2014 Swammy Awards: Female NCAA Swimmer Of The Year Brittany MacLean

 To see all of the 2014 Swammy Award winners, presented by TYR, click here.

2014 HONOREE: BRITTANY MACLEAN

NCAA Swimming has always had a rich history of fast swimming with some of the world’s best athletes competing in the American college system. Last year saw a very fast year for women’s swimming with a large number of Olympians competing, among them was Canadian freestyle star Brittany MacLean.

MacLean, now in her JR year at Georgia was undoubtedly one of the top swimmers in the NCAA last season. She ended the season at the top of the rankings in the 500, 1000, and 1650 freestyles where she set new NCAA records at the championship meet in March. She also aided Georgia’s 4×200 freestyle relay and had an excellent fourth place finish in the 200 freestyle.

In total, she produced a wicked amount of points to help her team earn the top spot and repeat as the NCAA Champions.

Her 2014 year began with a few tough dual meets against other SEC schools leading up to the SEC Championships which would take place in late February.

In the first meet of 2014, a dual meet with NC State, MacLean took home a gold in the 200 free with a 1:49.81 and a silver in the 500 free with a 4:51.41. Next week the team took a road-trip to Texas to face off against the A&M women and then the Longhorns.

At the dual with the Aggies MacLean was a lot more impressive than she was the week before with a 1:47.61 200 free, a 4:46.54 in the 500, a 9:40.18 in the 1000, and a 49.66 relay split anchoring the 4×100 free relay. Against the Longhorns the next day MacLean was a bit slower, but added the 1650 to her program where she went a 16:23.61.

A little ways down the road MacLean raced against Tennessee in late January where she was a 1:46.93 in the 200 free, a 4:46.67 in the 500 free, and a 9:36.85 in the 1000 free. She raced one more time between then and the SEC Championships at a dual meet against Alabama where the Georgia sophomore went a 9:53.81 in the 1000.

Come time for the conference championships MacLean was swimming extremely fast and demonstrated just that as the took home three golds and a bronze.

On the first night, MacLean rocked the anchor leg on the winning 4×200 freestyle relay. Her split of 1:43.09 was the second fastest of the bunch and helped her team drop a 6:53.04 to finish just 0.4 seconds shy of the American, US Open, and NCAA record in the event.

The following day MacLean finished first in the 500 free with a very swift 4:34.63 to set a new SEC record. She had a very tough battle with Shannon Vreeland who was also under the previous record of 4:34.87, but was able to pull through with a very strong back-half to take home the gold.

Her 200 freestyle was a 1:43.88, a slower performance than on the relay even when putting the flying start into consideration. MacLean earned herself a bronze medal with that time.

In the 1650 it was all about her as she threw down a 15:40.77 to break another SEC record and take home the gold medal. At this point after performances like she had it was clear that she would be one of the toughest competitors in the freestyle events at the NCAA Championships. She also helped put Georgia in a good position going into the meet considering that they were entering as the new 2014 SEC Champions.

The NCAA Championships proved to be a demolition derby for MacLean as she faced-off against fierce competition with her back against the wall and came out swinging.

One of her best races of the meet -if not the best race- came on day one where she faced off against a tough field in the 500 freestyle. At the 200 yard mark MacLean, Amber McDermott, and Missy Franklin all turned together with 1:48s. At the 300 yard mark they were so tightly bunched that it was almost impossible to see who was in the lead, however it was McDermott who turned in 2:44.20 followed by both MacLean and Franklin in 2:44.25. At the 400 they were still closely bunched together with Franklin taking the slight lead and McDermott falling back to third behind MacLean. With 50 to go Franklin had about a half-second on MacLean who had three-tenths of a second on McDermott, but MacLean managed to find another gear. She absolutely ripped it coming home, passing Franklin in order to touch first in a new NCAA record of 4:32.53. On the last 50 she was a 25.81, over a second faster than anyone else split on the last length.

That win proved to be a huge one for MacLean. The following day she earned more points for her team as she took home a fourth place finish in the 200 freestyle with a 1:43.30. That time was just over half-a-second faster than what she went at the SEC Championships in February.

Following the 200 freestyle she had the 800 freestyle relay where she anchored the team with a 1:42.66 split. She hopped in with Georgia in the lead ahead of Cal, however Missy Franklin came back with a vengeance and passed her to give the win to Cal. Georgia finished second in 6:55.09.

On the third and final day MacLean stepped up on the blocks one more time for the 1650 freestyle. She took absolute control of the race over teammate Amber McDermott and ended up taking the gold in a new NCAA record of 15:27.84. On her way to gold in the 1650, she also broke the previous NCAA record in the 1000 with a split of 9:23.78 on her feet.

MacLean was named the NCAA swimmer of the year and SEC swimmer of the year at the end of the 2013-2014 season.

Following her college success, MacLean represented Canada internationally throughout the summer until it was back to Athens, Georgia to begin the 2014-2014 season. Without any major college meets appearing in the first half of the 2014-2015 season, MacLean’s biggest swims were at the Georgia Invite. There she swam a 1:45.53 200 free, a 4:36.42 500 free, and a 15:51.73 1650 free to prove that she’s in great shape and still one of the toughest swimmers in the college swimming spectrum. She’s also been a 9:43.04 in the 1000 free which she swam in North Carolina.

Her 2014 year ended with amazing results at the major championship events which included multiple wins, SEC records, and NCAA records. There’s no doubt that MacLean’s willingness to compete against top-level competitors and drive to win are two of the main factors that will help the Georgia team try again to top the charts at this year’s NCAA Championships. Her absolute domination of the distance freestyles along with her dedication to the team are two factors that make her one of the most valuable swimmers in the NCAA at the current time, and our pick for the 2014 female NCAA swimmer of the year.

MacLean was also awarded the Swammy award for Canadian Female Swimmer of the Year.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

• Maya DiRado – Maya DiRado had an incredible NCAA Championships in 2014 earning herself four golds, a silver, and a bronze. She won both IMs: the 200 in 1:52.50 and the 400 in 3:58.12. In the 200 fly she took second. She was a staple on the Stanford relays as well taking home a gold with the 400 free and 400 medley relays as well as a bronze in the 800 free relay.
• Simone Manuel – Simone Manuel is a freshman this season having never competed at an NCAA Championships or even a conference championships, however she is already making waves in the college scene. She’s already broken American records, age-group records, and in arguably her best performance dipped under 46 seconds on a 100 freestyle relay split. Manuel’s talents are clear and she deserves to be an honorable mention for the success she’s already had in her short time in the NCAA.
• Emma Reaney – Emma Reaney swam extremely well last season with the highlight being her American record in the 200 breaststroke. She first broke Breeja Larson’s record in February with a 2:04.34 and backed up that performance with an NCAA victory and American record of 2:04.06.