2017 WOMEN’S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, March 15 – Saturday, March 18
- IUPUI Natatorium – Indianapolis, IN
- Prelims 10AM/Finals 6PM (Eastern Time)
- Defending Champion: Georgia (results)
- Championship Central
- Psych Sheet
- Event Previews
- Live Stream: Wednesday/Thursday Prelims & Finals, Friday/Saturday Prelims / Friday/Saturday finals on ESPN3
- Live Results
How many swimmers can say they successfully ran down Katie Ledecky? Louisville’s Mallory Comerford can. Despite taking it out over half a second slower, Comerford unleashed a monster back half split to tie Ledecky for NCAA gold in the 200 free, as the 2 swimmers touched in 1:40.36.
With the tie, both swimmers demolished the former Pool Record of 1:41.41 done by Stanford’s Simone Manuel on the 800 free relay leadoff at this meet. Manuel had the early lead in tonight’s final, but faded to 3rd in 1:40.70.
Splits Comparison: Mallory Comerford vs. Katie Ledecky vs. Simone Manuel by 50
| Swimmer | 1st 50 Split | 2nd 50 Split | 3rd 50 Split | 4th 50 Split | Final Time |
| Mallory Comerford | 23.95 | 25.51 | 25.37 | 25.53 | 1:40.36 |
| Katie Ledecky | 23.71 | 25.19 | 25.84 | 25.62 | 1:40.36 |
| Simone Manuel (2017) | 23.28 | 25.18 | 25.80 | 26.44 | 1:40.70 |
Splits Comparison: Mallory Comerford vs. Katie Ledecky vs. Simone Manuel by 100
| Swimmer | 1st 100 Split | 2nd 100 Split | Final Time |
| Mallory Comerford | 49.46 | 50.90 | 1:40.36 |
| Katie Ledecky | 48.90 | 51.46 | 1:40.36 |
| Simone Manuel | 48.46 | 52.24 | 1:40.70 |
Comerford and Ledecky are now tied as the 2nd fastest performers in history behind only Missy Franklin, who set the American Record at 1:39.10 at the 2015 NCAA Championship meet.
All Time Top Performers: Women’s 200 Free
- Missy Franklin- 1:39.10
- (T-2) Mallory Comerford– 1:40.36
- (T-2) Katie Ledecky– 1:40.36
- Simone Manuel– 1:40.37
- Allison Schmitt- 1:40.62
L’s up. Great job Mallory
Is there a real time software tool that captures Andrew Mering’s taper analysis for each swimmer/team from his excellent 2017 article on swim tapers? It would be cool for SwimSwam to display this analysis real time at conference NCAA meets. His analysis of over 30,000 women showed women are 1.3% faster at season ending taper meets than their previous best time. The improvement jumps to 3.6% faster when using in-season median time (better baseline that represents typical untested swim).
For example, Ledecky, median in-season 500y free time was 4:34, her Pac-12 time was 4:25 (3.3% drop), her NCAA time was 4:24 (3.7% drop). So Andrew’s estimates are spot on wrt Ledecky’s time drops from untapered to tapered.
Interesting note: If you watch the post race interview with MC & KL, Ledecky is barely breathing noticeably and Comerford is labored.
Three great swims and also reminds how great Missy was in 2015 scy
I think what Commerford did was bust the notion that Ledecky was somehow unbeatable..especially how she beat her! She swam her down..that just opened the mind of every female..” if she can do it..I can do it” an epic swim in more ways than one!..as far as taper? I think Stanford is off..they are grinding through it..Cal is hitting better, but not great.. Ta&m is on the money taper wise..! Auburn is swimming well..USC is way off..Bravo for some great swims!!
Thanks Lauren for good articles always.
It seems that the Stanford team peaked at Pac 12. Many swimmers got PB”s at Pac 12 and didn’t swim as well at NCAA…Drabot, Seely, Voss, Engel, etc. The stars performed but didn’t have a spectacular drops, including Howe, Hu, Manuel, and even Ledecky. Ledecky did drop time to get PB but it seems she swims tired. I am wondering if there is enough rest between Pac 12 and NCAA. On the other hand, Cal did very well I think at NCAA and Pac 12…Osman and Baker stood out.
It’s also interesting to consider KL in a typical college sense. Yes, a normal college female should likely take off a tad more given they are considered a “lock” for NCAA’s but remember it never took a taper for KL to go fast. With more time and age we may see that change but this is a girl that used to go best times in prelims at NCAPS with almost no rest. Her edge is that she’s always fast and with the shape she’s in, a rest might not even really benefit her.
Wasn’t that still a best time for Ledecky though? All this talk about how “Ledecky missed her tapper”, but she’s 2 for 2 in best times. I just think people aren’t used to seeing somebody that close to Katie in the majority of her events. The 200 free has always been a competitive race for her since she’s been on the scene. She’s never dominated the 200 free like she has the longer distance events. She just needs more pool. As a great coach of mine once said, “Distance swimmers are just sprinters who don’t give up”.
It’s all about context. Did you see her after the 3:57 IM in Pac-12? That race crushed her. She looked wobbly when she got out. And she stepped right back on the block after a couple heats of 100 fly and went 1:40.5 (including closing in 25.1). Based on that, with her swimming this even fresh, the expectations were higher.
Did Stanford taper their entire team for Pac-12s? Or miss their taper for NCAAs?
Manuel 200y free
Pac-12: 1:40.37
NCAA: 1:40.70
Ledecky 200y free
Pac-12: 1:40.50
NCAA: 1:40.36
Ledecky 500y free
In-season average: 4:33
Pac-12: 4:25
NCAA: 4:24