2019 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships: Erika Brown, Robert Howard Rock 50 Free Heats

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Photo Courtesy: Robert Sutton/Alabama Athletics

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The first full morning of the 2019 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships featured heats of the 500 free, 200 IM and 50 free. Tennessee’s Erika Brown broke the meet record in the 50 free with a 21.33 to take down Ariana Vanderpool-Wallace’s meet record of 21.34 from 2011.

Florida’s Leah Braswell has the top spot in the 500 while there is a tie for the top seed in the 200 IM between Texas A&M’s Sydney Pickrem and Tennessee’s Meghan Small.

Georgia’s Walker Higgins is the top seed in the 500 while Florida’s Kieran Smith (200 IM) and Alabama’s Robert Howard (50 Free) are on top in their respective events.

The ups-mids-downs are listed below. The teams are in order of the team standings after last night. Texas A&M and Tennessee women, as well as the Missouri men both got five A-Finalists for tonight.

Ups-Mids-Downs (Women)

  • Florida, 3, 4, 3
  • Texas A&M, 5, 2, 5
  • Arkansas, 2, 0, 0
  • Georgia, 1, 6, 5
  • Auburn, 3, 2, 1
  • Tennessee, 5, 3, 2
  • Kentucky, 1, 2, 3
  • LSU, 0, 1, 1
  • Missouri, 3, 1, 1
  • South Carolina, 1, 1, 1
  • Alabama, 0, 2, 2
  • Vanderbilt, 0, 0, 0

Ups-Mids-Downs (Men)

  • Tennessee, 1, 2, 3
  • Texas A&M, 4, 2, 2
  • Missouri, 5, 3, 3
  • Kentucky, 1, 3, 5
  • Alabama, 2, 4, 3
  • Florida, 4, 3, 2
  • Auburn, 2, 2, 1
  • South Carolina, 2, 1, 1
  • LSU, 0, 1, 1
  • Georgia, 3, 3, 3

Women’s 500 Free

Florida’s Leah Braswell posted the top time in the 500 heats on Wednesday morning in Athens, Georgia with a 4:38.13. Braswell, just a freshman, is ahead of the defending champion in Kentucky senior Geena Freriks (4:39.30). Braswell added a little bit off her season best time from the fall invitational as she is looking to be the first Florida Gator to win the SEC title in the 500 since 2008 when Caroline Burckle won the conference crown.

It wasn’t a particularly fast heats session as Texas A&M’s Claire Rasmus (4:39.60) was the third and final swimmer under 4:40. Georgia’s Courtney Harnish (4:40.23) is the fourth seed as she came into the meet with the fastest seed time.

Arkansas’ Peyton Palsha (4:40.54), Texas A&M’s Haley Yelle (4:40.57), Florida’s Taylor Ault (4:40.84) and Tennessee’s Amanda Nunan (4:41.29) also qualified for the final.

