NCAA Women’s Championships: Kensey McMahon Uses Late Spurt to Claim Title in 1650 Free; Second Win This Week

Kensey McMahon -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

NCAA Women’s Championships: Kensey McMahon Uses Late Spurt to Claim Title in 1650 Free; Second Win This Week

Over 66 lengths of the pool in the fastest heat of the 1650 freestyle, three different swimmers held the lead for long stretches. At the beginning, Texas’ Erica Sullivan went into attack mode, using her familiar rapid tempo to pull into a strong lead right away. Sullivan held the lead until the 550-yard mark, but shortly after, Indiana’s Ching Hwee Gan took the lead out of lane eight and built a big advantage of more than five yards. Sullivan was fading, but in the middle of the pool, defending champion Paige McKenna and 500 free winner Kensey McMahon were closing the gap.

Slowly, McMahon broke away from McKenna and got closer to Gan, and with 10 laps remaining, the Alabama fifth-year swimmer took the lead. She would only build on that advantage over the final stretch of the race, and by the finish, she was almost two-and-a-half-seconds clear. McMahon touched in 15:43.84 to secure the win, while Gao finished second in 15:46.28.

The title was McMahon’s second of the week after an unexpected win in the 500 free Thursday evening. In this one, however, McMahon had been steadily emerging as a national contender over the last few years, and after she placed third at last season’s NCAAs, her return to college swimming for a fifth year has been her best.

“It definitely doesn’t feel real. The mile has been something I’ve been dreaming of and working toward for the last several years. The 500 definitely came as a little bit of a surprise, but definitely a cool way to end my collegiate career,” McMahon said. “There was a lot of back-and-forth. It was a really competitive field. There was a lot of depth, and so I just made sure that I was doing my own thing, and then, when we got to that last 300, I was like, ‘Just go. I’ve done plenty of 300s.’”

McKenna ended up third in 15:48.71, about two seconds off her season-best time of 15:46.90 from last month’s Big Ten Championships and almost eight seconds off her winning time from last season’s meet (15:40.84). Tennessee’s Kristen Stege was fourth in 15:50.24, while Sullivan fell to fifth (15:50.27). Another Tennessee swimmer, Ally Breslin, was just behind in sixth place (15:50.80), and rounding out the top eight were the top two swimmers from the afternoon heats, Indiana’s Mariah Denigan (15:52.18) and Georgia’s Rachel Stege (15:54.55).

McMahon has been a presence nationally in the distance races for several years, but it has only been over the previous two years when winning national-level races and representing the United States internationally have become possibilities. In 2022, she earned a spot competing in the 25-kilometer open water race at the World Championships, and she was later selected to race at the Short Course World Championships in Melbourne. At that meet, she earned bronze in the 1500-meter free. McMahon attributed the huge jump to a “perspective change” after her junior year.

“I wasn’t super happy with my junior year of swimming, and last year, I really had a perspective change,” she said. “My faith is super important to me, so instead of swimming because I’m Kensey the Swimmer, I’ve really changed my perspective to swimming for an audience of one. I think that God’s put me here to be able to swim and try to be a light in this world. That’s changed my perspective in practice. I want to be there for my teammates. I want to swim because he gave me these abilities to, and I think that’s made all the difference, and I’m going to continue that mindset as I go into the future.”

