NCAA Women’s Championships: Gretchen Walsh Misses 100 Fly Record By One Hundredth
The unstoppable Gretchen Walsh rolls on at the NCAA Women’s Championships. Just a prelims race? Does not matter, with Walsh lowering her American and NCAA records in the 50 freestyle Thursday before knocking off another four hundredths in the final. Similarly, Walsh dominated the 100 butterfly in prelims and came within the slimmest of margins of setting her third individual standard of the meet.
Walsh was out in 22.34 at the 50-yard mark, seven hundredths faster than her 22.41 split clocked on the way to her record time of 48.25 at the ACC Championships last month. The 21-year-old was slightly slower on the back half, but she still finished in 48.26, merely one hundredth adrift of her record — giving Walsh eight hours to figure out how to drop a little bit more time in the final and beat the record again.
The performance did beat the NCAA Championships record of 48.46 established by former Virginia teammate Kate Douglass last season, when Douglass won a sizzling final against 100-meter fly Olympic gold medalist Maggie Mac Neil and world champion Torri Huske. That race produced the three fastest swimmers in history at the time, but just one season later, those times have been left behind as Walsh continues to shock the world with her short course yards performances.
Meanwhile, in the more-competitive race for second place, Emma Sticklen of the University of Texas showed some fight with a big prelims swim, with the senior clocking 49.73 to clip her personal-best time by six hundredths. Sticklen remains the 10th-fastest swimmer ever in the event. More importantly for the Longhorns, chasing a top-two finish at the NCAAs for a third consecutive year, Texas finished second, third and fourth in this event, with Olivia Bray (50.33) and Kelly Pash (50.69) both clocking season-best times.
Texas was already in third place in the team race without having a single A-finalist in an individual swimming event thus far, so performances like this will be huge in the Longhorns’ attempts to run down the current second-place team, Florida.
Auburn’s Meghan Lee and Florida’s Olivia Peoples tied for fifth in 50.85, followed by Stanford’s Gigi Johnson (51.01) and Cal’s Mia Kragh (51.07).
Event 9 Women 100 Yard Butterfly
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NCAA: N 48.25 2/22/2024 Gretchen Walsh, Virginia
Meet: M 48.46 3/17/2023 Kate Douglass, Virginia
American: A 48.25 2/22/2024 Gretchen Walsh, Virginia
US Open: O 48.25 2/22/2024 Gretchen Walsh, Virginia
Pool: P 49.85 2/21/2019 Erika Brown, Tennessee
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Walsh, Gretchen JR Virginia 48.25 48.26M
r:+0.77 10.30 22.34 (12.04)
35.09 (12.75) 48.26 (13.17)
2 Sticklen, Emma SR Texas 50.36 49.73P
r:+0.65 10.75 23.02 (12.27)
36.23 (13.21) 49.73 (13.50)
3 Bray, Olivia SR Texas 50.47 50.33
r:+0.70 10.65 23.52 (12.87)
36.75 (13.23) 50.33 (13.58)
4 Pash, Kelly 5Y Texas 50.37 50.69
r:+0.68 10.97 23.75 (12.78)
37.02 (13.27) 50.69 (13.67)
5 Lee, Meghan SR Auburn 50.66 50.85
r:+0.66 10.98 24.08 (13.10)
37.25 (13.17) 50.85 (13.60)
5 Peoples, Olivia JR Florida 50.47 50.85
r:+0.65 10.74 23.72 (12.98)
36.93 (13.21) 50.85 (13.92)
7 Johnson, Gigi SO Stanford 51.17 51.01
r:+0.71 10.94 23.92 (12.98)
37.19 (13.27) 51.01 (13.82)
8 Kragh, Mia JR California 50.89 51.07
r:+0.71 10.93 23.85 (12.92)
37.24 (13.39) 51.07 (13.83)
The middle morning of prelims at the NCAA Women’s Championships began with the 400 individual medley and also included the 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke. The Virginia Cavaliers were looking to extend their 47.5-point advantage on Florida while the Gators entered the day ahead of Texas by 22 points in the battle for second place.
