SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side.
Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers how many all-time records would go down during conference championship season:
Question: How many NCAA/U.S. Open Records will fall over the next month during Conference Championships?
RESULTS
- 3-4 – 45.7%
- 5+ – 36.5%
- 1-2 – 15.8%
- Zero – 2.0%
We’re just days into the NCAA conference championships, and this poll has already displayed how conservative the expectations of many were in terms of how many record swims would be produced.
Nearly half of voters, 45.7 percent, predicted that we would see 3-4 U.S. Open/NCAA Records during the course of all of the conference meets, and we’ve already seen four (officially).
Gretchen Walsh broke the all-time record in the women’s 50 free (20.83), Kate Douglass took down the mark in the women’s 100 fly (48.84), and the two swimmers joined forces with Alex Walsh and Lexi Cuomo as the Virginia women set a new NCAA Record in the 200 medley relay (1:31.73).
In the 200 free relay, Douglass (20.95), G. Walsh (20.48), Cuomo (21.14) and A. Walsh (21.30) combined to smash the NCAA, American and U.S. Open Record of 1:24.47 they set last season in 1:23.87.
We also saw Gretchen Walsh swim the fastest 50 back time in history leading off that relay (22.65), though Maggie MacNeil (22.52) went quicker shortly thereafter at the SEC Championships for LSU.
Not even factoring in the 50 back, which isn’t an officially kept record, there have already been four U.S. Open Records broken with potentially more to come this weekend—let alone over the next two weeks.
On top of that, we’ve seen some other swims come incredibly close to records:
- Douglass won the women’s 200 IM at ACCs in a time of 1:50.15, just shy of Alex Walsh‘s NCAA, U.S. Open and American Record of 1:50.08 from last year’s NCAAs.
- The Tennessee men’s quartet of Bjoern Kammann (21.07), Michael Houlie (23.03), Jordan Crooks (18.90) and Gui Caribe (18.43) clocked 1:21.43 in the 200 medley relay at SECs, putting them three-tenths shy of Florida’s all-time record of 1:21.13.
- The Florida men’s team of Macguire McDuff (19.09), Josh Liendo (18.02), Adam Chaney (18.26) and Alberto Mestre (18.82) swam to a time of 1:14.19 in the 200 free relay, 11 one-hundredths back of the longstanding NCAA Record of 1:14.08 set by Auburn in 2009.
- Crooks became the second swimmer in history under 18 seconds in the men’s 50 free, clocking 17.93 to fall three-tenths shy of Caeleb Dressel‘s vaunted record of 17.63.
There’s a chance we’ll see more record swims over the next two nights, but it seems like a foregone conclusion there will be more to come over the next couple of weeks, especially at Men’s Pac-12s, where Leon Marchand will be competing.
36.5 percent of voters predicted we’d see five or more records broken during conference meets, which certainly feels as though it’ll be the case.
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks: Which event should Kate Douglass swim on Day 2 of NCAAs?
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The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner.
I know basically nothing about SCY and even I picked 5+. A bunch of the current record holders were swimming faster than ever so that alone suggested a bunch of records would get broken.
voted 200 IM bc then we have two real races to watch, as opposed to a 3 way race in the 50 free and then Alex basically being unchallenged in the IM
Didn’t the w200 free relay fall too?
Correct, updated
I would say there would be at least 5 with relays