On Thursday, Mallory Comerford led the Louisville women to a narrow victory over Tennessee, 155-145. Comerford, who produced the top time in the nation in the 100, 200 and 500 freestyles earlier this month at the SMU Classic, won the 100 (48.54) and 200 free (1:46.34) here, with Tennessee juniors Stanzi Moseley (50.44) and Tess Cieplucha (1:48.83) placing 2nd in each.
SwimSwam caught up with the 2-time defending NCAA champ in the 200 free and asked her about her experience at nationals and Pan Pacs this summer. Comerford admitted that coming into the 2018 nationals in Irvine as the defending national champion in the 100 freestyle had put some pressure on her shoulders, and she was in a bit of a mental pit by the time she arrived at the meet. However, once she made the Pan Pac team, much of the pressure was lifted, especially since she got to travel to Tokyo with fellow Cardinal teammates Kelsi Dahlia and Zach Harting.
Pan Pacs presented its own set of challenges though, as the quick turnaround from nationals to pan pacs as well as the time change was a hard adjustment for many of the athletes to make. Comerford agreed that it was hard to get excited and energized for finals when in the US at that time the American athletes would normally be in bed, and having only 4 days to make the adjustment didn’t quite feel like enough. However, she explained that the team rallied around each other and gained a lot of experience from the meet, which made it more of a learning opportunity than it would have been if the meet had had less adversity.