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Dean Farris Swims 6th-Fastest 200 Free of All Time at Ivies: 1:31.56

2017 Ivy League Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships

Every time Harvard freshman Dean Farris swims the 200 free he seems to drop another second. He showed what he might be capable of on Wednesday night when he anchored Harvard’s 800 free relay in 1:31.29. On Friday morning he took 1.3 seconds off his previous best flat-start 200 yard free (1:34.01) to erase a 37-year-old Blodgett Pool record (1:34.57) set by Auburn’s Rowdy Gaines at the 1980 NCAA Championships and simultaneously take down the Ivy meet record.

And then he came back in finals and crushed the 200 free records all over again, swimming 1:31.56 to become the top performer of the year so far, and the sixth-fastest of all time. Farris’ swim is .62 faster than Maxime Rooney’s from last weekend’s SEC Championships, and a full second faster than Jack Conger’s leadoff 200 from Texas’ 800 free relay on Wednesday night.

  Farris, Ivies Rooney, SECs Conger, Big12s leadoff
50 21.43 21.41 21.35
100 44.33 (22.90) 44.63 (23.22) 45.05 (23.70)
150 1:07.66 (23.33) 1:08.32 (23.69) 1:08.88 (23.83)
200 1:31.56 (23.90) 1:32.18 (23.86) 1:32.54 (23.66)

Farris has now improved by 4.5 seconds in the 200 free, having come to Harvard with a personal-best 1:36.0. It’s an outstanding trajectory and puts him up there with some of the best swimmers of all time:

  1. 1:30.46 Townley Haas USA Atlanta 03/25/2016
  2. 1:31.20 Simon Burnett GBR Atlanta 03/24/2006
  3. 1:31.31 Ricky Berens USA Austin 03/07/2013
  4. 1:31.51 Joao De Lucca BRA Indianapolis 03/28/2013
  5. 1:31.54 Matias Koski FIN Atlanta 03/25/2016
  6. 1:31.65 Joao De Lucca BRA Knoxville 12/05/2013
  7. 1:31.70 Shaune Fraser College 03/27/2009 Station CAY
  8. 1:31.72 Dave Walters College 03/27/2009 Station r USA
  9. 1:31.73 r Conor Dwyer USA Gainesville 02/16/2011
  10. 1:31.83 Dave Walters USA Austin 12/05/2008

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nuotofan
7 years ago

Absolutely amazing season Dean Farris!
I agree with Bobo that it’s remarkable watching a freshman so strong from a college celebrated… as a college, not as a great swimming college.
Anyway, running over the results, also in Ivy League meet records almost in every races.
Swimming is getting faster and faster everywhere.

bobo gigi
7 years ago

Crazy progression.
I find that pretty cool to see someone improve like that and swim so fast while not coming from always the same US swimming powerhouses like Cal, Stanford, Michigan, Texas, Florida…. Oh sorry, I don’t want to forget NC State. I would be killed.
It’s refreshing.

Uberfan
7 years ago

Why couldn’t Okubo prosper this well in the Ivy Leauges

mcgillrocks
7 years ago

This guy could be real good. We can put him in the picture for the 2020 Olympic team with his times and trajectory. Should be some great Haas Harris duels pretty good.

bobo gigi
Reply to  mcgillrocks
7 years ago

With Rooney, Kibler, Walker….

random fan
7 years ago

Pretty crazy to be relatively quiet coming out of HS to being 6th all time. Very inspiring

random fan
7 years ago

Way to go man!!

korn
7 years ago

about 15 minutes later, he went 45.3 100 back…only 100 breast in between

newswim
7 years ago

Great job eliminating Lennox’s suited record.

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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