By Jason Tillotson, Swimming World College Intern.
This past week has kept us all on the edge of our seats. Each day was jam-packed with insanely fast conference meets and record breaking swims. From Caeleb Dressel throwing down the fastest 50 and 100 freestyle relay splits of all time, to Lilly King’s 100 breaststroke dominance, we were all kept busy.
However, there were some swims that may have missed the spotlight. With all the exciting action, it is hard to keep up with everything and everyone. Nevertheless, you have to give credit where credit is due.
Here are five swims from this week that might have been directly in the spotlight.
1. Ohio State’s Li Zhesi – 21.48 50 freestyle
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
We are used to seeing the likes of Olivia Smoliga and Abbigail Weitzeil throw down some seriously fast in-season times. Perhaps what is more impressive is Li’s ability to tie her time from last year’s NCAA’s at her Big-10 Championship meet. Not known for her quick non-tapered times, Li showed she is ready to take on the rest of the nation at this year’s NCAA championship.
2. South Carolina’s Fynn Minuth – 4:11.07 500 freestyle
The men’s and women’s SEC conference meet is always fast, and this year was no exception. It isn’t unusual to see a 4:11 (or even faster) 500 freestyle at this time of year, in fact it’s pretty common. However, Minuth wasn’t necessarily the favorite to win this one and upsetting Florida’s Mitch D’Arrigo isn’t an easy feat. So, he earns his spot on this list. Also, Minuth’s best time before SEC’s was 4:19.30 from the Georgia Tech invite this fall and before 2016 he had never broken 4:30 in the 500. Needless to say, Minuth is on the rise and has some serious NCAA scoring potential.
3. NC State’s Alexia Zevnik – 50.80 100 backstroke
Photo Courtesy: Reagan Lunn/Georgia Tech Athletics
At the Women’s ACC championships, Zevnik posted the nation’s fastest time in this event, less than a second away from Natalie Coughlin’s long-standing NCAA, American and U.S. Open records and going a best time in the process. She was also able to essentially duplicate that time, later that night during the 400 medley relay. Her 50.81 lead-off leg was head and shoulders ahead of the field and undoubtedly secured her name as a force to be reckoned with this March.
4. Stanford’s True Sweetser – 9:00.25 1000 freestyle
The Cal-Stanford duel meet was filled with fast in-season swims, as well. The fact that this swim was not produced at a conference championship is what makes it understandable that it was not in the spotlight, but it is also what makes it more impressive. Almost cracking nine-minutes at a duel meet is not an easy task by any means, especially given the the fact that he was ahead of the field by almost ten seconds. This swim, combined with his 4:12, 8:49 and 14:35 in the 500, 1000 and 1650 freestyles, respectively, this season shows that Sweetser is ready to go for Pac-12’s and NCAA’s.
5. Loyola Maryland’s Ben Cono – 52.83 100 breaststroke
Photo Courtesy: Brian Schneider
There are few mid-major programs that send swimmers to the NCAA meet. Last year, Loyola was one of those few programs and Cono was their sole representative. With his lifetime best time of 52.83 from this past weekend at the Patriot League championships, it is likely he will get invited to NCAA meet yet again. Cono has proved his ability to hang with the top-tier Division I programs, time and time again. This swim was just another clear example of that.
All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.
Well done Ben!