Event 15  Women 1650 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 15:03.31  11/18/2017Katie Ledecky, Stanford
         Meet: M 15:07.70  3/17/2017 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
     American: A 15:01.41  3/12/2023 Katie Ledecky, Gator Swim Club
      US Open: O 15:01.41  3/12/2023 Katie Ledecky, Gator Swim Club
         Pool: P 15:15.17  12/7/2013 Katie Ledecky, Nation's Capital
    Name                 Year School               Seed     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
  1 McMahon, Kensey        5Y Alabama          15:47.02   15:43.84   20  
    r:+0.78  27.16        56.03 (28.87)
        1:25.11 (29.08)     1:54.06 (28.95)
        2:22.94 (28.88)     2:51.63 (28.69)
        3:20.51 (28.88)     3:49.23 (28.72)
        4:17.70 (28.47)     4:46.25 (28.55)
        5:14.86 (28.61)     5:43.39 (28.53)
        6:12.06 (28.67)     6:40.62 (28.56)
        7:09.23 (28.61)     7:37.89 (28.66)
        8:06.91 (29.02)     8:35.92 (29.01)
        9:04.59 (28.67)     9:33.12 (28.53)
       10:01.53 (28.41)    10:30.28 (28.75)
       10:59.32 (29.04)    11:28.11 (28.79)
       11:56.89 (28.78)    12:25.45 (28.56)
       12:54.22 (28.77)    13:22.48 (28.26)
       13:50.76 (28.28)    14:19.05 (28.29)
       14:47.61 (28.56)    15:16.10 (28.49)    15:43.84 (27.74)
  2 Gan, Ching Hwee        SO Indiana          15:56.55   15:46.28   17  
    r:+0.50  26.07        54.42 (28.35)
        1:23.01 (28.59)     1:51.74 (28.73)
        2:20.38 (28.64)     2:49.18 (28.80)
        3:18.04 (28.86)     3:46.75 (28.71)
        4:15.31 (28.56)     4:43.88 (28.57)
        5:12.45 (28.57)     5:40.97 (28.52)
        6:09.63 (28.66)     6:38.23 (28.60)
        7:07.02 (28.79)     7:35.67 (28.65)
        8:04.44 (28.77)     8:33.12 (28.68)
        9:01.83 (28.71)     9:30.71 (28.88)
        9:59.50 (28.79)    10:28.22 (28.72)
       10:57.03 (28.81)    11:25.90 (28.87)
       11:54.92 (29.02)    12:23.91 (28.99)
       12:53.01 (29.10)    13:22.04 (29.03)
       13:51.11 (29.07)    14:20.21 (29.10)
       14:49.36 (29.15)    15:18.32 (28.96)    15:46.28 (27.96)
  3 McKenna, Paige         SO Wisconsin        15:46.90   15:48.71   16  
    r:+0.75  26.91        55.93 (29.02)
        1:24.87 (28.94)     1:53.96 (29.09)
        2:23.04 (29.08)     2:52.09 (29.05)
        3:21.10 (29.01)     3:50.06 (28.96)
        4:18.85 (28.79)     4:47.61 (28.76)
        5:16.17 (28.56)     5:44.77 (28.60)
        6:13.48 (28.71)     6:42.09 (28.61)
        7:10.49 (28.40)     7:38.88 (28.39)
        8:07.42 (28.54)     8:36.08 (28.66)
        9:04.78 (28.70)     9:33.52 (28.74)
       10:02.15 (28.63)    10:30.74 (28.59)
       10:59.43 (28.69)    11:28.03 (28.60)
       11:56.74 (28.71)    12:25.35 (28.61)
       12:54.21 (28.86)    13:22.98 (28.77)
       13:51.84 (28.86)    14:21.12 (29.28)
       14:50.44 (29.32)    15:19.77 (29.33)    15:48.71 (28.94)
  4 Stege, Kristen         SR Tennessee        15:53.47   15:50.24   15  
    r:+0.82  26.80        55.54 (28.74)
        1:24.52 (28.98)     1:53.54 (29.02)
        2:22.55 (29.01)     2:51.39 (28.84)
        3:20.20 (28.81)     3:49.04 (28.84)
        4:17.91 (28.87)     4:46.72 (28.81)
        5:15.47 (28.75)     5:43.89 (28.42)
        6:12.12 (28.23)     6:40.57 (28.45)
        7:09.25 (28.68)     7:38.06 (28.81)
        8:06.87 (28.81)     8:35.69 (28.82)
        9:04.60 (28.91)     9:33.88 (29.28)
       10:02.97 (29.09)    10:31.98 (29.01)
