Alaira Hadford Season 2025-26

Honors & Awards
Two-Time Nebraska State Championship Team (2023, 2025)
Two-Time Nebraska State Champion (500 Free, 2023, 2025)
Four-Time Nebraska State Champion (200 Free Relay, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
Three-Time Nebraska State Champion (400 Free Relay, 2022, 2023, 2025)
Nebraska State Champion (200 Medley Relay, 2024)
Nebraska State Runner-Up (200 Free, 2025)
Nebraska State Runner-Up (500 Free, 2024)
Nebraska State Runner-Up (200 Medley Relay, 2023)

Before Nebraska 
Alaira Hadford captured two individual state championships and eight more relay golds along with a pair of high school state team titles during her prep career at Omaha Marian. She added two individual runner-up finishes and another relay silver along with a pair of second-place team finishes during an illustrious Nebraska high school career.

Following the state high school state championship meet as a senior, Hadford recorded eight career-best times at Speedo Sectionals in Columbia, Mo., in the 100, 200, 500, 1,000 and 1,650 freestyles, along with the 50 and 200 backstrokes and the 400 IM.

At the 2025 Nebraska State Swimming Championships in late February, she captured three gold medals in the 500 freestyle (4:58.08), 200 free relay (136.06) and 400 free relay (3:29.53), while adding a state runner-up finish in the 200 free (1:51.45) to help her Omaha Marian team to the state team title.

As a high school junior in 2024, Hadford won state championships as a member of Marian's 200 medley relay (1:44.38) and 200 free relay teams (1:35.77). She also earned silver in the 500 free (5:02.20), while adding a fourth-place finish in the 200 free (1:54.29) to help Omaha Marian to a state runner-up team finish.

Hadford won her first individual state championship as a sophomore in the 500 freestyle (5:02.52), before adding gold medals as a member of the 200 (1:35.83) and 400 (3:27.31) freestyle relays. She added a state runner-up finish in the 200 medley relay (1:45.11). She also earned a sixth-place finish in the 200 free (1:56.08) to help Marian to a share of the state team title.

As a freshman, Hadford claimed her first high school state gold medals by swimming legs in Omaha Marian's 200 free (1:36.04) and 400 free (3:30.15) relays. She earned a bronze medal as a member of Marian's third-place 200 medley relay team at the 2022 NSAA Championships. She also swam to a seventh-place individual finish in the 500 free (5:21.40) to help Marian to a state runner-up finish.

Personal
The daughter of Annie and David Hadford, Alaira was born Oct. 26, 2006 in Grand Island, Neb. Alaira has four brothers (Hayden, Lucian, Thor, Kacz) and three sisters (Indiga, Naeleah, Mathea). Indiga and Naeleah were both on the women's swim team at Omaha, while Lucian was a member of the Mavs men's swim program. Alaira plans to major in political science beginning at Nebraska.