2023-24 NCAA Recap, Week 3: Who’s Going to Swim This Season’s First Sub-19 50 Free?

Welcome to week three of our 2023-24 NCAA weekly recaps! Each week in these recaps, we take a look at some of the highlights from around the NCAA, do some deep dives, discuss any trends we’re seeing, etcetera. This week, we’re talking about the men’s 50 freestyle, news from the mid-majors, checking in on Leon Marchand, and wrapping up the SMU Classic.

Who’s Going to Be This Season’s First Sub-19 50 Freestyle?

One of the topics on this week’s SwimSwam Breakdown is if this is the fastest October the NCAA has ever seen. In a lot of events, it feels like it–especially in the men’s 50 freestyle. This is an event that we’ve seen get much faster in the last couple seasons, and that trend seems to be continuing in the early weeks of this season.

Jack Dolan (photo: Jack Spitser)

At this point last season, only 12 men had broken 20 seconds. All of them were Division I swimmers and the fastest time was Bjorn Seeliger‘s 19.29. After the midseason invitations, a record seven men had been sub-19 seconds in the event.

This season, Jack Dolan leads the way with a 19.04 from leading off ASU’s 200 free relay in their dual versus UNLV last weekend. 18 men have been sub-20 seconds, including three from Division II. Six of those times came from the SMU Classic.

Auburn sophomore Kalle Makinen won the individual event in 19.66, tying for 6th in the NCAA this season. Dalton Lowe (19.70), Artem Selin (19.81), Will Modglin (19.82), Matias Santiso (19.97), and Nate Stoffle (19.98) all got under the mark as well.

So, with all this in mind, who’s actually going to be the first to dip under 19 seconds this season? Dolan’s 19.04 makes him a strong candidate, but one of the remarkable things about this season’s early speed is that a lot of the NCAA’s biggest names in sprinting haven’t raced the event yet. NCAA champion Jordan Crooks hasn’t logged a 50 free time yet this season, though he did scorch 16.99 with fins at an unscored dual vs. UNCW. 

In fact, Dolan is the only returning 2023 NCAA ‘A’ finalist who’s notched an official NCAA time in the event this season. Josh Liendo, Bjorn Seeliger, and Jack Alexy all open their dual meet schedule this coming weekend. Youssef Ramadan has missed three meets with a fractured wrist.

The first sub-19 could come this weekend from Liendo, Alexy, or Seeliger. Maybe it will happen tomorrow, when Tennessee races Louisville. Perhaps the more appropriate question is actually how many sub-19s are we going to see by midseason? It certainly seems like the swimmers are on track to break the record.

Mid-Major Noise

This past week saw some big swims from both new and returning mid-major swimmers . First, at the Battle of the Bur II, Howard freshman Chanice Posada, junior Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson, sophomore Zuzu Nwaeze, and senior Isabella Fountain got the “party with a purpose” against Georgetown started with a bang. The Howard squad won the opening 200 medley relay in 1:43.69, erasing the previous program record of 1:43.94 from last season’s Northeast Conference (NEC) Championships.

courtesy Howard Athletics

Tulane’s Canadian freshman Victoria Raymond set two school records in two days at their meet against University of Northern Florida and Little Rock. Coming off swimming at World Juniors, Raymond broke Tulane’s 100 fly program record with a 53.51. She picked up right where she left off on Day 2, clocking 1:58.25 in the 200 fly for another program record.

Both the Navy men and women lost to Penn State over the weekend. However, the women’s breaststroke results were a positive sign for the Patriot League powerhouse in the early part of their season. The 100 breaststroke was the Mids best event at the meet, as they went 1-2-3. Walsh won the race in 1:04.94, while her teammates Theresa Milio came in 2nd with a 1:05.14, and Riley Gavigan finished 3rd in 1:05.26. She’s now 10th in the NCAA in the 200 fly, and 11th in the 100.

Walsh finished 2nd at the 2023 Patriot League Championships in 1:01.50 as a freshman, and Gavignan took 3rd just seven-hundredths behind. In total, they put four swimmers into the ‘A’ final, and these early season results position them to again have the best breaststroke group in the Patriot League, and one of the best in the mid-majors.

Then, there’s Jack Hoagland, who seems to have handled the transition from Notre Dame to SMU well. At the SMU Classic, Hoagland went a 1:35.85 200 free, 4:19.60 500 free, and 3:45.39 400 IM. The latter two are particularly promising signs for him, as they both rank 3rd in the NCAA so far this season.

Also for the Mustangs, Russell Exum notched a personal best in the 200 fly (1:48.60).

Leon Marchand Is At It Again

Leon Marchand (photo: Jack Spitser)

One of the major men’s storylines we picked out was this question: what’s left for Leon Marchand to achieve in the NCAA. At ASU’s meet vs. UNLV, he continued to showcase his versatility, hitting 1:39.64/1:39.65/3:37.96 in the 200 back/200 fly/400 IM. The 200 back time is a new personal best for him. At one point in February 2023, Marchand held a nation leading time in seven different events and now he’s already at five.

In the storylines article, we wondered whether he would take on a different NCAA event lineup than he’s done in the past. With ASU vying for a national title the answer is probably “no” because it’s hard to turn down the 60 points that Marchand swimming the 200 breast/200 IM/400 IM gives the Sun Devils. However, his times here certainly make us wonder what a fully-tapered Marchand could go in the 200 back or 200 fly.

Also, he’s still undefeated.

Notes From the SMU Classic

• USC turned heads at the meet. International recruits Minna Abraham and Vasalissa Buinaia impressed, as Abraham went 1:43.53 in the 200 free and Buinaia swam 47.67 in the 100 free. Also on the women’s side, returners Kaitlyn Dobler and Justina Kozan had some stellar October swims, including a 57.35 in the 100 breaststroke from Dobler. Kozan went 4:07.60 in the 400 IM, faster than she was all last season. For the men,  Krzysztof Chmielewski also swam well in their USC debut. He won both the 500 free (4:15.18) and 200 fly (1:41.60).
• Mizzou’s Taylor Williams won the 200 fly in 1:56.65, a personal best by 1.52 seconds. It’s a breakthrough swim for Williams and would have put her in the ‘B’ final of 2023 SECs.
• The Louisville women’s sprint crew was out in force. They now own the top three times in the NCAA in the 50 free, and three of the top four in the 100 free. Gabi Albiero leads the way in both with 21.75/47.67. In the 50 free, it’s Julia Dennis in 2nd (22.26) and Christina Regenauer (22.33). Regenauer swam 48.24 in the 100 free, and Lucy Mehraban is sitting 4th with a 48.92 from leading off the relay.