Beata Nelson Prideful of Surprise NCAA Title in 200 IM

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Editorial content for the 2019 NCAA DI Championship coverage is sponsored by SwimOutlet.com. See full event coverage.

Beata Nelson was expecting a strong NCAA Championship performance.

The Wisconsin junior set the American record in the 100 back earlier this season and all signs pointed to another strong performance coming.

Nelson delivered on Thursday with a national title, but it wasn’t the 100 back. She used a late surge to stun defending champion Ella Eastin of Stanford and win the NCAA title in the 200 IM.

“That was not expected in this event. It was a really proud moment for me because I love my school. It has been a while since I felt super comfortable in the 200 IM, so that was a really special moment to have at NCAAs,” Nelson said.

“It meant a lot. An NCAA championship has been on my mind since I came to college. Obviously, my freshman year didn’t go the way I wanted to, then last year, I was trying to prove to the swimming world that I deserved to be here. This year was just to have fun. I didn’t set any time or place goals, I just wanted to enjoy.”

"I think Beata Nelson is going to pull the upset of these championships!"

(She did.)

That's @beatagurl, national champion.#OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/6Rrl6a4OOx

— Wisconsin Swimming & Diving (@BadgerSwimDive) March 21, 2019

Nelson finished in 1:50.79 to break the pool record and come within 12 hundredths of the American record set by Eastin at last year’s NCAA meet.

“Honestly, I was happy to get in the A final. I had to have a good swim in prelims to get that opportunity, and I was right next to the fastest woman in history — and I knew that was going to help me swim better,” Nelson said. “I took really deep breaths and went for it. I gave it all I could.”

Eastin finished second in 1:51.81, followed by Texas A&M’s Sydney Pickrem (1:51.84) and USC’s Louise Hansson (1:52.14).

With that packed field, Nelson knew she would have to keep pace, even in her weaker stroke. But the breaststroke is when you can hear the most, which played to her advantage.

“Honestly, Sam (Kendricks) is my favorite announcer ever. I could hear him during my breaststroke leg and he was saying my name,” she said. “I knew that was a good sign. I just worked those underwaters as best as I could on that last wall. I knew the freestyle leg was a strength of mine. I put my head down, hoped for the best — and it worked out pretty well.”

It was the next step in a giant-step sort of year for Nelson, as well as Wisconsin.

“Honestly with the new coaching staff, the mentality of the team has completely shifted. Yuri (Suguiyama) has been super supportive and I commemorate that breaststroke to the coaching staff. It was kind of my weakness turning into my strength. That was really cool to see come together.”

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