5 Best Women’s NCAA Swims from the 2010s

By Andy Ross, Swimming World Intern

The rubber suit era ended about five and a half years ago and we have made progression in times that a lot of people did not see coming. It has been enlightening to reflect on how swimming has progressed since then, and how fast the sport is now, even without the shiny suits. I’ve put together a retrospective of progression for the last half decade by compiling the best NCAA swims from the 2010s.

I have been a huge fan of NCAA swimming since I first started paying attention 11 years ago. I love making mental lists like these and now I have brought them to life!

Here are my top 5 best women’s NCAA swims from the first half of the decade:

5. Brittany MacLean’s Smashing 1650

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Janet Evans had set the NCAA and American record in 1990 in the 1650 at 15:39. No woman in the NCAA beat that record until 2012 when Stephanie Peacock of North Carolina battled Wendy Trott of Georgia down to the wire and both ladies went 15:37s with Peacock coming out on top. Kate Ziegler and Katie Hoff broke Evans’ American record in the 2000s but did not swim in college. In just two short years, that time of 15:37 would look pedestrian in the NCAA.

Brittany MacLean of Georgia was just a sophomore in 2014, but had an impressive resume already. She was a 2012 Olympian and Olympic finalist in the 400 free for Canada. At Georgia, she won the 500 Free at the 2014 NCAAs in NCAA record time, beating out superstar Missy Franklin of California with an impressive last 100. Going into the 1650 at 2014 NCAAs, it was MacLean’s race to lose.

She took it out first with Amber McDermott of Georgia and Leah Smith of Virginia following close behind. Around the 800, MacLean started to pull away from Smith and she was about seven seconds under record pace. MacLean kept pouring it on and nobody was around to even challenge her. As she barreled down the last 25, MacLean demolished the NCAA record, going 15:27.84, almost ten full seconds under Peacock’s old record.

Although Katie Ledecky has been 15:15 before, this swim by MacLean is impressive in its own right because this race made her a household name in swimming and vaulted her to #1 on the NCAA all-time list as well as #5 on our list.

Watch the race here.

4. Kelsi Worrell’s barrier-breaking 100 Fly

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Natalie Coughlin is by far the greatest NCAA swimmer of all time. At one point in time, she held six individual NCAA records. Eleven years after her career ended, she held only two: the 100 fly and 100 back. Both of those records had been threatened for years and years but nobody could break through. Going into the 2015 NCAAs, Kelsi Worrell of Louisville was definitely a major threat to take down Coughlin’s 100 fly record.

In the prelims of the 400 medley relay, Worrell swam the fastest split in history at 49.56. She was in the driver’s seat to get Coughlin’s record of 50.01 after that. When she stepped onto the blocks in her 100 fly prelim swim, everyone on deck was watching. Worrell was blazing the first 50 and buried the field on her underwaters. She touched the wall and even PA Announcer Sam Kendrick stood up. She became the first woman to break 50 seconds in 100 fly history at 49.89.

In the final, Worrell was the overwhelming favorite and many wondered if she could follow up her prelim swim with an even faster swim. Not even 2014 US National Team member Kendyl Stewart of USC or Denver senior Sam Corea were expected to challenge Worrell.

She went out slightly slower, but was out in front of everyone else. She again buried everyone on the last turn with her underwater kick and touched the wall with an even faster time of 49.81. It took 12 years, but someone had finally broken Coughlin’s 100 fly record and broke 50 for the first time. It was a historic swim which earns Worrell to #4 on our list.

Watch the race here (Prelims courtesy of Louisville Swimming) and here (Finals courtesy of Justin Wu)

3. Simone Manuel’s ‘Lezak’ anchor leg

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

This was one of those events where you have to see to believe. Virginia was the overwhelming favorite going into the 2015 NCAAs in the 400 medley relay. No other school had four solid legs like the Cavaliers. There was no way anyone could catch them; not Cal with four Olympians, and certainly not Stanford with three freshmen and a senior. Right?