 Event 7  Women 500 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
     SEC Meet: S 4:33.10  2/17/2016 Brittany MacLean, Georgia
         Pool: P 4:30.85  12/4/2015 Leah Smith, Virginia
      US Open: O 4:24.06  3/16/2017 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
         NCAA: N 4:24.06  3/16/2017 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
     American: M 4:24.06  3/16/2017 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
                 4:36.30  A
                 4:47.20  B
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Braswell, Leah   FR Florida-FL        4:37.83    4:38.13 qB     
    r:+0.89  26.04        53.87 (27.83)
        1:22.03 (28.16)     1:50.20 (28.17)
        2:18.42 (28.22)     2:46.76 (28.34)
        3:14.98 (28.22)     3:43.28 (28.30)
        4:11.19 (27.91)     4:38.13 (26.94)
  2 Freriks, Geena   SR Kentucky-KY       4:40.50    4:39.30 qB     
    r:+0.71  25.77        53.85 (28.08)
        1:22.07 (28.22)     1:50.32 (28.25)
        2:18.74 (28.42)     2:47.08 (28.34)
        3:15.35 (28.27)     3:43.60 (28.25)
        4:11.84 (28.24)     4:39.30 (27.46)
  3 Rasmus, Claire   SR Texas A&M-GU      4:39.91    4:39.60 qB     
    r:+0.72  25.48        53.34 (27.86)
        1:21.33 (27.99)     1:49.63 (28.30)
        2:18.28 (28.65)     2:46.92 (28.64)
        3:15.75 (28.83)     3:44.28 (28.53)
        4:12.37 (28.09)     4:39.60 (27.23)
  4 Harnish, Courtn  SO Georgia-GA        4:36.06    4:40.23 qB     
    r:+0.83  26.50        54.58 (28.08)
        1:22.54 (27.96)     1:50.85 (28.31)
        2:19.10 (28.25)     2:47.56 (28.46)
        3:15.90 (28.34)     3:44.34 (28.44)
        4:12.51 (28.17)     4:40.23 (27.72)
  5 Palsha, Peyton   SO Arkansas-AR       4:41.33    4:40.54 qB     
    r:+0.74  26.03        53.61 (27.58)
        1:21.65 (28.04)     1:49.84 (28.19)
        2:18.37 (28.53)     2:46.96 (28.59)
        3:15.58 (28.62)     3:44.41 (28.83)
        4:12.90 (28.49)     4:40.54 (27.64)
  6 Yelle, Haley     SO Texas A&M-GU      4:40.82    4:40.57 qB     
    r:+0.76  26.24        54.28 (28.04)
        1:22.81 (28.53)     1:51.41 (28.60)
        2:20.13 (28.72)     2:48.73 (28.60)
        3:16.83 (28.10)     3:44.93 (28.10)
        4:12.74 (27.81)     4:40.57 (27.83)
  7 Ault, Taylor     SO Florida-FL        4:42.08    4:40.84 qB     
    r:+0.74  26.12        54.51 (28.39)
        1:23.08 (28.57)     1:51.54 (28.46)
        2:19.81 (28.27)     2:48.14 (28.33)
        3:16.41 (28.27)     3:44.89 (28.48)
        4:13.31 (28.42)     4:40.84 (27.53)
  8 Nunan, Amanda    SO Tennessee-SE      4:43.61    4:41.29 qB     
    r:+0.90  26.36        54.37 (28.01)
        1:22.64 (28.27)     1:51.30 (28.66)
        2:19.76 (28.46)     2:48.10 (28.34)
        3:16.69 (28.59)     3:45.31 (28.62)
        4:13.69 (28.38)     4:41.29 (27.60)

Men’s 500 Free

Georgia’s Walker Higgins cruised to the top time in the 500 free on Wednesday morning at the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships. Higgins looked long and strong as he posted a swift 4:12.36 to take the top seed going into finals tonight as he just missed the NCAA A cut of 4:12.22.

Higgins is almost three full seconds ahead of South Carolina’s Fynn Minuth (4:15.27), who is going for his third straight SEC title in the event. Minuth holds the meet record that he set last year at 4:10.51.

Minuth’s South Carolina teammate Rafael Davila dropped six seconds off his entry time to grab the third seed at 4:16.04.

Florida freshman Trey Freeman put up the fourth fastest time at 4:16.25 as he is ahead of a crowded field of 4:16s and 4:17s.

Texas A&M’s Mark Theall (4:16.79), Florida’s Khader Baqlah (4:17.07), Georgia’s Kevin Miller (4:17.12) and Auburn’s Josh Dannhauser (4:17.16) also qualified for the A-Final.

Some notable A-Final misses came from a pair of freshmen in Georgia’s Andrew Abruzzo, who placed tenth at 4:17.24, and Florida’s Robert Finke, who placed eleventh at 4:17.25.

