Phoebe Bacon Continues Wisconsin’s 200 Back Tradition with NCAA Title

phoebe-bacon
Photo Courtesy: Mike Comer/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

In one of the youngest fields in the entire NCAA championships that featured four freshmen, one sophomore and three juniors, it was Wisconsin rookie Phoebe Bacon who came out on top in the 200 backstroke final in Greensboro with a 1:48.32. Bacon moved up to eighth all-time with her swim as she came off the pace on the third 50 to split a 27.7 and ran away from the field on the final 50.

The big favorites in the race were Alabama’s Rhyan White and NC State’s Katharine Berkoff, who won the 100 last night. Berkoff showed her speed up front, flipping at 52.58 to White’s 52.61, but Bacon, much like Paige Madden in the earlier 1650, stayed poised and nailed the third 50. Bacon flipped first at 1:20.42 ahead of White (1:20.51) and Berkoff (1:20.88) at the 150 and had all the momentum on the final 50, being the only swimmer under 28 seconds on the last 50.

“I am really happy. It was definitely a tough race,” Phoebe Bacon said. “I knew all three of the girls were going to be right on my hip or my head (coming into the last 50), so for me, it was keeping my legs in it and don’t slow down my tempo. I really work my back half every day in practice. It is a big focus to keep it strong throughout the whole event.”

Bacon mentioned before the meet that the 200 back was the event she was looking forward to the most heading into this meet due to her improvements in her first year with coach Yuri Suguiyama.

“It was pretty incredible,” Phoebe Bacon told Swimming World from her hotel room. “Especially competing against these other teams that had almost full seasons where they got the amount of swims that they did, and then for us to have three dual meets and then Big Tens, it was definitely a big difference. I’m happy we made it and we were able to have the meet and stay COVID safe.”

White was second at 1:48.99 while Cal freshman Isabelle Stadden placed third at 1:49.66. The two other rookies placed fourth and fifth in Virginia Tech’s Emma Atkinson (1:50.43) and Virginia’s Reilly Tiltmann (1:50.66).

“It really shows the freshmen class I’m in and the classes coming up, this meet is going to keep getting faster and faster,” Bacon said. “The different events are going to really start surprising some people, especially watching that 100 fly and Maggie go a 48. I think we are going to see another 48 next year and who knows if it is a freshman or someone else.”

Berkoff faded in the final 50, placing sixth at 1:50.88 ahead of teammate Emma Muzzy (1:51.70) and Kentucky’s Sophie Sorenson (1:52.63).

Wisconsin now has three NCAA titles in the 200 backstroke, which is tied for fourth all-time among Division I schools. Bacon joins Maggie Meyer (2011) and Beata Nelson (2019) as winners of the event for the Badgers.

“Going into the 200 back, I was thinking, ‘Beata had this two years ago and probably could have won it last year so I might as well make it a third year in a row and keep the Wisconsin tradition and carry it on.'”

All-Time Rankings:

  1. 1:47.16, Regan Smith, Riptide, 2019
  2. 1:47.24, Beata Nelson, Wisconsin, 2019
  3. 1:47.30, Kathleen Baker, California, 2018
  4. 1:47.59, Taylor Ruck, Stanford, 2019
  5. 1:47.84, Elizabeth Pelton, California, 2013
  6. 1:47.91, Missy Franklin, California, 2015
  7. 1:48.06, Rhyan White, Alabama, 2020
  8. 1:48.32, Phoebe Bacon, Wisconsin, 2021
  9. 1:48.34, Gemma Spofforth, Florida, 2009
  10. 1:48.53, Ella Eastin, Stanford, 2019

 Event 16  Women 200 Yard Backstroke
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:47.24  3/23/2019 Beata Nelson, Wisconsin
         Meet: M 1:47.24  3/23/2019 Beata Nelson, Wisconsin
     American: A 1:47.16  3/10/2019 Regan Smith, Riptide
      US Open: O 1:47.16  3/10/2019 Regan Smith, Riptide
         Pool: P 1:47.91  3/21/2015 Missy Franklin, California
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Final ===                        
 
