Women’s 200 Meter Backstroke – US Nationals Preview – Missy Franklin Will Be Defending Her National Title

WOMEN’S 200 METER BACKSTROKE – US NATIONALS PREVIEW

• Day 2, Thursday, August 7th
• Defending national champ: Missy Franklin, 2:05.68
• Defending U.S. Open champ: Sarah Denninghoff, 2:09.14
• Time to make the 2013 US National Team (#6 Nationally at selection meets): 2:10.23 – Kathleen Baker

Day 2 will be a busy day for Missy Franklin, but that shouldn’t phase the world record holder in this event. The first event that day is the 200 freestyle. Missy had a strong collegiate season at California, where she focused a lot of her training on her freestyles. At the 2014 NCAA Championships, she pushed the 200 yard freestyle American Record to new heights, touching with a time of 1:40.13.

The 200 free/200 back double on day 2 may be a factor for swimmers at Nationals this year. Let’s take a look at Megan Romano, for example. Romano has been a huge asset for the American National Team over the past few years. She is a great freestyler with killer relay instincts and she has a strong backstroke. She held the previous 200 yard freestyle American record before it was broken by Missy Franklin. With this event line up on day 2, she will most likely be focusing on the 200 freestyle, even though she has a serious shot at qualifying in the 200 backstroke as well.

As hard as that double can be, Missy Franklin shouldn’t have a problem. She has been two seconds faster in the 200 backstroke than any other American swimmer has even been, and if anyone has proved they can handle tough doubles like a champ, it’s Missy.

Missy’s Cal teammate, Liz Pelton is our favorite to finish second in this event at Nationals this year. She has the third fastest time from an American this year in this event and is very powerful over a 200 backstroke. She is currently the American Record holder of the 200 yard backstroke after winning the 2013 NCAA championships with a 1:47.84. She will be trying for her fourth World Championship team after qualifying in 2009, 2011, and 2013. Last year, Missy Franklin and Liz Pelton posted the fastest two times in the world at the 2013 World Championship Trials.

Elizabeth Beisel is one of the swimmers I am most excited to watch at Nationals this year. The Santa Clara Grand Prix was arguably her best in-season meet ever. She won the 200 backstroke at that meet with the fastest time from an American this year at 2:09.11. At the time, it was the 6th fastest swim in the world, and is currently ranked 7th in the world this year. On the same night, she also had the 4th fastest 400 IM in the world. I expect Beisel to finish just behind Missy Franklin and Liz Pelton. She just finished her senior season at the University of Florida and recently signed her first endorsement deal with Speedo. She is no stranger to international competition. She first qualified for the world championship team in the 200 back in 2007. Since then, she has been on both Olympic teams and has competed at four World Championships.

Kylie Stewart from Dynamo Swim Club had some big swims last year, dipping down to 2:09.04 at the 2013 Junior National Championships. She will be headed to swim for the University of Georgia in the fall, and is expected to make a huge impact right away. This year she has already been within two seconds of her lifetime best time with a 2:11.18 at the Santa Clara Grand Prix. She had been stuck at 2:12 for a few years, but finally dropped to 2:09.99 in the 2012, and then 2:09.04 last summer. Another drop similar to the ones we have seen in the previous two years would set her up to finish well at Nationals.

Maya DiRado has the slowest life-time best time out of anyone on our top 8 list, but that is slightly misleading. Her fastest time came from May of 2013 at the Speedo Grand Challenge. She was supposed to swim the 200 backstroke at nationals last summer and then opted out after making the World Championship team in the 200 butterfly. Her 2:11.95 best time is more of an in-season best time rather than a tapered best time. She should be able to dip under 2:10 and finish well if she chooses to swim this event in Irvine.

Our next pick may catch a few people by surprise, but 15 year old Erin Earley from the Hopkins Mariner Swim Team in Connecticut is one of our championship finalist picks this summer.  Earley has the fifth fastest time in the country this year at 2:10.95. That swim came from the Central Zone Speedo Sectional Championships at the end of March in Indianapolis. When we were scrolling through results, we originally believed it was a timing error, as her splits were all over the place. After talking to her coach as well as other coaches at the meet, we know she is the real deal. Check out her splits below:

• 31.34
• 33.02 – 1:04.36
• 33.53 – 1:37.89
• 33.06 – 2:10.95

Earley has found a ton of speed over the last two years. In 2012, she was a 2:22. In 2013, she dropped 8 seconds to improve to a 2:14.23. This year she has already been 2:10. Normally I would look over a swimmer that has already posted best times this season, but this swim was from March. She has had several months of training to prepare for Nationals. On July 10th, she was 2:13.88, which would indicate that she is ready to drop again in Irvine. Her coach told us they will be going to Junior Nationals and then staying the next week for this race at Nationals. Their goal has been for her to make Jr. Pan Pac’s, but with the times she has been producing, I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up earning a spot on the actual Pan Pacs’s roster.

Clara Smiddy is our seventh pick for nationals. If she is swimming, we expect her to finish well after posting a best time of 2:10.69 last year at Junior Natioanls. She has been consistent all year, with a season best time of 2:12.53. She has had seven swims between 2:12 and 2:14. USA Swimming couldn’t tell us if she will be swimming this event or not, but they did confirm that the Youth Olympic Team is not leaving for China until after Nationals.

Kendyl Stewart dropped more than a second last year to improve to 2:10.22 at the 2013 World Championship Trials. She just finished her sophomore season at USC and she represented team USA at the 2013 Duel in The Pool. Kendyl Stewart was also on the 2011 Junior World Championships team, where she finished 6th.

A couple more names to watch for: Arizona’s Bonnie Brandon, SwimMAC’s Kathleen Baker and Texas’s Sarah Denninghoff were all A-finalists last summer. Denninghoff took the year off of college swimming but is back competing this summer. She won the U.S. Open last year. Baker, meanwhile is a returning national teamer after a strong summer of 2013. 17-year-old Hannah Moore holds the 4th-fastest American time of the year after a big performance last weekend at Speedo Sectionals.

My Picks:

1. Missy Frankin, California (2:04.06 World Record – 2012 Olympic Games)
2. Liz Pelton, California (2:06.29 – 2013 World Championship Trials)
3. Elizabeth Beisel, Florida (2:06.18 – 2012 Olympic Games)
4. Kylie Stewart, Dynamo Swim Club (2:09.04 – 2013 Junior Nationals)
5. Maya DiRado, Stanford (2:11.95 – 2014 Speedo Grand Challenge)
6. Erin Earley, Hopkins Mariner Swim Team (2:10.95 – 2014 IN Central Zone Speedo Sectionals)
7. Clara Smiddy, AquaKids Sharks Swim Team (2:10.69 – 2013 Junior National Championships)
8. Kendyl Stewart, USC ( 2:10.22 – 2013 World Championship Trials)

Note: Athletes are listed under the college/club that, to the best of our knowledge, they’re currently training with.