Virginia had the lead after the backstroke leg thanks to a 50.19 by Courtney Bartholomew. Laura Simon had split faster than anyone else in the field in the breaststroke leg (57.52) and the Hoos were rolling, ahead by two and a half seconds with Stanford and California battling for second and third. Ellen Williamson kept it going for them and had a nice comfortable lead of about two full seconds for anchor Ellen Thomas. Comfortable.

She dove in, and almost everybody in the pool thought it was over. Even the decorated Olympian Missy Franklin could not catch her, or the great freshman sensation Simone Manuel. It was a victory lap for Thomas the last 50 with a lead of about 1.9 seconds in front of Manuel and Stanford. But then something happened.

Arguably better than Morozov, and maybe even better than Jason Lezak, Manuel uncorked a 45.45 to out-touch Thomas by .01 seconds. Oh snap. Manuel blew away the fastest split in history, which she previously held. Thomas did not have a bad split herself with a 47.69, but Manuel blew that out of the water. It looked clear that Virginia had the win UNDER THE FLAGS, but somehow and someway Manuel got her hand on the wall first.

Stanford won the relay at 3:26.41 with the help of Ally Howe, Katie Olsen and Janet Hu. Virginia was second at 3:26.42 and California was third with a 3:27.17. I don’t think I have ever seen a relay leg more amazing in my entire life, and that includes Morozov and Lezak. And the scariest part of that whole race, was that Manuel was only a freshman.

Watch the race here (Courtesy of Bradley Howe)

2. Missy Franklin’s jaw-dropping 200 free

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

When four-time Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin signed her national letter of intent to attend California in the fall of 2012, many wondered how many NCAA records she would break in her college career. Franklin made quite a name for herself in the freestyle events in her short career at California while her strong team didn’t need her in her specialty backstroke events.

As the 2015 NCAAs neared, the talk amongst the swimming community was how Franklin would go out in her sophomore year, since it was her last year before going professional. How many records would she break? She won the 200 IM and missed Caitlin Leverenz’ NCAA record by .4, but that was probably Franklin’s “worst” event at the meet. The event everyone had wanted to see was the 200 free. The year before, she smashed Megan Romano’s American record by .9. In 2015, she wanted to go even faster.

In a field that featured seven underclassmen, the challengers came from bay area rivals in Simone Manuel and Lia Neal. Also in the field who could challenge were 500 champion Leah Smith of Virginia, Chelsea Chenault of USC, and Franklin’s teammate Cierra Runge. The record stood at 1:40.31 and it would have been a shock to everyone in attendance if it survived the day.

Franklin jumped on it early. Her first 100 was so fast (47.74), that she would have been seventh in the individual 100 free. She was on a roll as Manuel was second at 49.12 and Neal was third at 50.02. Franklin kept at it and led by two full seconds going into the last 50. It was scary to watch her last 50 and think what she might go.

Nobody had broken 1:41 in NCAA history besides her at the time and she touched the wall at 1:39.10, catapulting her into a league of her own. Manuel was second at 1:41.45 and Neal was third at 1:42.65. At the end of the meet, the 200 free was Franklin’s only NCAA record, but it was definitely one of the most dominant performances that she has ever put on. She currently sits first all-time 1.5 seconds ahead of second place Allison Schmitt.

Watch the race here [16:18] (Courtesy of NCAA Channel)

1. Katinka Hosszu’s epic 400 IM win

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

I don’t know if anyone could put into words how impressive this field was. A lot of the top swimmers in college take the Olympic year off to stay consistent with training. Some may swim through NCAAs and save their best for their respective country’s Olympic Trials. In 2012, three of the top eight in the 400 IM Olympic final swam at the NCAAs. Four swimmers swam under the four-minute mark (only one went under the barrier the year prior) and six of the top eight are currently in the all-time top ten.

