NCAA Swimming Flashback: Dean Farris Tops All-Time List in 200 Freestyle

Dean Farris broke the American record in the 200 freestyle at the 2019 NCAA Championships -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

NCAA Swimming Flashback: Dean Farris Tops All-Time List in 200 Freestyle

From the moment Townley Haas burst onto the scene and won his first NCAA title in the 200 freestyle in 2016, swimming fans anticipated the first-ever sub-1:30 performance. Haas had just crushed the U.S. Open record of 1:31.20 with his 1:30.46 while still just 19 years old, and after his Olympic debut during the summer of 2016, he took center stage in the 200 free as a sophomore. He defended his title, but he finished two tenths off the record.

So the quest for 1:29s would be delayed one year, and in an unexpected twist, Haas would not become the first man to hit that range. The honor would go to Indiana’s Blake Pieroni, who annihilated the American record with a 1:29.63 leading off the Hoosiers’ 800 free relay on the opening night of the NCAA Championships. Haas was leading off for Texas two lanes away, and he actually was under his previous record with a 1:30.41, but he was still eight tenths back of Pieroni.

Townley Haas reclaimed the American record in the 200 free at the 2018 NCAA Championships — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Then, in the individual showdown two days later, Haas bounced back to take the title. He slammed on the gas early with his 43.12 100-yard split (much faster than Pieroni’s 43.53 from the relay leadoff), and he held on to win in 1:29.50 and reclaim the American record. Pieroni ended up second in that race in 1:30.23, still almost a second faster than any other individual had ever swum up to that point.

Up until 2018, Haas had been the standard-bearer in the 200 free, and now, Pieroni had followed him. Others had gotten into the 1:31-low range, including Dean Farris, Zach Apple and Andrew Seliskar, but in 2019, the 1:30 club and even the 1:29 club would gain some new members. After the 2019 NCAA Championships, the idea of a 1:28 swim didn’t even look too far-fetched.

On night one of that 2019 meet, Farris led off for Harvard in the second-to-last heat of the 800 free relay, and he went to a new realm of speed in the 200-yard free. Farris, who had become the third-ever sub-1:31 performer at the Ivy League Championships a month earlier, was out in 42.89, even quicker than Haas had gone out in his record-breaking swim the previous year, and he finished in 1:29.15 to crush the American record.

The swim earned a signature call of “Boom shaka-laka!” from in-house announcer Sam Kendricks.

“I remember 2016. I was a senior in high school, and I watched Townley go a 1:30.4,” Farris said. “I was a 1:36 at the time. I was like, ‘I need to start taking it out.’ He definitely inspired me to take it out harder.”

In the final heat, Seliskar led off in 1:30.14, and Apple was just behind in 1:30.34, while Haas anchored in 1:29.66. None were in the same stratosphere as that incredible new mark that Farris had recorded just minutes earlier. That trio would get a shot two days later in the individual 200 free event, but Farris was one and done. He had chosen to swim the 100 backstroke on that day of the meet, meaning he would be absent from the event where he now owned the American record.

“I’m happy to get out of that event,” Farris said. “That was my one swim. They can go for it on Friday. I’m sure they’re going to be close. I’m just ready to do 100 back. I love that race. I’ve loved it since high school. They can take it this year. They can go get it.”

As it turned out, none of that trio would be able to come close to the 1:29-low range. Seliskar matched his relay leadoff time to win by more than a second, while three-time defending champion Haas faded to a shocking fourth, his time more than a second behind any of his three previous NCAA-title-winning marks.

Instead, Seliskar took the individual title, one of his three individual wins that meet on his way to NCAA Swimmer of the Meet honors, while the new king of the 200 free was a man who instead captured an individual title that day in the 100 back, Farris.

Kieran Smith could threaten the American record in the 200 free this season — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

And to this day, no one has topped that Wednesday night relay leadoff Farris recorded in 2019. Only one person has come close, the same man who has become the premier American man in the 200-meter freestyle over that span. Kieran Smith swam a 1:30.11 for the fastest time in the country in 2020 (prior to the cancellation of the NCAA Championships), and then he became the second-fastest performer in history in 2021 with a 1:29.48.

At the 2021 NCAA Championships, Smith (1:29.66) and Shaine Casas (1:30.59) were the standout leadoff swimmers on the 800 free relay, and then Smith overtook Drew Kibler to win the individual title in the 200 free, 1:30.10 to 1:30.39.

This season, both Smith and Kibler return to college swimming after competing for the United States at the Tokyo Olympics, and Farris is back after two years away from college swimming spent preparing for Olympic Trials, although he has not focused on the 200 free so far this season. Meanwhile, the top time in the country entering championship season and the only mark so far under 1:32 belongs to Arizona State’s Grant House at 1:31.73.

Can we see another surge of speed like the one that led Farris to a 1:29-low three years ago? The swimmer with the best shot at that accomplishment is Smith, but there’s a strong chance after a four-year period of record-smashing in the 200 free, Farris will remain on top of the list for a bit longer.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use