LARAMIE – Tara Joyce was a big fish in a little pond after moving from California to Cody before her sophomore year of high school.
 
The Wyoming swim team's freestyle phenom won six individual state championships, set six state records and was the Class 3A athlete of the year three times at Cody High School.
 
"It was definitely different," Joyce said of her dominant prep career. "In California there is just so much competition and so many people swimming. I think that was a good thing to have in the back of my head that you're having fun here and you are swimming well but just remember there's another level of girls out there to compete against."
 
It didn't take long for Joyce to make her mark on the UW swimming and diving program or to get the attention of head coach Dave Denniston and during the recruiting process.
 
"Wyoming is a small town and every swim coach that I knew said you need to look at Tara Joyce," Denniston said. "I mean, she was on our radar anyway, but it was nice because she was swimming fast, but she was also very humble. She came to a couple of our swimming camps, and we got to know her as a person a little bit better. We were able to get her connected with the team early on through the camps and she really fell in love with it and felt this was the best fit for her.
 
"We were ecstatic to get her."
 
As a freshman, Joyce won a Mountain West championship in the 200-yard freestyle and set the school record with a time of 1 minute, 46.11 seconds. She was also a member of the conference title-winning 800 freestyle relay team that finished with another school record (7:11.15).
 
In a loaded MW championship field last season, Joyce placed fourth in the 200 freestyle. She has also earned all-MW honors in the 100 freestyle the past two seasons.
 
"She's amazing," Denniston said. "She is a student of the sport, she is her own best coach, she studies what she does every single race, every single practice and she's always willing to do the extra things almost to a fault. Sometimes it's like, you need to rest a little bit, Tara.
 
"I think overall she is very hungry, very intrinsically driven and everything has a purpose that she does. That's classroom and the pool. She is very easy to coach but it's also putting an expectation and ownership on the staff to help her be successful because she is doing absolutely everything right and we need to make sure we match that."
 
Joyce is majoring in mechanical engineering, which means she spends as many hours studying as she does in the pool.
 
"It's just a time management thing," Joyce said. "On Thursdays when you are tired, you're like, I'd rather go to bed right now than sit up an derive this equation. But at the end of the day, as long as you can manage your time efficiently, it's not the most difficult thing in the world."
 
During the Cowgirls' 172-128 victory over Utah on Oct. 24 in Green River, Joyce won the 100 (50.77) and 200 (1:51.58) freestyle races and was on the winning 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay teams.
 
UW lost 156-106 to the Utes of the Big 12 in 2024.
 
"Having the win against Utah under our belt is really nice," Joyce said. "Utah's team is fast and the last two years they put us through the wringer a little bit. It was nice because we (clinched) the meet before the meet was even over. That was so nice to have. We could hold our heads high after having done that."
 
Joyce gives UW an impressive one-two punch along with sophomore Macey Hansen, who won two MW championships last season, qualified for the NCAA Championships as a freshman and returned to form in winning the 500 and 1,000 freestyle races against Utah.
 
"At this point now it's an expectation she's just going to win every time she races. That might be an unfair expectation but one I think she puts on herself as well," Denniston said of Joyce. "It's nice to put a lineup together like I am right now and just be like, OK, Tara is going to win this and this, Macey is going to win this and this, what else are we going to do the rest of this meet?
 
"Having those plug and play type of athletes like Tara make it super fun and it's something I know our entire team appreciates."
 
The Cowgirls have another marquee dual up next when they host rival Colorado State.
 
"Colorado State's girls are fast, I won't lie. It's going to come down to the wire," Joyce said. "It's not going to be where one team walks away having won everything. It's going to take some focus, it's going to hurt a little bit, it's going to take that grit and we're going to have to Cowboy up.
 
"It's a good rivalry. We're still very sportsmanlike, no fights or anything break out on deck."
 
The swimming and diving Border War begins at 4 p.m. Friday at Laramie High School.
 
Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.
 
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