Swimming

After Cavalier Invite, Only MacNeil And Marchand Have A Shot At A Perfect Season

February 7, 2023

At the 2023 Cavalier Invite last weekend, Gretchen Walsh finished second in the 200 free to her newly-arrived freshman teammate, Aimee Canny. While Walsh had a formidable swim, dropping 0.51 seconds off her best time to go 1:43.24 and become the fourth-fastest performer in the NCAA this season, her swim also meant that her streak of being unbeaten in individual events this season had ended. With Walsh out of contention for a perfect season, only two swimmers from our original “undefeated swimmers” article (a list of swimmers from top 25 division I programs that had been undefeated until midseasons) are left: Leon Marchand and Maggie MacNeil.

Before I start talking about Marchand and MacNeil, I’d like to take a moment to commemorate Walsh’s incredible run this season. She scored a total of 12 individual wins, with five of them being against her teammate Kate Douglass (who keep in mind, has seen a lot of success on her own considering that she broke the American record twice in one season). In addition, Walsh has also swam a total of nine 21-point 50 freestyles this season, which speaks to her consistency in the event. She just happened to lose an event that she doesn’t typically swim (and nonetheless, still post a super impressive time) to a swimmer who could be the NCAA’s next young 200 free superstar. That being said, with how consistent and impressive Walsh has been, I wouldn’t be surprised if that 200 free race was her only individual loss of the 2022-23 season.

I’d also like to address the omission of Northwestern’s Jasmine Nocentini as an undefeated swimmer. While she was undefeated through midseasons, a shoulder injury has kept her out of competition for the last three months and makes her chances of competing at conferences or NCAAs unlikely—therefore nullifying her prospects of completing a full, perfect season.

So, without further ado, let’s discuss Marchand and MacNeil.

Leon Marchand

Not much has changed since the last time I published an undefeated article—Marchand is still the heavy favorite to win the 200 IM, 400 IM, 200 breast, or whatever he swims at NCAAs (what can’t he swim?), but one should still keep a look on swimmers like Carson Foster, who we haven’t seen compete properly rest at a meet this season. But what last weekend taught us was that “off events” are not a deterrent for Marchand, because he simply seems to win everything he races. At Saturday’s dual meet against Arizona, Marchand posted the fastest 100 back and 500 free times in the country, despite the fact that back was widely considered his “weakest” stroke headed into the meet and that he had never swum a 500-yard free in his life before. If he can even do well in events that he’s seemingly inexperienced in, it seems now that it’s more likely that he’ll go undefeated this season than it is for him to lose a single race.

Every week, Marchand’s video-game versatility becomes more prevalent, and it’s going to take immense effort for him to be stopped.

Leon Marchand, Arizona State (20 wins)

ASU vs. Georgia vs. Missouri: 200 breast (1:57.67), 200 fly (1:43.21), 2o0 IM (1:44.32)
ASU vs. Wisconsin: 200 back (1:42.82), 100 breast (53.16), 400 IM (3:41.59)
ASU vs. USC: 100 breast (52.75), 200 breast (1:53.34), 200 IM (1:42.55)
NC State Invitational: 200 fly (1:39.57), 200 IM (1:39.28), 400 IM (3:33.65)
ASU vs. Stanford: 100 breast (51.15), 200 IM (1:38.89), 200 breast (1:49.16)
ASU vs. Cal: 100 breast (51.01), 200 breast (1:48.82), 400 IM (3:31.84)
ASU vs. Arizona: 100 back (44.77), 500 free (4:07.81)

Maggie MacNeil

I talked a lot about MacNeil’s chances in my previous article, and she hasn’t race since then, so I’ll keep this part short and sweet. She could go undefeated—there’s a chance that she wins the 50 free, 100 fly, and 100 free at NCAAs. However, she also happens to be racing the most competitive events in the NCAA, and fending off names like Gretchen Walsh (who she has never beaten), Claire Curzan, Torri Huske, and Kate Douglass will be extremely difficult. That being said, it’s almost certain that MacNeil will keep her unbeaten streak alive at SECs—there is not a single other swimmer in the conference with times that are within half a second of her PBs in her primary events (50 free, 100 free, 100 fly).

Maggie MacNeil, LSU (19 wins)