Breeja Larson Breaks NCAA, U.S. Open, American Records in 100 Breaststroke

For the second-straight year, Texas A&M’s Breeja Larson has broken the NCAA, American, and U.S. Open Records in the 100 yard breaststroke at the 2014 SEC Championships.

Larson swam a 57.24, which bettered the 57.43 that she swam at last year’s meet. She now holds the three fastest times in history, with the 57.25, the 57.43 from last year’s SEC meet, and the 57.53 from last year’s mid-season invite in Houston.

Splits for all three swims:

SEC ’14: 27.00 – 30.28 = 57.28
SEC ’13: 27.37 – 30.06 = 57.43
Hansel ’12: 36.75 – 30.97 = 57.53

For how few strokes Larson takes, and the level that she’s at, her breaking these records comes down to repeatability of her stroke: can she time things just right so that she hits her turns and her finishes with consistency.

She was a full second faster than runner-up Molly Hannis from Tennessee (58.22), and that’s with Hannis swimming the 15th-best time in history, and hitting exactly the same number that she went in chasing Breeja at last year’s SEC Championship meet.

Our full meet recap is available here.