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 7 1. Virginia 210.5 2. Florida 163 3. Texas 141 4. Stanford 105 5. Tennessee 104 6. Louisville 99 7. Southern California 94 8. Indiana 87 9. Michigan 80.5 10. Georgia 75 11. Ohio St 61 12. California 59 13. NC State 50 14. Wisconsin 40 15. UNC 34 16. Duke 33 17. Texas A&M 26 18. Utah 14 19. Minnesota 13 20. Auburn 12 20. Alabama 12 22. Arizona St 11 23. Rutgers 6 23. Virginia Tech 6 23. Lsu 6 26. Northwestern 4 27. Kansas 3 28. Akron 1
400 IM
An Olympic silver medalist before beginning her college career, Emma Weyant is thriving in her junior season at the University of Florida. Weyant has played a key role in the Gators’ impressive start to the meet, swimming the third leg on a victorious 800 freestyle relay before placing second in the 500 free while closing down on teammate and eventual winner Bella Sims. Now, Weyant will head into the 400 IM A-final as the top qualifier.
Swimming in the fourth of five prelims heats, Weyant established a comfortable lead and did not allow Virginia’s Ella Nelson to make up ground down the stretch. Weyant came in at 4:00.98, clipping her season-best mark of 4:01.20 that ranked second nationally entering the meet. The time was also a personal best for Weyant by a narrow margin as she moved to No. 19 all-time in the event.
In the final, Weyant will chase both the 4:00 barrier and the first individual NCAA title of her career, but she will have to fend off a charge from Virginia’s Alex Walsh, already the winner of the 200 IM in the second-quickest time in history. Walsh, the two-time defending NCAA champion in the event, demolished her heat of the longer medley through 300 meters, with a split of 3:04.01 that was more than a second quicker than anyone in the field, but she decelerated significantly on freestyle as she cruised to the finish. Walsh won her heat in 4:02.85, good enough for the fourth seed for the final.
Qualifying second was Stanford freshman Caroline Bricker, who edged out Minnesota’s Megan Van Berkom to win their heat, 4:02.20 to 4:02.53. Virginia, Stanford and Florida each got another swimmer into the final, with the Cavaliers’ Ella Nelson (4:02.93), Stanford’s Lucy Bell (4:04.26) and Florida’s Zoe Dixon (4:06.03), with UCLA’s Paige Maceachern clocking 4:05.26 to round out the championship heat.
Event 8 Women 400 Yard IM
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NCAA: N 3:54.60 3/16/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
Meet: M 3:54.60 3/16/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
American: A 3:54.60 3/16/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
US Open: O 3:54.60 3/16/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
Pool: P 3:59.26 2/20/2014 Elizabeth Beisel, Florida
Name Year School Seed Prelims
==================================================================
=== Preliminaries ===
1 Weyant, Emma JR Florida 4:01.20 4:00.98
r:+0.76 26.36 55.72 (29.36)
1:26.29 (30.57) 1:56.38 (30.09)
2:30.55 (34.17) 3:05.22 (34.67)
3:33.52 (28.30) 4:00.98 (27.46)
2 Bricker, Caroline FR Stanford 4:02.32 4:02.20
r:+0.67 26.08 55.36 (29.28)
1:26.31 (30.95) 1:56.89 (30.58)
2:30.67 (33.78) 3:05.26 (34.59)
3:33.98 (28.72) 4:02.20 (28.22)
3 Van Berkom, Megan SR Minnesota 4:04.36 4:02.53
r:+0.70 26.08 55.20 (29.12)
1:27.06 (31.86) 1:57.74 (30.68)
2:31.76 (34.02) 3:06.11 (34.35)
3:35.07 (28.96) 4:02.53 (27.46)
4 Walsh, Alex SR Virginia 4:00.52 4:02.85
r:+0.79 25.37 54.55 (29.18)
1:25.62 (31.07) 1:55.36 (29.74)
2:29.45 (34.09) 3:04.01 (34.56)
3:33.83 (29.82) 4:02.85 (29.02)
5 Nelson, Ella 5Y Virginia 4:03.61 4:02.93
r:+0.72 26.45 55.95 (29.50)
1:27.63 (31.68) 1:58.45 (30.82)
2:31.68 (33.23) 3:05.39 (33.71)
3:34.52 (29.13) 4:02.93 (28.41)
6 Bell, Lucy SO Stanford 4:03.25 4:04.26
r:+0.71 25.71 55.13 (29.42)
1:26.96 (31.83) 1:58.05 (31.09)
2:31.69 (33.64) 3:06.81 (35.12)
3:35.85 (29.04) 4:04.26 (28.41)
7 Maceachern, Paige JR UCLA 4:03.47 4:05.38
r:+0.70 25.96 55.80 (29.84)
1:27.56 (31.76) 1:58.12 (30.56)
2:32.27 (34.15) 3:07.70 (35.43)
3:36.78 (29.08) 4:05.38 (28.60)
8 Dixon, Zoe SO Florida 4:03.33 4:06.03
r:+0.68 26.50 56.03 (29.53)
1:26.69 (30.66) 1:56.39 (29.70)
2:31.70 (35.31) 3:07.55 (35.85)
3:37.12 (29.57) 4:06.03 (28.91)
200 Freestyle
Two swimmers who contributed to the U.S. women’s silver medal in the 800-meter free relay at last year’s World Championships faced off in the final heat of the 200 free, with Bella Sims of Florida racing in lane four while Anna Peplowski of Indiana was in lane five. Sims, already the winner of the 500 free, jumped on the race early as is her signature, but Peplowski reeled her in and took a slight lead on the third 50.
