LSU’s Brooks Curry Splits 18.14 on 200 Medley Relay Anchor

2022 SEC SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, February 15 – Saturday, February 19, 2022
• Jones Aquatics Center, Knoxville, Tenn. (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: Men- Florida (9x)
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LSU junior Brooks Curry threw down an 18.14 split on he anchor leg of the Tigers’ 200 medley relay on Tuesday to open up the SEC Championships. That ties as the 19th-best split in history and as the 9th-best performer. Six out of the top 10 swimmers on that list are from SEC schools.

All-Time Fastest 50 Yard Freestylers on a Relay Split (Performers)

1. Caeleb Dressel, Florida, 2018 NCAAs – 17.30
2. Vlad Morozov, USC, 2013 NCAAs – 17.86
3. Kristian Gkolomeev, Alabama, 2016 NCAAs – 18.00
4. Ryan Hoffer, Cal, 2021 NCAAs – 18.06
5. Matt Targett, Auburn, 2009 SECs/Robert Howard, Alabama, 2019 SECs – 18.10
6. (TIE)
7. Nathan Adrian, Cal, 2011 NCAAs/Ryan Held, NC State, 2017 NCAAs – 18.13
8. (TIE)
9. Kyle Decoursey, Tennessee, 2018 SECs/Brooks Curry, LSU, 2022 SECs – 18.14
10. (TIE)

Curry’s reaction time was .16 seconds – fast, but not dangerously fast.

The LSU relay finished 6th in 1:24.79, which also breaks the LSU School Record of 1:24.87 that was set in 2017.

Most of Curry’s big success has been in the 100 free. His coming-out party came as a freshman when he won a surprise SEC Championship in the 100 free. Then last summer, he won an Olympic gold medal by swimming a finals leg of the American 400 free relay.

But social media posts at LSU have indicated that Curry has been putting a lot of focus on the 50 free this season, and that result showed in his split on Tuesday.

Last season, Curry finished 7th in the 100 free, 6th in the 200 free, and 10th in the 50 free at the NCAA Championships. At SECs, his best relay split was an 18.83 to anchor the 200 medley relay.

LSU has a new coaching staff this season. Rick Bishop was brought in to replace Dave Geyer as head coach at the beginning of the season, and then Curry’s primary sprint coach Steve Mellor left the program in October.

So far, Curry hasn’t missed a beat, and arguably has accelerated his progress after the coaching change. His first individual event will be the 50 free on Wednesday, followed by the 200 free on Thursday. That will be the next big data point – how much, if anything, he’s had to sacrifice from his 200 to improve his 50.