AM Conference Notebook: Holy Hoosiers and Just Plain Fast Times

conference notebook-feb-18 (2)

By David Rieder.

Championship trophies will be handed out tonight at both the SEC and women’s Big Ten championships, but before the action kicks off for one final day at those meets, today’s notebook features a look back at some of the top efforts from Friday night.

Lilly King breaks records, as usual.

Should we really be all that surprised that Lilly King broke her own American record in the 100 breast Friday night? As I pointed out in Friday’s notes, all the evidence—her relay splits and IM times—hinted that she may be in better form than ever before and that the 56.85 she set to win last year’s NCAA championship could go down.

But 56.30? Really?

The second-fastest performer in history in that event is Breeja Larson at 57.23. Yes, King is now almost a full second ahead. And in case anyone was wondering, King’s American record in the 200 breast stands at 2:03.59. For now.

As for King’s Indiana teammates…

Gia Dalesandro did what?

Slightly less expected than King’s record-breaking effort was what went down an hour earlier when Indiana senior Gia Dalesandro won the Big Ten title in the 100 fly in 50.45. Her top time before that this season? 51.79, from the morning prelims at Big Tens. Her top time last season? 52.04 from the prelims at NCAAs.

Now, all of the sudden, Dalesandro is the fifth-fastest performer in history behind Kelsi WorrellNatalie CoughlinRachel Komisarz and Dana Vollmer. Pretty good company. Obviously, the time is also the fastest time in college swimming so far this season, two tenths ahead of Noemie Thomas’ 50.67.

So what does all that mean for Indiana’s medley relay?

Well, glad you asked. King is currently ranked two full seconds ahead of anyone else in the country in the 100 breast, and two of Indiana’s biggest potential rivals, Cal and Stanford, both struggle in that stroke (although Abbey Weitzeil as a breaststroker has been something of a find for the Golden Bears).

If Dalesandro can repeat her form from Friday, she can keep up with anyone in the country on the fly leg. But Indiana definitely has some concerns on back and free—Ali Rockett led off Indiana’s medley relay Thursday in 52.58, and Holly Spears anchored in 48.66. But even with those splits, Indiana’s final time of 3:28.89 ranks third in the country behind NC State (3:28.26) and Cal (3:28.33).

Sure, there’s a long way to go with two weeks of conference meets remaining, but a two-second edge on breaststroke and as good a butterflyer as anyone? That’s not easy to make up.

So the Hoosiers are winning the Big Ten championship, right?

At the moment, no. Michigan remains slightly in front, 805.5 to 791. It would have been a larger deficit if Siobhan Haughey had not been DQed in the 200 IM, as that infraction cost the Wolverines 32 points and bumped up King and fellow Hoosier Christine Jensen one spot each.

The Wolverines began the season as perhaps the most surprising team in the country, and they have gotten excellent efforts this week from G Ryan (4:34.40 in the 500 free) and Haughey (1:42.49 in the 200 free). Ryan, Becca Postoll and Rose Bi all await in the 1650 later today, so perhaps that event will put the Wolverines over the edge.

Meanwhile, over in Knoxville, much less drama in the team race.

The Texas A&M women lead Georgia 961-843, while the Florida men have scored a meet-high 929.5 points, and the Bulldogs are in second with 788. The Aggie women have six of the top seven seeds in the 200 breast, and Florida has Caeleb Dressel going in the 100 free. Both teams have to be feeling confident.

But the Bulldogs actually aren’t too upset about how they stand. In fact, head coach Jack Bauerle is anything but surprised.

“Sorta what we thought we might be doing,” he said. “It’s an SEC championship, but it’s still a preparation meet, too. I like how we’re racing. I think our temperament’s right for the NCAAs, which is the big deal. We have a lot of guys that have got to be faster, and they’ve got some rest left in them.”

Bauerle recalled last year’s women’s team, which finished third at the SEC championships. One month later, that team won the national championship.

Connor Oslin, the best of the rest in the 100 back?

Alabama senior Connor Oslin won his third consecutive SEC title in the 100 back Friday night, and he punched the water in excitement after the race. He had broken 45 seconds for the first time, finishing in 44.73, and teammates Luke Kaliszak and Christopher Reid finished second and fourth, respectively.

Oslin moved into sixth all-time in the 100 back with that performance, but he knows that when he gets to the NCAA championships, he has little chance of improving on last year’s second-place finish in the event. Not with Ryan Murphy in the field.

“When you race a guy that’s the world record-holder like that, you don’t really worry about him,.” he said. “It’s just about swimming your own race. If you get close to him, that’s amazing.”

But with Oslin and Kaliszak (45.03 on Friday night) the only men aside from Murphy that have even broken 45.5 this season, the Crimson Tide can expect some big points in that event in Indianapolis.

All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x