By the finish, Peplowski was two hundredths ahead, 1:41.85 to 1:41.87. Both swimmers were slightly off their season-best marks, with Sims having been 1:40.90 while Peplowski clocked 1:41.16 leading off the Hoosiers’ 800 free relay two days earlier.
Meanwhile, the rest of the field was tightly packed leading into the final, with the six remaining qualifiers separated by less than two tenths. USC’s Minna Abraham won her heat in 1:42.79, with Stanford’s Kayla Wilson, Virginia’s Aimee Canny, Tennessee’s Camille Spink, Florida’s Isabel Ivey and Texas A&M’s Chloe Stepanek all dipping under 1:43 to secure their spots in the championship heat.
At last season’s NCAAs, only three swimmers broke 1:43 in prelims while it took a time of 1:43.90 to qualify for the A-final. It was a much different story this time as Tennessee’s Brooklyn Douthwright was left out despite clocking 1:42.99. Texas’ Erin Gemmell, also a member of the aforementioned U.S. women’s relay, clocked 1:43.13 but ended up 11th. Michigan’s Katie Crom was the last swimmer into the B-final in 1:43.78 while Stanford’s Natalie Mannion, who equaled last year’s eighth-place time at 1:43.90, ended up as the first alternate.
Event 10 Women 200 Yard Freestyle
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NCAA: N 1:39.10 3/20/2015 Missy Franklin, California
Meet: M 1:39.10 3/20/2015 Missy Franklin, California
American: A 1:39.10 3/20/2015 Missy Franklin, California
US Open: O 1:39.10 3/20/2015 Missy Franklin, California
Pool: P 1:41.23 12/6/2014 Missy Franklin, California
Name Year School Seed Prelims
==================================================================
=== Preliminaries ===
1 Peplowski, Anna JR Indiana 1:42.04 1:41.85
r:+0.72 23.83 49.41 (25.58)
1:15.33 (25.92) 1:41.85 (26.52)
2 Sims, Bella FR Florida 1:40.90 1:41.87
23.60 49.01 (25.41)
1:15.39 (26.38) 1:41.87 (26.48)
3 Abraham, Minna FR USC 1:41.38 1:42.79
r:+0.66 23.49 49.45 (25.96)
1:16.09 (26.64) 1:42.79 (26.70)
4 Wilson, Kayla SO Stanford 1:42.91 1:42.88
r:+0.66 24.33 50.16 (25.83)
1:16.30 (26.14) 1:42.88 (26.58)
5 Canny, Aimee SO Virginia 1:42.93 1:42.89
r:+0.74 24.19 50.19 (26.00)
1:16.53 (26.34) 1:42.89 (26.36)
6 Spink, Camille FR Tennessee 1:42.37 1:42.91
r:+0.69 23.62 49.51 (25.89)
1:16.19 (26.68) 1:42.91 (26.72)
7 Ivey, Isabel 5Y Florida 1:41.85 1:42.95
r:+0.70 23.73 49.49 (25.76)
1:16.28 (26.79) 1:42.95 (26.67)
8 Stepanek, Chloe SR TAMU 1:42.41 1:42.96
r:+0.68 24.06 50.15 (26.09)
1:16.60 (26.45) 1:42.96 (26.36)