       11:00.92 (28.94)    11:30.01 (29.09)
       11:59.33 (29.32)    12:28.27 (28.94)
       12:57.47 (29.20)    13:26.72 (29.25)
       13:55.93 (29.21)    14:25.07 (29.14)
       14:53.92 (28.85)    15:22.96 (29.04)    15:50.24 (27.28)
  5 Sullivan, Erica        SO Texas            15:49.16   15:50.27   14  
    r:+0.61  26.17        54.41 (28.24)
        1:22.68 (28.27)     1:51.08 (28.40)
        2:19.57 (28.49)     2:48.24 (28.67)
        3:16.94 (28.70)     3:45.65 (28.71)
        4:14.62 (28.97)     4:43.40 (28.78)
        5:12.40 (29.00)     5:41.26 (28.86)
        6:10.02 (28.76)     6:39.01 (28.99)
        7:07.66 (28.65)     7:36.61 (28.95)
        8:05.71 (29.10)     8:34.91 (29.20)
        9:04.11 (29.20)     9:33.49 (29.38)
       10:02.46 (28.97)    10:31.41 (28.95)
       11:00.29 (28.88)    11:29.45 (29.16)
       11:59.03 (29.58)    12:28.43 (29.40)
       12:58.00 (29.57)    13:27.50 (29.50)
       13:56.61 (29.11)    14:25.42 (28.81)
       14:54.41 (28.99)    15:22.98 (28.57)    15:50.27 (27.29)
  6 Breslin, Aly           JR Tennessee        15:52.71   15:50.80   13  
    r:+0.63  27.46        56.56 (29.10)
        1:25.51 (28.95)     1:54.63 (29.12)
        2:23.80 (29.17)     2:52.81 (29.01)
        3:21.93 (29.12)     3:51.10 (29.17)
        4:20.11 (29.01)     4:48.64 (28.53)
        5:17.17 (28.53)     5:45.75 (28.58)
        6:14.49 (28.74)     6:43.04 (28.55)
        7:11.76 (28.72)     7:40.34 (28.58)
        8:08.97 (28.63)     8:37.72 (28.75)
        9:06.36 (28.64)     9:35.15 (28.79)
       10:03.94 (28.79)    10:32.76 (28.82)
       11:01.54 (28.78)    11:30.49 (28.95)
       11:59.37 (28.88)    12:28.32 (28.95)
       12:57.35 (29.03)    13:26.51 (29.16)
       13:55.60 (29.09)    14:24.81 (29.21)
       14:53.77 (28.96)    15:22.71 (28.94)    15:50.80 (28.09)
  7 Denigan, Mariah        SO Indiana          15:57.82   15:52.18   12  
    r:+0.71  26.73        55.65 (28.92)
        1:24.84 (29.19)     1:54.00 (29.16)
        2:23.21 (29.21)     2:52.25 (29.04)
        3:21.23 (28.98)     3:50.18 (28.95)
        4:19.04 (28.86)     4:47.96 (28.92)
        5:16.80 (28.84)     5:45.72 (28.92)
        6:14.49 (28.77)     6:43.27 (28.78)
        7:11.93 (28.66)     7:40.59 (28.66)
        8:09.39 (28.80)     8:38.08 (28.69)
        9:06.72 (28.64)     9:35.50 (28.78)
       10:04.15 (28.65)    10:33.03 (28.88)
       11:01.55 (28.52)    11:30.14 (28.59)
       11:58.65 (28.51)    12:27.32 (28.67)
       12:56.02 (28.70)    13:25.14 (29.12)
       13:54.56 (29.42)    14:24.16 (29.60)
       14:53.99 (29.83)    15:23.42 (29.43)    15:52.18 (28.76)
  8 Stege, Rachel          SO Georgia          16:00.96   15:54.55   11  
    r:+0.73  26.22        55.38 (29.16)
        1:24.46 (29.08)     1:53.83 (29.37)
        2:23.07 (29.24)     2:52.47 (29.40)
        3:21.80 (29.33)     3:50.85 (29.05)
        4:19.86 (29.01)     4:49.04 (29.18)
        5:18.43 (29.39)     5:47.85 (29.42)
        6:16.78 (28.93)     6:46.05 (29.27)
        7:15.60 (29.55)     7:44.72 (29.12)
        8:13.87 (29.15)     8:43.11 (29.24)
        9:12.50 (29.39)     9:42.08 (29.58)
       10:10.98 (28.90)    10:40.40 (29.42)
       11:09.34 (28.94)    11:38.48 (29.14)
       12:07.75 (29.27)    12:36.83 (29.08)
       13:06.08 (29.25)    13:35.19 (29.11)
       14:04.20 (29.01)    14:32.58 (28.38)
       15:01.11 (28.53)    15:28.66 (27.55)    15:54.55 (25.89)

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