The pre-race favorites were 200 IM American record holder Caitlin Leverenz of California, defending champion Katinka Hosszu of USC, and defending World champion Elizabeth Beisel of Florida. Stanford sophomore Maya DiRado of Stanford was a dark horse for the title as well as Indiana senior Allysa Vavra.

After the fly leg, it was 200 fly Olympian Cammile Adams of Texas A&M in the lead, Hosszu in second and Florida senior Teresa Crippen in third. Hosszu and Crippen started to move out a little bit on the backstroke leg and DiRado and Beisel started to move up. Leverenz had the breaststroke leg of her life, as she split a 1:04.81, to move into the lead ahead of Hosszu who split a 1:08.41.

Hosszu wanted the win badly, as she was quoted in her post-race interview saying, “I was jealous Caitlin got the record in the 200 IM.” She swam right by Leverenz on the freestyle leg to take the win and the fastest time in history at 3:56.54. Leverenz was second at 3:57.89 and Beisel was third at 3:59.37.

The fastest time in history at this point belonged to Julia Smit of Stanford who went a 3:58.23 in 2010. Hosszu had demolished that swim and launched herself to #1 all-time, where she still stands today. Beisel and DiRado could not get close to her record at the end of their college careers and it looks like Hosszu’s record will stand for a long time, as there is not one collegiate talent who could challenge her record today.

Watch the race here (courtesy of Gerald Lim)

Honorable mention:

The entire 2010 meet– Four teams had the lead at one point on the final night. In fact, Florida did not have the lead until after platform diving. They were in fifth going into Saturday finals and left that night with the championship. Forty points separated the top four team in the end. Talk about drama.

Simone Manuel leads historic 1-2-3– The first 1-2-3 sweep for African Americans in swimming occurred in the 100 free at this year’s championships. A sure stepping stone for the African American swimming community.

Caitlin Leverenz and Katinka Hosszu’s epic 200 IM duel– This record is going to stand for a while.

Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace’s 100 free win– I love a good comeback story. She was supposed to be the star of the meet but had disappointing early swims. Just when everybody counted her out in the 100 free, she stole the win in her home pool.

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David Rieder

8 years ago

Some thoughts on the three of these races I saw, all at this year’s NCAAs. First off, I’d go with Franklin’s 200 as the number one. Am I a prisoner of the moment, with her swim being so fresh in my memory and the fact that I saw it in person? Of course, and I’ll freely admit that. But one must remember that going in, a lot of people thought she was vulnerable to Manuel. (When discussing the race with other media members beforehand, I was the only one to pick Franklin to win.) Missy hadn’t been vintage MISSY since 2012 or 2013, and that was an enormous swim for her career. She went out hard and broke Manuel’s spirit from the beginning. I’ve never seen Missy so emotional after a race, and honestly, I’d put that ahead of Ledecky’s WR from Nationals last summer as the most impressive race I’ve ever seen in person.

As for the relay… we were watching from a weird angle at the far end of the pool. I think I turned away and looked at the scoreboard since we all thought it was over. Just an otherworldly split by Manuel. But her performances at NCAAs this year have to have American swim fans excited about her improving international prospects.

liquidassets

8 years ago

Reply to David Rieder

I’d go with Franklin’s 200 too. I thought that Manuel would push her under 1:40 and that maybe both would be 1:39 high, but 1:39.10 is otherworldly. I guess 45.4 split for Manuel’s 100 is too, so that’s right up there.

Andy Ross

8 years ago

Reply to David Rieder

Definitely agree with your arguments. But the purpose of these lists is to spark debate! Missy’s swim was impressive but the 400 IM from 2012 was pretty epic. People had been talking about that race all day.

David Rieder

8 years ago

A quick anecdote about Worrell’s 100 fly… I missed the prelim swim because I drove back to Durham (less than an hour from Greensboro) for my one Friday morning class. When I saw on my phone that she broke the record, one might say I was regretting leaving. Especially since, in my 50 minute class, we spent the first 15 minutes dealing with technology issues, and then the professor started singing.