Swimming

2024 Women’s Division 1 NCAA Championships: Day 3 Prelims Live Recap

March 22, 2024

2024 WOMEN’S NCAA SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 20-23, 2024
Gabrielsen Natatorium, Athens, Georgia
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Day 2 Prelims Live Recap|Day 2 Finals Recap

DAY 3 PRELIMS HEAT SHEET

Hola, Amigos!!! It’s not only Friday but also ‘Moving Day’. Teams like Texas and Cal will look to make big moves up the leaderboard after yesterday was a quiet day for the two teams. We will get our first look at Texas’s Lydia Jacoby (57.27), who is the defending champion in the 100 breast, who will look to tangle with not only her teammate Anna Elendt (57.51) but Mona McSharry (56.87) and Kaitlyn Dobler (56.99), who enter as the top seeds, with entry times under Jacoby’s winning time from last year.

In the 400 IM, 100 Fly, and 200 Free, we will see a trio of winners from last night as the top seeds. Leading the charge is Virginia’s Alex Walsh (4:00.52) , the 200 IM winner. Her time of 1:49.20 made her the second swimmer ever to swim under 1:50, behind only her former teammate Kate Douglass. Looking to play spoiler to A. Walsh is Emma Weyant (4:01.20) and Caroline Bricker (4:02.32), both of whom are seeded within two seconds of Walsh but will have to have the perfect swim to overtake last year’s champ.

Nobody is seeded within two seconds of Gretchen Walsh (48.25) in the 100 fly, an absolutely brilliant fact, but not entirely that surprising as Walsh set the NCAA record at ACCs. Every time G. Walsh has started a race here at NCAAs, she has walked away with a new everything record, a streak she kept alive yesterday, swimming all-time best marks in the 50 free twice. Behind Walsh, and playing out like a microcosm of the team race are a group of swimmers eager to get Texas back on track.

Texas hasn’t performed exceptionally well but was buoyed by advancing two divers into the A-final. Looking to move on and up are Emma Sticklen (50.36), Kelly Pash (50.37), and Olivia Bray (50.47), who enter as the 2nd-4th seeds and will love to make Moving Day a success for the Longhorns. Trying to throw a wrench in those plans is Florida’s Olivia Peoples. The SEC champ enters tied with Bray as the #4 seed (50.47) and may have an advantage over the Longhorns as she raced butterfly last night. Yes, last night, Peoples opted to swim fly instead of free on the 200 Free Relay.

Peoples is the only Gator ranked in the top 24 of the 100 fly, but the Gators will be expected to fight back against Texas 100 fly strength with their own in the 200 free. Leading the way and the third of our event winners from last night is freshman Bella Sims. Last night, Sims swam 4:32.47 to win her first NCAA individual title and go 1-2 with teammate Weyant. In the 200, Sims, the top seed (1:40.90), will look to team up with Isabel Ivey (1:41.85) to repeat the feat. Standing between them in the seedings is USC’s Minna Abraham (1:41.85), but the biggest threat to Gator Freestyle dominance is maybe Indiana’s Anna Peplowski, who finished 3rd last night in the 500 and set a new personal best of 1:41.16 leading off Indiana’s 800 free relay.

Finishing off the morning, we will get our first look at Katharine Berkoff‘s backstroke. The NC State senior (48.70), will look to help NC State jump up the rankings after a relay DQ on night 1. In contention to join her in the A-final is teammate Kennedy Noble (50.79), but she currently sits in the unenviable 8th position. Like Berkoff, Cal’s Isabelle Stadden, the #2 seed (50.26), will look to right the course for her team as they suffered a Relay DQ last night. After a 3rd place finish in the 200 IM, Tennessee, Josephine Fuller (#4 – 50.59) will look to continue her success and gain valuable second swims for the Lady Vols.