Texas A&M sophomore Baylor Nelson successfully defended his 200 IM title on Wednesday night at the SEC Championships, leading the Aggies to a 1-2 finish with teammate Alex Sanchez just behind him. Nelson also won the event last year as a freshman, then went on to swim it at NCAAs, where he placed 7th in the A final.
Known best as an IMer, Nelson nevertheless made the USA World Championships team last summer on a whim, swimming a last-ditch effort at a club meet in Dallas to compete in the 200 free. His gambit paid off: he dropped 2 seconds from his previous best 200m free time to clock a 1:46.51 and make the U.S. team in the 4×200 free relay.
On Tuesday night here in Auburn, Nelson led off the Texas A&M 800 free relay with a lifetime-best 1:32.38. That swim in this morning’s prelims would have easily made the A final in the 200 free individual event. But Nelson is focused on his 400 IM rather than his 200 free. He is hoping to sweep the IMs as he did last year. In 2023, he won the 400 IM by nearly 2 seconds with 3:38.14.