The 2021 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships continued with the second preliminary session of the meet on Friday.
Friday’s prelim events are the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 free, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke and 3-meter diving. The relays are all timed finals and will take place during the finals session.
Virginia leads the meet after winning the 800 free relay on opening night of the NCAA Championships, then claiming all three individual titles on Day 2, while also taking runner-up in both relays. The Cavaliers have plenty of fire power in today’s events as well.
NCAA Championships: Women’s 100 Backstroke
Wisconsin’s Beata Nelson holds the NCAA record in 49.18, set when she won the title in 2019. After 15 years where Cal’s Natalie Coughlin was the only swimmer under 50 seconds (49.97), Nelson, Regan Smith, Ally Howe, Kathleen Baker and Janet Hu have all been sub-50 since 2017. Cal has dominated the event with 11 titles in history, including Coughlin’s four-year sweep from 2001-04. Rachel Bootsma won three in a four-year span from 2013-16 and Cindy Tran was a repeat winner. North Carolina’s Sue Walsh, Texas’ Betsy Mitchell, Stanford’s Lea Loveless and Florida’s Gemma Spofforth have all won three titles in the event.
In an event with several title contenders, it seemed fitting that the top seed in the 100 backstroke was a tie. NC State’s Katharine Berkoff and Alabama’s Rhyan White each swam the prelims in 50.16 to tie for the top seed.
Wisconsin freshman Phoebe Bacon took the third seed in 50.58, just ahead of Cal’s Isabel Ivey (51.09), who made the top eight in both of her events, also reaching the final in the 100 butterfly.
Ivey’s Cal teammate Isabelle Stadden took the fifth seed in 51.18, followed by Texas junior Julia Cook (51.19).
Rounding out the top eight were North Carolina’s Grace Countie (51.42) and Virginia senior Caroline Gmelich (51.43), giving the Cavaliers another finalist for tonight.
Event 12 Women 100 Yard Backstroke
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NCAA: N 49.18 3/22/2019 Beata Nelson, Wisconsin
Meet: M 49.18 3/22/2019 Beata Nelson, Wisconsin
American: A 49.16 3/14/2021 Regan Smith, Riptide
US Open: O 49.16 3/14/2021 Regan Smith, Riptide
Pool: P 49.76 3/18/2021 Maggie MacNeil, Michigan
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 White, Rhyan JR Alabama 50.20 50.16
r:+0.62 24.11 50.16 (26.05)
1 Berkoff, Katharine SO NC State 50.40 50.16
r:+0.55 24.33 50.16 (25.83)
3 Bacon, Phoebe FR Wisconsin 51.32 50.58
r:+0.59 24.48 50.58 (26.10)
4 Ivey, Isabel JR California 51.12 51.09
24.54 51.09 (26.55)
5 Stadden, Isabelle FR California 50.86 51.18
r:+0.66 24.79 51.18 (26.39)
6 Cook, Julia JR Texas 51.14 51.19
24.56 51.19 (26.63)
7 Countie, Grace JR UNC 51.46 51.42
r:+0.73 24.71 51.42 (26.71)
8 Gmelich, Caroline SR Virginia 51.96 51.43
r:+0.57 24.95 51.43 (26.48)
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9 Lindner, Sophie JR UNC 52.27 51.56
r:+0.64 25.08 51.56 (26.48)
10 Thompson, Sarah SR Missouri 51.27 51.72
r:+0.68 24.66 51.72 (27.06)
11 Atkinson, Emma FR Virginia Tech 51.86 51.84
r:+0.78 24.90 51.84 (26.94)
12 Shuppert, Emma SO Duke 52.76 51.89
24.96 51.89 (26.93)
13 Tiltmann, Reilly FR Virginia 51.50 52.08
r:+0.72 25.51 52.08 (26.57)
14 Crane, Emily JR Ohio St 51.38 52.25
r:+0.72 25.27 52.25 (26.98)
14 Rees, Meredith SO Missouri 52.22 52.25
r:+0.74 25.37 52.25 (26.88)
16 Bray, Olivia FR Texas 51.04 52.26
25.18 52.26 (27.08)
