{"id":239526,"date":"2017-02-06T07:00:54","date_gmt":"2017-02-06T14:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=239526"},"modified":"2017-02-08T17:31:24","modified_gmt":"2017-02-09T00:31:24","slug":"one-year-after-breakout-accs-mallory-comerford-still-on-the-upswing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/one-year-after-breakout-accs-mallory-comerford-still-on-the-upswing\/","title":{"rendered":"One Year After Breakout ACCs, Mallory Comerford Still on the Upswing"},"content":{"rendered":"

By David Rieder.<\/em><\/p>\n

Preparing for her debut swim at the biggest meet of her life (to that point, anyway), Mallory Comerford<\/strong> stepped up onto the blocks in a key spot. In the first event of the 2016 ACC championships, Kelsi Worrell<\/strong> had given Comerford a lead of two tenths of a second for the anchor leg of Louisville\u2019s 200 medley relay.<\/p>\n

Comerford held on, touching out Virginia\u2019s Caitlin Cooper<\/strong> by 14 one-hundredths of a second.<\/p>\n

That meet in Greensboro, N.C., was the start of a breakout spring for the then-freshman at Louisville. Two days later, she touched out Leah Smith for the conference championship in the 200 free, and at the NCAA championships, Comerford finished second in the same event. She got plenty of anchoring experience at the national meet as well, helping the Cardinals finish in the top-three finish in both medley relays.<\/p>\n

Less than nine months later, Comerford found herself anchoring a relay yet again, but this time, the stakes were ratcheted up, and her cap had some blue and white mixed in with the typical Cardinal red. She was competing internationally for the first time, at the Short Course World Championships in Windsor, Canada, and this was the final of the women\u2019s 400 free relay.<\/p>\n

Leading off that foursome was 30-year-old Amanda<\/strong> Weir<\/strong>, a three-time Olympian with three Olympic medals to her credit\u2014all from relays. Handling the second leg was 22-year-old Worrell, and third was 28-year-old Madison Kennedy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Arthur Albiero<\/strong>, the head coach of the U.S. women\u2019s team in Windsor and Comerford\u2019s coach at Louisville, had full trust in the 19-year-old to finish the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think [the coaches] believed in me, and they wanted me to know that they believed in me,\u201d Comerford said.<\/p>\n

Swimming from lane one, Weir, Worrell and Kennedy gave Comerford a substantial lead, and she did not relinquish it, even with Canadian Olympic gold medalist Penny Oleksiak<\/strong> coming home strong in lane four.<\/p>\n

With the second-place Canadians disqualified for a procedural issue, Comerford ended up with the race\u2019s second-fastest split at 51.99. Only Worrell at 51.04 and the Netherlands\u2019 Ranomi<\/strong> Kromowidjojo<\/strong>\u2014the 2012 Olympic gold medalist in the 100 free\u2014swam faster.<\/p>\n

Pretty solid international debut, no? Especially for a swimmer who didn\u2019t exactly make the world take notice during the qualifying process.<\/p>\n

If you are forgetting exactly how U.S. qualification for Short Course Worlds went down, you aren\u2019t alone. All Comerford did was compete in the 100 and 200 free at Olympic Trials\u2014she made it to the semi-finals in both events\u2014and then at the U.S. Open, posting top times of 54.46 in the 100 and 1:59.46 in the 200.<\/p>\n

Content but not fully satisfied, Comerford went back to work in the format in which she felt most comfortable: short course.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore college, I never trained long course. I didn\u2019t have a long course pool at home. And so I\u2019m getting better with it. I\u2019m more comfortable with it,\u201d she explained. \u201cBut I love short course.\u201d<\/p>\n

Comerford got her sophomore season off to a hot start at the SMU Classic in October, winning the 100-yard free in a lifetime best time of 47.89 and finishing second in the 200 free and 500 free.<\/p>\n

When she and her eight teammates at the meet rejoined the team in Louisville the next week, Comerford shared some big news: she\u2019d been invited to join Team USA in Windsor.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously I said yes,\u201d Comerford said. \u201cThe first thing I did was screenshot the email and text it to Arthur [Albiero] and [Louisville assistant coach] Stephanie<\/strong> [Juncker<\/strong>] and then to my parents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before Worlds, Comerford would actually make her Team USA debut on home soil, representing the U.S. team at the College Challenge in Indianapolis, just a few hours away from Louisville.<\/p>\n

Comerford ended up comfortably winning the 100 free at the College Challenge. She also finished second in the 200 free, took third in the 50 free and participated on two first-place relay teams. And along the way, she started to realize just how neat of an experience she had earned.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeforehand, I was kind of like, \u2018Oh, this is just another dual meet.\u2019 Not whatever, but more laid back a little bit,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I got there, I didn\u2019t really think I was going to get too nervous. Just before, I was like, \u2018Oh wow, I\u2019m representing Team USA. I need to go. This is awesome.\u2019 But it kind of made me a little bit nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then, three weeks later, Comerford headed to compete in foreign territory for the first time\u2014but not too foreign, as Windsor is just a few hours\u2019 drive east of Comerford\u2019s hometown of Kalamazoo, Mich.<\/p>\n

