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Blueseventy Swim of the Week: Simone Manuel and the swim that changes everything

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Disclaimer: BlueSeventy Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week. The BlueSeventy Swim 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 some as others grabbed the headlines.

Last week saw the first big deluge of mid-season college invites, and with them, the first of this season’s NCAA “A” cut swims. (You can find our rapid-fire, three-sentence recaps of 17 of the biggest invites here).

But amidst all the speed happening around the country, one race was on another level entirely.

Stanford freshman Simone Manuel, long considered the top prospect in her class, kicked off college invite season in the biggest way possible, anchoring the Cardinal’s 400 medley relay Thursday night in a 45.81. No, that’s not a typo. You read it right. 45.81. The fastest 100-yard relay split in history and the first female ever to crack the 46-second barrier.

We’ve been trying to put the swim into words for the past 5 days. Loretta Race used ellipses: “Manuel split an out-of-this-world 45.81….let that sink in…Freshman….splitting 45.81″ (from our Day 1 meet recap). Yesterday, I speculated that Manuel had “broken the laws of physics.” Editor-in-chief Braden Keith called her entire meet “one of the greatest sprint performances that we’ve ever seen in yards swimming,” and our Twitter account asked followers to sit down before breaking the 45-second news.

Maybe the best reaction came in the form of fan replies to that tweet. You can read the exchange below, but a couple of swimming fans were originally confused as to why SwimSwam was making such a big deal out of a 45-second split. After all, many guys at the Division I level can break 46. The moment of realization, though, mirrors what we all felt when we actually realized what that swim meant:

Maybe the most accurate part about that exchange? The final line: “That changes everything.”

It’s true that Manuel was far from an under-the-radar swimmer prior to last weekend’s Art Adamson Invite. But even so, that 45.8 relay split is the definition of a game-changer. Manuel goes from a strong NCAA contender to the most dangerous sprinter in the nation by a wide margin. Manuel merely repeating that split at NCAAs would mean the Cardinal is practically un-bury-able in any 400-yard relay – Manuel could potentially erase a lead of a full second or more on anyone, even one of the nation’s other elite sprinters. It sounds like the tagline of a horror movie: If Manuel’s on the blocks… no one is safe!

This changes everything. Suddenly, it looks like merely rating Manuel as a blue-chip talent and #1 prospect in the nation was somehow underrating her abilities. She’s starting to move into that Katie Ledecky territory (in short course, at least), where her times could compete with many of the men her own age. Depending on how she continues to develop, and if we see this same type of explosion in the long course pool, Manuel could shortly be joining Ledecky and Missy Franklin as the American icons of women’s swimming.

Even narrowing our focus from international to just the college scene, Manuel’s performances have huge impacts on the swimming landscape. There’s a long season to go, of course, and nothing is guaranteed at this point. But if all the Cardinal freshman does in the post-season is match her previous season-bests, she’s already one of the best sprinters in the entirety of college swimming history, a likely multi-event NCAA champ and the most-feared relay anchor ever.

And if she finds a way to do more come March than she did last weekend? Then watch out, NCAA, because the game’s about to change again.

About blueseventy

Aptly named to suggest 70% of the earth is covered in water, blueseventy is the world leader in the pool, triathlon and open water wetsuits and swimskins. Since 1993, we design, test, refine and craft products using superior materials and revolutionary details that equate to comfort, freedom from restriction and ultimately a competitive advantage in the water. blueseventy products have instilled confidence in beginners as well as carried world-class athletes to countless Olympic and World victories.

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bobo gigi
9 years ago

45.99 flat start in the next few years. 😎
It will be the swim which will change everything for women.
And Miss Manuel can do it.
Perhaps during her college years or then when she will be a pro.
But I’m pretty sure it will happen one day.
Because she’s amaaaaaaaaaaaazing!

Sven
9 years ago

She’s a clutch relay performer, and pretty sick from a flat start as well. 45.8 is crazy but it only truly has meaning in the U.S. She’s put up some good splits before, but if she keeps improving this way, we may end up seeing some Lezak-esque relay legs out of her in Kazan and Rio.

Now we just have to hope she ages like Dara Torres so we get to keep her on our relays through 2040.

rjcid
9 years ago

“the most-feared relay anchor ever”. If she hits a taper and nips at a 44 high, 45 low, yes. Print this on her plaque, mail it to her and have an actual anchor image on it….

More cowbell!! i mean, Manuel!!

M Palota
9 years ago

I know 45.8 is quick but for your international readers, given that it’s yards, it’s hard to put that swim into perspective. So here goes:

I used the Swimswam conversion tool and converted a 45.81 from scy to scm: 50.84

Very, very impressive, especially allowing for her age and gender. She’s right up there with Sara Sorojetsen and the Dutch girls.

Team Rwanda
Reply to  M Palota
9 years ago

Thank you! Yards are strange and confusing for me . Now I get it. Very impressive indeed!

Luigi
Reply to  M Palota
9 years ago

That’s the worst misspelling of Sarah Sjöström’s name I have ever read! I mean it’s another name altogether.

Just teasing, M Palota 😀

aswimfan
9 years ago

“Manuel could shortly be joining Ledecky and Missy Franklin as the American icons of women’s swimming.”

Whoa.. So much pressure already on Manuel from swimswam. In order to join Ledecky and Franklin status, Manuel will have to break at least one (LCM) WR from now till kazan, and win 50 and 100 free in Kazan.

ArtVanDeLegh10
9 years ago

She is the American Record holder in the 50 and 100 SCY, and she’s about to be in the 100 LCM. She’s been dropping a lot of time the past 3-4 years. Even though it’s really fast, I’m surprised everyone didn’t expect a 45 off a relay.

I would argue the swim that changed everything was Bousquet’s 18.7. On the women’s side, I’m not sure what swim I’d pick.

I feel like this is a bit of an over-exaggeration.

Reply to  ArtVanDeLegh10
9 years ago

Ledeckys mile…

Reply to  ArtVanDeLegh10
9 years ago

And a 44.9 flat start will change everything for women. It will happen in my lifetime. Like a 39.9 men’s swim will.

liquidassets
Reply to  ArtVanDeLegh10
9 years ago

I definitely expected it, but not until March. Setting ARs and fastest relay splits in history before midseason without full taper/rest, along with her consistency in both SCY and LCM, puts her more in the trajectory of a Ledecky/Franklin tier. WR would be harder to come by in the crowded global women’s sprint mix, but she’ll definitely be contending for international medals.

luigi
9 years ago

Ok, I am sold. Where do I sign to get a share? 🙂

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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