{"id":524883,"date":"2023-03-17T15:34:38","date_gmt":"2023-03-17T22:34:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=524883"},"modified":"2023-03-17T19:47:22","modified_gmt":"2023-03-18T02:47:22","slug":"ncaa-womens-championships-kate-douglass-rips-american-record-48-46-to-hold-off-mac-neil-huske-in-epic-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ncaa-womens-championships-kate-douglass-rips-american-record-48-46-to-hold-off-mac-neil-huske-in-epic-final\/","title":{"rendered":"Kate Douglass Rips American Record 48.46 – ‘I Was Pretty Shocked’ to Hold off Mac Neil, Huske in Epic Final"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Championships continued with an elite race in the 100 butterfly.<\/p>\n

The race features, the defending champion, the NCAA record holder, the meet record holder, the world champion, the Olympic gold medalist, four Olympians and five national team members.<\/p>\n

It ended in an NCAA and American record.<\/p>\n

Kate Douglass<\/strong> continues her all-out assault on the record books.<\/p>\n

Last year, she became the first swimmer in NCAA history to win national championships in three different strokes that were also three different distances.<\/p>\n

It is difficult to build a legacy more impactful, but this season, Douglass has done it, obliterating records and leading Virginia toward a three-peat.<\/p>\n

With all eyes on a stacked field and no margin for error, Douglass was at her best, soaring to the 100 butterfly title in 48.46, the NCAA and American record by four tenths. She held it at 48.84, set at ACCs.<\/p>\n

This time, she had to beat the Olympic champion, the U.S. Olympic silver medalist and more head-to-head.<\/p>\n

“I think I knew going into the race that I was going to have a good race, and the time was going to be good, honestly I just had no idea who was going to touch first. Anyone in that heat could have touched first,” Douglass said. “I was pretty shocked when I looked at the board. I knew Maggie (Mac Neil)<\/strong> and Torri (Huske)<\/strong> were close to me, and I had a bad finish, so I was definitely shocked to see that I touched first. I was excited to get the points for my team. It was a great race.<\/p>\n

“I wanted to just go for it, send it the first 50 and try to hold on. In training the last three weeks, I built up the confidence that I could finish the 100 fly no matter how bad it hurt, so I wanted to go as fast as I could in the first 50.”<\/p>\n

She has put together pretty dominant turns, starting with her turn to close out the 200 medley relay on the opening night.<\/p>\n

“I struggle with long glides into the wall, so I have a certain kick count and stroke count to stick to. I just hope that I hit the wall correctly,” Douglass said. “I don’t think it has sunk in (how fast we have been).”<\/p>\n

But it has sunk in for those watching the progression the past two years.<\/p>\n

Now, Douglass has the NCAA and American record in the 200 IM and the 100 butterfly and the 200 breast and had the 50 free records until about a month ago.<\/p>\n

The Race Setup<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was one of the most anticipated race of the meet, and it did not disappoint. Maggie Mac Neil<\/b>, the Olympic gold medalist in the 100-meter fly, entered the season as the NCAA-record holder at 48.89, but Virginia’s\u00a0Kate Douglass<\/b>, the American-record holder and NCAA champion in 2022,\u00a0knocked off that mark at the ACC Championships last month. Douglass went 48.84 at ACCs, but only an hour later in real time, Mac Neil responded with a 48.99 at the SEC Championships.<\/p>\n

Then there was\u00a0Torri Huske<\/b>, who dominated the 100-meter fly at the World Championships in 2022. She, too, would be a player, and the same could be said for her Stanford teammate\u00a0Claire Curzan<\/b>, a former American-record holder in yards and a World Championships finalist in the meters event last year. And\u00a0the meet would in fact begin with five swimmers having broken 50 so far this season with Texas’\u00a0Emma Sticklen<\/b>\u00a0also joining the club.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
And prior to the race, the three primary contenders all showed extremely strong form at NCAAs. Douglass won the 200 IM in 1:48.37, crushing the previous all-time best by 1.71 seconds, while Huske crushed her best time to finish second in 1:50.06, the second-fastest time ever. Mac Neil, meanwhile, won the 50 free in 20.79, the quickest time ever in that event.<\/div>\n

That doesn’t even include title contenders \u00a0Claire Curzan <\/strong>and Gabi Albiero –<\/strong>\u00a0the field was stacked.<\/p>\n

The Race<\/strong><\/p>\n

Huske led at the first turn before Douglass and Mac Neil charged ahead at the halfway point.<\/p>\n

Douglass led at the second and third turns and closed to win in 48.46. She was out in 22.48 and back in 25.98.<\/p>\n

Mac Neil was just behind in 48.51, while Huske finished third in 48.96.<\/p>\n

The first two spots broke the record with Huske just off of it, one of the most spectacular races top to bottom in NCAA history.<\/p>\n

Mac Neil was out in 22.56 and back in 25.95. Huske was out in 22.75 and back in 26.21.<\/p>\n

Curzan was fourth in 50.09, followed by Albiero and Sticklen who tied at 50.15 for fifth.<\/p>\n

NC State’s Kylee Alons<\/strong> finished seventh in 50.44 and Ohio State’s Katherine Zenick<\/strong> was eighth in 51.11.<\/p>\n