Flying into Detroit felt all too routine, but once Comerford and the U.S. crossed the river into Canadian territory, it quickly became obvious that Worlds would be unlike any swim meet she\u2019d ever experienced.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was the first time walking into the training pool,\u201d she said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t just other college teams here\u2014it was all of these different countries. Everyone is doing their own things, but they stopped and looked at Team USA. I think that\u2019s kind of when I realized, \u2018Wow, I\u2019m representing Team USA. I\u2019m at World Championships. This is one of the biggest honors you can have.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

On day one, Comerford had her only individual event of the meet, the 200 free. Without any short course meters\u2019 experience to pull a seed time from, she was placed in lane seven in the final heat\u2014and then held off 2008 Olympic gold medalist Federica Pellegrini<\/strong> to touch first in 1:53.71.<\/p>\n

That time was good for the No. 2 seed heading into the final behind only Katinka Hosszu<\/strong>. For most of the day, Comerford felt relaxed and thankful for opportunity to swim in the middle of the pool at night in her first World Championships, but when she arrived in the ready room, the rookie nerves hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d never done the bib before, and then walking out by myself, the second seed, that kind of got me a little nervous,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was just a really good learning experience because you can\u2019t get that preparation from anything else but doing it. Having to walk out with a bib and then take all my clothes off, be ready to go, being on camera, it\u2019s just a lot different than what I was used to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Comerford ended up touching in 1:53.79, just a few one-hundredths off her prelims time but only good enough for fifth place. But just 90 minutes later, she was back in the water for the race that would land result in her maiden trip to the top of an international podium, the 400 free relay.<\/p>\n

Later in the meet, Comerford would lead the Americans to a silver medal in the 800 free relay, and then in the meet\u2019s final race, she anchored the U.S. women\u2019s 400 medley relay to another gold, swimming with teammates Ali DeLoof<\/strong>, Lilly King<\/strong> and Worrell to win another gold.<\/p>\n

Even though it was her 100 free that has earned Comerford her first taste of international acclaim on relays, it\u2019s still the short course eight-lapper where she feels the most comfortable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve swum the 200 free at every dual meet. I think that\u2019s what helped me\u2014just racing it all the time, being more comfortable with it, knowing my turns, my breakouts, my exits, knowing my breathing pattern,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Comerford now heads into the college championship season with a chance to make her mark in some of the most competitive events on the program. Heading into next week\u2019s ACC championships in Atlanta, Comerford ranks in the top four in the country in both the 100 and 200 free and is sixth in the 500 free.<\/p>\n

But when she gets to the NCAA championships, she will face off against Olympians in all her events: Olympians Simone<\/strong> Manuel<\/strong>, Abbey Weitzeil<\/strong> and Olivia Smoliga<\/strong> in the sprints and superstar Katie Ledecky<\/strong> in the mid-distance.<\/p>\n

Even given how she swam last season and the efforts she put up at the World Championships, Comerford has no illusions that she deserves favorite status given that level of competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re fast, and I\u2019m going to have to go really fast to stay with them,\u201d she said. \u201cThey deserve that attention. Yeah, I was right there last year, but I\u2019ve got work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s impossible to not be impressed with how far Comerford has come over the last 12 months. When she arrived in Greensboro for the ACC championships last February, few aside from hard-core swimming junkies knew her name. She figured to be relay depth for a Louisville squad that would go as far as Worrell would take them.<\/p>\n

But now, the Cardinals rely on Comerford. Sure, senior breaststroker Andrea Cottrell<\/strong> figures to again score some big points at NCAAs, but Comerford has championship final potential in three events and will be the go-to leg on whatever relays she swims on.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a position few could have predicted one year ago, even Comerford herself. But just like she wasn\u2019t satisfied with her swims at Olympic Trials, the status quo in short course won\u2019t be good enough, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to do well, but I don\u2019t think I would ever have imagined myself in this situation a year ago. Last year I had a really, really good training trip. I came off on it on a high and just excited to race,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, it\u2019s different. I\u2019m going those [fast] times, and I\u2019m like, \u2018It\u2019s okay,\u2019 and last year I would have been freaking out. It sets the bar higher.\u201d<\/p>\n

To read more about Comerford and other rookies on the U.S. Short Course World Championships team, check out “An Opportunity of a Lifetime”<\/a> in the February issue of Swimming World Magazine. All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By David Rieder. Preparing for her debut swim at the biggest meet of her life (to that point, anyway), Mallory Comerford stepped up onto the blocks in a key 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