 Event 8  Men 500 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
     SEC Meet: S 4:10.51  2/15/2018 Fynn Minnuth, S. Carolina
         Pool: P 4:10.73  2/19/2014 Dan Wallace, Florida
      US Open: O 4:07.25  11/30/2017Zane Grothe, Unattached
         NCAA: N 4:08.42  3/23/2017 Clark Smith, Texas
     American: M 4:07.25  11/30/2017Zane Grothe, Unattached
                 4:12.22  A
                 4:23.34  B
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Higgins, Walker  JR Georgia-GA        4:15.15    4:12.36 qB     
    r:+0.70  22.98        48.11 (25.13)
        1:13.58 (25.47)     1:39.38 (25.80)
        2:05.21 (25.83)     2:31.07 (25.86)
        2:56.56 (25.49)     3:21.90 (25.34)
        3:47.34 (25.44)     4:12.36 (25.02)
  2 Minuth, Fynn     SR South Carolina-S  4:19.44    4:15.27 qB     
    r:+0.72  23.13        48.21 (25.08)
        1:13.63 (25.42)     1:39.27 (25.64)
        2:05.03 (25.76)     2:30.69 (25.66)
        2:56.20 (25.51)     3:22.08 (25.88)
        3:48.61 (26.53)     4:15.27 (26.66)
  3 Davila, Rafael   SO South Carolina-S  4:22.18    4:16.04 qB     
    r:+0.77  23.15        48.68 (25.53)
        1:14.37 (25.69)     1:40.17 (25.80)
        2:06.11 (25.94)     2:31.91 (25.80)
        2:58.06 (26.15)     3:24.26 (26.20)
        3:50.55 (26.29)     4:16.04 (25.49)
  4 Freeman, Trey    FR Florida-FL        4:16.34    4:16.25 qB     
    r:+0.76  23.61        49.16 (25.55)
        1:15.05 (25.89)     1:41.04 (25.99)
        2:07.07 (26.03)     2:33.10 (26.03)
        2:59.03 (25.93)     3:24.97 (25.94)
        3:51.00 (26.03)     4:16.25 (25.25)
  5 Theall, Mark     SO Texas A&M-GU      4:20.30    4:16.79 qB     
    r:+0.67  23.56        48.86 (25.30)
        1:14.62 (25.76)     1:40.94 (26.32)
        2:07.14 (26.20)     2:33.49 (26.35)
        3:00.14 (26.65)     3:26.51 (26.37)
        3:52.28 (25.77)     4:16.79 (24.51)
  6 Baqlah, Khader   JR Florida-FL        4:14.58    4:17.07 qB     
    r:+0.78  23.40        48.74 (25.34)
        1:14.42 (25.68)     1:40.16 (25.74)
        2:06.20 (26.04)     2:31.95 (25.75)
        2:57.67 (25.72)     3:24.06 (26.39)
        3:51.02 (26.96)     4:17.07 (26.05)
  7 Miller, Kevin    JR Georgia-GA        4:22.28    4:17.12 qB     
    r:+0.71  24.09        49.90 (25.81)
        1:15.98 (26.08)     1:42.17 (26.19)
        2:08.20 (26.03)     2:34.14 (25.94)
        3:00.13 (25.99)     3:25.79 (25.66)
        3:51.47 (25.68)     4:17.12 (25.65)
  8 Dannhauser, Jos  SO Auburn-SE         4:21.73    4:17.16 qB     
    r:+0.76  23.76        49.56 (25.80)
        1:15.43 (25.87)     1:41.56 (26.13)
        2:07.60 (26.04)     2:33.39 (25.79)
        2:59.66 (26.27)     3:26.14 (26.48)
        3:52.14 (26.00)     4:17.16 (25.02)

Women’s 200 IM

Texas A&M’s Sydney Pickrem and Tennessee’s Meghan Small tied for the top seed in the 200 IM on Wednesday morning at the 2019 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships from Athens, Georgia. Both swimmers swam a 1:53.01 for the top spot with South Carolina’s Emma Barksdale (1:53.73) sitting in the third spot. Those three were the only ones under 1:55 in the heats.

Barksdale was particularly impressive with a 31.97 breaststroke split as she was one of two swimmers to break 32 seconds in the breast split. Texas A&M’s Anna Belousova (31.96) was the other.

The big shock from the event was Kentucky’s Asia Seidt missing out on the championship final as she placed tenth at 1:56.53. Seidt came in seeded with a 1:54.37 and was the second seed.

Florida’s Vanessa Pearl (1:55.18), Auburn’s Bailey Nero (1:55.54), Tennessee’s Tess Cieplucha (1:55.74), Texas A&M’s McKenna DeBever (1:55.76) and Monika Gonzalez-Hermosillo (1:55.82) also qualified for the final.

