"wordCount":250,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ava-Ward-lsu-1.jpg","keywords":["Agon High School Recruits Page","Ava Ward"],"articleSection":["High School"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/","name":"Connecticut's Ava Ward Heads South For College, Verbals To LSU For 2026 - Swimming World","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ava-Ward-lsu-1.jpg","datePublished":"2024-11-06T02:05:15+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-06T02:05:15+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ava-Ward-lsu-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ava-Ward-lsu-1.jpg","width":1200,"height":900},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/connecticuts-ava-ward-heads-south-for-college-verbals-to-lsu-for-2026\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Connecticut&#8217;s Ava Ward Heads South For College, Verbals To LSU For 2026"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","name":"Swimming World","description":"The Global Leader in Aquatic News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Swimming World","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","width":1799,"height":900,"caption":"Swimming World"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld","https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/571a5f6c6cac506743189b439604e9db","name":"Chandler Brandes","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3214c075027079219bc3ee8653cf4a29?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3214c075027079219bc3ee8653cf4a29?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","caption":"Chandler Brandes"},"description":"Chandler Brandes is currently a graduate student at the University of Louisville pursuing her Master's in Sport Administration. She graduated from the University of Vermont in 2019 with a degree in Public Communication and a double minor in Coaching and Sports Management. She is a former swimmer for the Catamounts and this is her sixth year on board with Swimming World.","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/chandler-brandes\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ava-Ward-lsu-1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p56Jja-2vNT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}