{"id":525049,"date":"2023-03-18T08:22:50","date_gmt":"2023-03-18T15:22:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=525049"},"modified":"2023-03-18T08:40:04","modified_gmt":"2023-03-18T15:40:04","slug":"ncaa-womens-championships-kate-douglass-ties-fourth-fastest-time-ever-in-200-breaststroke-prelims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ncaa-womens-championships-kate-douglass-ties-fourth-fastest-time-ever-in-200-breaststroke-prelims\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA Women’s Championships: Kate Douglass Ties Fourth-Fastest Time Ever in 200 Breaststroke Prelims"},"content":{"rendered":"

NCAA Women’s Championships: Kate Douglass Ties Fourth-Fastest Time Ever in 200 Breaststroke Prelims<\/strong><\/p>\n

In two previous individual events at the NCAA Women’s Championships, Kate Douglass<\/strong> has recorded the fastest time in history to defeat loaded fields. After beating the previous American and NCAA records in the 200 IM by 1.71 seconds in the 200 IM<\/a> while dominating\u00a0Torri Huske<\/strong> and\u00a0Alex Walsh<\/strong>, Douglass beat Maggie Mac Neil<\/strong> and Huske in a highly-anticipated 100 butterfly showdown<\/a>. But in the 200 breaststroke, Douglass entered as an overwhelming favorite, seeded almost three seconds clear of the field having already broken the American and NCAA records twice this season.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Indeed, Douglass made quick work of her heat in prelims Saturday morning. Her 100-yard split of 58.94 was more than two seconds clear of anyone else in the heat and a second faster than any other swimmer in the field. She had the luxury of cruising to the finish, but she still checked in with a time of 2:02.60. That mark is tied for the fourth-fastest time in history, with only Douglass having posted quicker marks (at the Cavalier Invitational last month, the Tennessee Invitational in November and at last year’s NCAA Championships). Douglass tied\u00a0Lilly King’s<\/strong> best time, which was the American and NCAA record for four years until Douglass broke it last year.<\/p>\n

Douglass is the only swimmer to have captured two individual titles so far this week, and with no one within three seconds in the prelims, the 21-year-old originally from Pelham, N.Y., is a virtual lock to clinch NCAA Swimmer of the Year honors for the second consecutive year.<\/p>\n

Virginia’s\u00a0Ella Nelson<\/strong>, who placed second to\u00a0Walsh in the 400 IM Friday evening<\/a>, pulled comfortably ahead of her heat on the second 50 and cruised to the win in 2:05.72. After the impressive result in the medley, Nelson said, “The 200 breast has always been my comfort event, I would say. I\u2019ve been working on a more speedy breaststroke. I usually am the one to be pretty behind at the 100, and then I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh shoot, I\u2019ve got to go,\u2019 and then I start spinning. I have been working on a new breaststroke that\u2019s more poppy.”<\/p>\n

Nelson only entered the event as the ninth seed after she was disqualified for a false start at the ACC Championships last month, but she will be definitely in the running for a top-three result at night.<\/p>\n

Behind Nelson in that heat, Indiana’s Noelle Peplowski<\/strong> touched out Tennessee’s\u00a0Mona McSharry<\/strong> for second place, 2:06.35 to 2:06.39, and those times ended up third and fourth overall, respectively. In the remaining circle-seeded heat, Texas’\u00a0Anna Elendt\u00a0<\/strong>held off USC’s\u00a0Isabelle Odgers<\/strong> on the final length. Elendt qualified fifth for the final in 2:06.64, followed by Odgers in 2:06.92.<\/p>\n

Virginia’s\u00a0Anna Keating<\/strong> (2:06.92) and Duke’s\u00a0Kaelyn Gridley<\/strong> (2:07.12) were the last two qualifiers into the A-final, with Gridley finishing marginally ahead of teammate\u00a0Sarah Foley<\/strong> (2:07.43) for the last spot in the A-final.<\/p>\n

Notably, Texas’ Lydia Jacoby<\/strong> finished 10th in 2:07.58 to miss the top heat. Jacoby was the winner in the 100 breast Friday night, but she touched more than three seconds behind her remarkable 2:04.32 from last month’s Big 12 Championships. Texas will still have two scorers in the event but only Elendt capable of scoring A-final points.<\/p>\n