 Event 9  Women 200 Yard IM
==================================================================
     SEC Meet: S 1:52.69  2/15/2018 Sydney Pickrem, Texas A&M
         Pool: P 1:52.87  2/19/2014 Melanie Margalis, Georgia
      US Open: O 1:50.67  3/15/2018 Ella Easton, Stanford
         NCAA: N 1:50.67  3/15/2018 Ella Easton, Stanford
     American: M 1:50.67  3/15/2018 Ella Easton, Stanford
                 1:54.31  A
                 1:59.94  B
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Pickrem, Sydney  SR Texas A&M-GU      1:53.88    1:53.01 qA     
    r:+0.71  25.16        53.43 (28.27)
        1:25.94 (32.51)     1:53.01 (27.07)
  1 Small, Meghan    JR Tennessee-SE      1:55.41    1:53.01 qA     
    r:+0.75  25.34        53.79 (28.45)
        1:26.23 (32.44)     1:53.01 (26.78)
  3 Barksdale, Emma  SR South Carolina-S  1:55.75    1:53.73 qA     
    r:+0.74  25.01        54.09 (29.08)
        1:26.06 (31.97)     1:53.73 (27.67)
  4 Pearl, Vanessa   FR Florida-FL        1:55.25    1:55.18 qB     
    r:+0.71  25.38        54.77 (29.39)
        1:27.46 (32.69)     1:55.18 (27.72)
  5 Nero, Bailey     SR Auburn-SE         1:56.84    1:55.54 qB     
    r:+0.74  24.90        54.07 (29.17)
        1:27.75 (33.68)     1:55.54 (27.79)
  6 Cieplucha, Tess  JR Tennessee-SE      1:57.76    1:55.74 qB     
    r:+0.76  25.43        54.58 (29.15)
        1:28.53 (33.95)     1:55.74 (27.21)
  7 DeBever, McKenn  SR Texas A&M-GU      2:00.20    1:55.76 qB     
    r:+0.70  24.81        54.01 (29.20)
        1:28.23 (34.22)     1:55.76 (27.53)
  8 Gonzalez-Hermos  SR Texas A&M-GU      1:57.31    1:55.82 qB     
    r:+0.78  25.29        54.53 (29.24)
        1:27.71 (33.18)     1:55.82 (28.11)

Men’s 200 IM

A pair of freshmen are on top of the 200 IM preliminary heats on Wednesday morning at the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships. Florida’s Kieran Smith (1:42.94) and Texas A&M’s Shaine Casas (1:43.21) are the first and second seeds as Smith is looking to win Florida’s second straight 200 IM at the SEC meet after Caeleb Dressel shattered all the records last year.

There was another freshman in the field with Missouri’s Danny Kovac sitting in fifth place at 1:44.01 as he is a part of three Missouri swimmers in the A-Final. Nick Alexander (1:43.81) and Alex Walton (1:43.83) also placed in the final in third and fourth as Missouri has turned some heads this morning in Athens.

Georgia’s Javier Acevedo (1:44.04), Florida’s Grant Sanders (1:44.23) and Kentucky’s Glen Brown (1:44.84) also placed in the top eight.

Event 10  Men 200 Yard IM
==================================================================
     SEC Meet: S 1:38.13  2/15/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
         Pool: P 1:41.26  12/2/2016 Chase Kalisz, Georgia
      US Open: O 1:38.13  2/15/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
         NCAA: N 1:38.13  2/15/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
     American: M 1:38.13  2/15/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
                 1:41.34  A
                 1:46.77  B
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Smith, Kieran    FR Florida-FL        1:45.14    1:42.94 qB     
    r:+0.71  21.94        47.65 (25.71)
        1:18.08 (30.43)     1:42.94 (24.86)
  2 Casas, Shaine    FR Texas A&M-GU      1:43.06    1:43.21 qB     
    r:+0.67  22.02        47.39 (25.37)
        1:17.38 (29.99)     1:43.21 (25.83)
  3 Alexander, Nick  JR Missouri-MV       1:43.04    1:43.81 qB     
    r:+0.73  22.58        48.31 (25.73)
        1:18.40 (30.09)     1:43.81 (25.41)
  4 Walton, Alex     SR Missouri-MV       1:44.58    1:43.83 qB     
    r:+0.64  22.73        48.40 (25.67)
        1:17.75 (29.35)     1:43.83 (26.08)
  5 Kovac, Danny     FR Missouri-MV       1:45.43    1:44.01 qB     
    r:+0.71  21.75        48.04 (26.29)
        1:18.49 (30.45)     1:44.01 (25.52)
  6 Acevedo, Javier  JR Georgia-GA        1:44.35    1:44.04 qB     
    r:+0.67  22.52        48.23 (25.71)
        1:19.02 (30.79)     1:44.04 (25.02)
  7 Sanders, Grant   JR Florida-FL        1:44.54    1:44.23 qB     
    r:+0.74  22.59        48.39 (25.80)
        1:18.53 (30.14)     1:44.23 (25.70)
  8 Brown, Glen      JR Kentucky-KY       1:45.19    1:44.84 qB     
    r:+0.67  23.04        49.07 (26.03)
        1:19.31 (30.24)     1:44.84 (25.53)

Women’s 50 Free

Tennessee’s Erika Brown broke the SEC meet record in the 50 free heats with a 21.33 on Wednesday morning in Athens. Brown just got under Ariana Vanderpool-Wallace’s 21.34 from the 2011 SECs as Brown is in the driver’s seat to win back-to-back SEC titles in the 50 free.

