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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
Davidson College sophomore Dylan Felt had a historic swim on Thursday night at the Atlantic-10 Championships, setting a new standard for the conference in the men’s 500 freestyle.
Felt, 19, blasted a time of 4:16.58 in the final, obliterating the A-10 Record of 4:19.21 established by George Washington’s Moritz Fath at the 2019 conference championships.
Felt also cracked the 4:20 barrier for the first time, having come in with a lifetime best of 4:20.02, set en route to winning the A-10 title as a freshman last season. He showed he was on good form when he nearly took out his PB in the prelims in 4:20.59.
Split Comparison
After closing strong last year and opening up quickly in the prelims on Thursday, Felt managed to do both in the final.
| Felt, 2023 Final | Felt, 2024 Prelims | Felt, 2024 Final |
| 49.90 | 48.29 | 48.33 |
| 1:43.12 (53.22) | 1:40.39 (52.10) | 1:40.19 (51.86) |
| 2:36.34 (53.22) | 2:33.58 (53.19) | 2:32.27 (52.08) |
| 3:29.55 (53.21) | 3:27.22 (53.64) | 3:24.65 (52.38) |
| 4:20.02 (50.47) | 4:20.59 (53.37) | 4:16.58 (51.93) |
Not including this week’s slate of meets, Felt’s time ranks 2nd among mid-major swimmers in the NCAA this season, only trailing SMU’s Jack Hoagland.
Felt was named the A-10’s Most Outstanding Performer last year after adding a win in the 1650 free and a runner-up finish in the 200 free.
Before winning the 500 free on Thursday by five seconds, Felt anchored Davidson’s 800 free relay with a sizzling 1:32.22 split on the opening night of racing, launching the team past St. Bonaventure and into 3rd place after they trailed the Bonnies by six and a half seconds when he dove in.
In this morning’s prelims of the 200 free, Felt set a new best time of 1:34.61 in the 200 free, taking down the 1:35.11 marker he established earlier this month.
In the 200 free final, Felt will go head-to-head with George Washington’s Toni Dragoja, who set a new conference record on the lead-off leg of GW’s 800 free relay in 1:33.35.
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Those splits on his previous best in the 5 are insane