Loaded 200 IM, Ledecky’s No-Kick 500 Part of Eye-Opening Prelims at NCAA Championships

Madisyn Cox. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

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By Dan D’Addona.

There were plenty of fast swims during Thursday’s NCAA women’s prelims. Stanford and Cal continued to swim well, leading the way with relay performances, but there were plenty of interesting things that happened outside of the relays.

Here are three:

1. The loaded 200 IM

The 200 IM was packed with star power, leaving several big names in the consolation final — some not even making the top 16.

Texas senior Madisyn Cox took the top seed at 1:53.38, a pool record. Texas A&M’s Sydney Pickrem (1:53.69) and Bethany Galat (1:54.20) went 2-3, followed by defending national champion Ella Eastin (1:54.55) of Stanford. Cal’s Kathleen Baker took the fifth seed in 1:54.61, followed by USC’s Louise Hansson (1:55.01).

But the bigger story was who missed out.

Big Ten champion Lilly King of Indiana took 24^thin 1:57.02, a second and a half slower than her seed time. Of course, the breaststroke events are her main events, but she was seeded 12^th in the event coming into the meet.

Michigan’s Siobhan Haughey actually swam faster than King in the Big Ten Championships but was disqualified for not finishing the backstroke leg on her back. Haughey squeaked into the consolation final at 16^th nearly a second slower than her seed time. Look for Haughey to make the most of her scoring spot and move up.

Texas A&M’s Lisa Bratton, Stanford’s Ally Howe, Georgia’s Emily Cameron joined Haughey in the consolation final.

2. Ledecky’s no-kick dominance

Stanford’s Katie Ledecky breezed to the top seed in the 500 freestyle in 4:28.37, breaking the pool record.

That wasn’t unexpected. But she swam that fast of a time while barely kicking for nearly half the race. Many swimmers hold back their kick during that kind of race, but only for a short period, and it is usually just less of a kick. Ledecky’s legs looked at a stand still for a good chunk of the race. It was so noticeable that the meet announcer actually mentioned it to the crowd during the race.

I have never seen anything quite like that and it likely means that Ledecky will crush her time with a full kick in finals.

3. The 500 swim-off

Swim-offs happen from time to time in big meets to determine the final spot in a final or consolation final. Most of the time, they are in sprinting events where swimmers are more likely to finish with identical times.

On Thursday, Lauren Case of Texas and Air Force’s Genevive Miller tied for 16^th in the 500-yard freestyle, both finishing in 4:39.97. The swimmers had to refocus and rest to swim the grueling race a second time to see who would get a spot in the consolation final.

Miller (4:39.82) touched out Case (4:40.06) in the swim off. Her reward: Swimming the 500 for a third time in one day.

All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.

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Mohmad Ker Alaksh

7 years ago

Leon Lai

7 years ago

Andrew Chopey lmao 500 swimoff with finals on the same day

Emily Lane

7 years ago

Claire Dudek looks like you were onto something only kicking in the second half of your races ?

Joel Rittenhouse

7 years ago

and your reward for that swim is you get come back tonight and swim it again!!!