Regan Smith Reflects on NCAA Season: “I really tried hard to be nice to myself”

2022 NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 16-19, 2022
• McAuley Aquatic Center, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia (Eastern Daylight Time)
• Prelims 10AM /Finals 6PM
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Championship Central
• Official Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Video (ESPN3)
• Saturday evening heat sheets

Reported by Anne Lepesant.

WOMEN 200 YARD BUTTERFLY – FINALS

• NCAA Record: 1:49.51 – Ella Eastin, Stanford (2018)
• Meet Record: 1:50.01 – Ella Eastin, Stanford (2018)
• American Record: 1:49.51 – Ella Eastin, Stanford (2018)
• US Open Record: 1:49.51 – Ella Eastin, Stanford (2018)
• Pool Record: 1:50.61 – Kelsi Worrell, Louisville (2016)
• 2021 Champion: Olivia Carter, Michigan – 1:51.33

Podium:

1. Alex Walsh, SO Virginia – 1:50.79
2. Regan Smith, FR Stanford / Olivia Carter, SR Michigan – 1:51.19
3. –
4. Dakota Luther, SR Georgia – 1:51.80
5. Kelly Pash, JR Texas – 1:52.01
6. Rachel Klinker, JR Cal – 1:52.19
7. Emma Sticklen, SO Texas – 1:52.22
8. Olivia Bray, SO Texas – 1:52.31

In one of the most exciting races of the weekend, Virginia sophomore Alex Walsh won the 200 fly in 1:50.79. Texas sophomore Olivia Bray established the pace on the first 50, flipping in 24.36 to lead Walsh by .16. Walsh took over at the 100 with 52.28. Bray was in second place (52.50) and defending champion Olivia Carter of Michigan was third (52.97). Stanford’s Regan Smith was in eighth place (54.14).

Walsh increased her lead at the 150 wall, turning at 1:21.05 with Carter just off her shoulder at 1:21.33. Bray, in third place, was beginning to fade; her third 50 (29.2) was the slowest in the field.

Smith was still in eight place.

Over the next 50 yards, while all eyes were on Walsh and Carter (would Carter catch Walsh?), Smith began to pick off her competitors one by one. She came home in 28.65, fully 1.1 seconds faster than Walsh. While she ran out of pool to catch Walsh, she managed to get her hands to the wall exactly at the same time as Carter, tying for second place with 1:51.19.

Georgia’s Dakota Luther, last year’s third-place finisher, was fourth with 1:51.80. Kelly Pash of Texas went 1:52.01 for fifth, edging Cal’s Rachel Klinker by .18. Klinker’s 1:52.19 puts her third on the Cal all-time list, one ahead of Dana Vollmer.