  1 Bacon, Phoebe          FR Wisconsin         1:50.32    1:48.32   20  
    r:+0.67  25.46        52.71 (27.25)
        1:20.42 (27.71)     1:48.32 (27.90)
  2 White, Rhyan           JR Alabama           1:50.18    1:48.99   17  
    r:+0.62  25.14        52.61 (27.47)
        1:20.51 (27.90)     1:48.99 (28.48)
  3 Stadden, Isabelle      FR California        1:50.33    1:49.66   16  
    r:+0.70  25.72        53.15 (27.43)
        1:21.27 (28.12)     1:49.66 (28.39)
  4 Atkinson, Emma         FR VT                1:51.47    1:50.43   15  
    r:+0.73  26.45        53.90 (27.45)
        1:21.80 (27.90)     1:50.43 (28.63)
  5 Tiltmann, Reilly       FR Virginia          1:51.40    1:50.66   14  
    r:+0.73  26.88        54.90 (28.02)
        1:22.30 (27.40)     1:50.66 (28.36)
  6 Berkoff, Katharine     SO NC State          1:50.31    1:50.88   13  
             25.23        52.58 (27.35)
        1:20.88 (28.30)     1:50.88 (30.00)
  7 Muzzy, Emma            JR NC State          1:51.45    1:51.70   12  
    r:+0.73  26.51        54.42 (27.91)
        1:23.46 (29.04)     1:51.70 (28.24)
  8 Sorenson, Sophie       JR Kentucky          1:51.74    1:52.63   11  
    r:+0.76  26.53        54.82 (28.29)
        1:23.58 (28.76)     1:52.63 (29.05)
 
                        === Consolation Final ===                        
 
  9 Moore, Kate            SR NC State          1:52.12    1:51.61    9  
             26.54        54.92 (28.38)
        1:23.50 (28.58)     1:51.61 (28.11)
 10 Cook, Julia            JR Texas             1:52.91    1:51.83    7  
    r:+0.68  26.05        54.34 (28.29)
        1:22.83 (28.49)     1:51.83 (29.00)
 11 Brooks, Caitlin        SO Kentucky          1:52.04    1:52.01    6  
    r:+0.57  26.14        54.10 (27.96)
        1:22.88 (28.78)     1:52.01 (29.13)
 12 Venter, Mariella       SO Michigan          1:52.21    1:52.19    5  
    r:+0.73  26.39        54.65 (28.26)
        1:23.54 (28.89)     1:52.19 (28.65)
 13 Lindner, Sophie        JR UNC               1:53.67    1:52.69    4  
    r:+0.75  26.95        54.88 (27.93)
        1:23.32 (28.44)     1:52.69 (29.37)
 14 Stewart, Bayley        JR Notre Dame        1:53.35    1:53.08    3  
    r:+0.67  26.85        55.12 (28.27)
        1:23.97 (28.85)     1:53.08 (29.11)
 15 Sacha, Ioanna          SR Houston           1:53.16    1:53.91    2  
    r:+0.80  26.58        55.03 (28.45)
        1:24.34 (29.31)     1:53.91 (29.57)
 16 Lagrand, Susan         JR Oakland           1:53.48    1:54.13    1  
    r:+0.60  27.36        56.32 (28.96)
        1:25.25 (28.93)     1:54.13 (28.88)
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 16                 
 
  1. Virginia                          384   2. NC State                          276
  3. Texas                             248   4. California                        226
  5. Ohio St                         189.5   6. Alabama                           185
  7. Michigan                        162.5   8. Stanford                          140
  9. Kentucky                          135  10. Georgia                           122
 11. UNC                               118  12. Tennessee                         107
 13. Louisville                         81  14. Missouri                           79
 15. Texas A&M                          76  16. Northwestern                       75
 17. Florida                          74.5  18. Indiana                            63
 19. Wisconsin                          59  20. Virginia Tech                      43
 21. Southern California                42  21. Miami                              42
 23. Minnesota                          40  24. Arkansas                           26
 25. Nebraska                           22  26. Arizona                          17.5
 27. Georgia Tech                       16  28. Purdue                             13
 29. Lsu                                 9  30. Houston                             8
 31. Notre Dame                          7  32. San Diego St                        6
 33. Duke                                4  34. Akron                               3
 35. Oakland                             1
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