Brown is well ahead of Arkansas’ Anna Hopkin (21.70) and Auburn’s Claire Fisch (21.78). Hopkin split a 21.01 last night on the end of the Razorbacks’ 200 medley relay while Fisch split a 21.10 for the Tigers. Brown had the fastest split last night with a 20.91.

Tennessee’s Maddy Banic (21.90) and Missouri’s Ann Ochitwa (21.90) tied for fourth as they were the only other swimmers under 22 seconds in the heats.

Missouri’s Sarah Thompson (22.24) and Haley Hynes (22.26) also put up top eight swims for the Tigers.

Auburn’s Julie Meynen (22.33) won the swim-off over LSU’s Haylee Knight (22.33) for the lane eight spot.

 Event 11  Women 50 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
     SEC Meet: S 21.34  2/16/2011 Ariana Vanderpool-Wallace, Auburn
         Pool: P 21.54  2/19/2014 Olivia Smoliga, Georgia
      US Open: O 21.12  3/5/2016  Abbey Weitzeil, Canyons Aquatic
         NCAA: N 21.17  3/16/2017 Simone Manuel, Stanford
     American: M 21.12  3/5/2016  Abbey Weitzeil, Canyons Aquatic
                 21.74  A
                 22.76  B
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Brown, Erika     JR Tennessee-SE        21.52      21.33SqA     
         r:+0.67                       
  2 Hopkin, Anna     JR Arkansas-AR         21.64      21.70 qA     
         r:+0.72                       
  3 Fisch, Claire    JR Auburn-SE           22.05      21.78 qB     
         r:+0.73                       
  4 Banic, Madeline  SR Tennessee-SE        22.04      21.90 qB     
         r:+0.68                       
  4 Ochitwa, Ann     SR Missouri-MV         22.20      21.90 qB     
         r:+0.73                       
  6 Thompson, Sarah  SO Missouri-MV         22.34      22.24 qB     
         r:+0.74                       
  7 Hynes, Haley     JR Missouri-MV         22.13      22.26 qB     
         r:+0.69                       
  8 Meynen, Julie    JR Auburn-SE           22.60      22.33 qB     
         r:+0.67

Men’s 50 Free

Alabama’s Robert Howard got under the pool record in the 50 free heats as he swam an 18.80 to take the top seed for finals tonight in the event. It was Howard’s first time breaking 19 seconds as he is well ahead of Auburn’s Santiago Grassi (19.23) and Tennessee’s Kyle DeCoursey (19.25).

Howard got under Brad DeBorde’s 18.88 pool record from the 2014 SECs as Caeleb Dressel still holds the meet record of 18.23 from 2016. Howard did split an 18.30 on the end of Alabama’s 200 medley relay last night.

Missouri has continued to have an impressive morning as Mikel Schreuders (19.31) and Luke Mankus (19.40) also qualified for the A-Final for the Tigers. Missouri has the most A-Final swimmers on the men’s side tonight with five.

Alabama’s Sam DiSette (19.43) and Texas A&M’s Mike Thibert (19.46) also qualified for the A-Final.

Adam Koster (19.49) of Texas A&M won the swim-off over Kentucky’s Peter Wetzlar for the last spot in the final.

 Event 12  Men 50 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
     SEC Meet: S 18.23  2/17/2016 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
         Pool: P 18.88  2/19/2014 Bradley deBorde, Florida
      US Open: O 17.63  3/22/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
         NCAA: N 17.63  3/22/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
     American: M 17.63  3/22/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
                 19.00  A
                 19.96  B
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Howard, Robert   SR Alabama-SE          19.23      18.80PqA     
         r:+0.71                       
  2 Grassi, Santiag  JR Auburn-SE           20.04      19.23 qB     
         r:+0.64                       
  3 Decoursey, Kyle  SR Tennessee-SE        19.42      19.25 qB     
         r:+0.68                       
  4 Schreuders, Mik  SR Missouri-MV         19.45      19.31 qB     
         r:+0.69                       
  5 Mankus, Luke     SR Missouri-MV         19.58      19.40 qB     
         r:+0.68                       
  6 DiSette, Sam     SO Alabama-SE          20.15      19.43 qB     
         r:+0.66                       
  7 Thibert, Mike    JR Texas A&M-GU        19.76      19.46 qB     
         r:+0.67                                            
  8 Koster, Adam     JR Texas A&M-GU        19.69      19.49 qB     
         r:+0.63
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