Disclaimer: Dolfin 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 Dolfin 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 as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
In February, SwimSwam got a flood of 57 comments on a story about the Arizona-Arizona State dual meet – far more than any dual meet typically garners. There was a heated controversy about racing suits and plenty of predictions of doom and gloom in the post-season for Arizona State, who suited up for the rivalry dual meet.
Junior Emma Nordin won three events in that meet, going 4:41.73 in the 500, 1:44.95 in the 200 free, and 9:37.14 in the 1000 free. At the time, the 200 and 1000 times were season-bests, and the 500 within eight tenths of a second.
But despite the much-discussed fears that Arizona State couldn’t possibly swim fast ever again, having worn racing suits for one day in February, Nordin exploded at the Pac-12 Championships last week, blasting the nation’s best 500 free time and dropping four seconds from her personal best.
Nordin was a blazing 4:33.74 to win the Pac-12 title. That’s the fastest time in the nation this season by nine tenths of a second. It’s within seven tenths of a second of moving into the top 10 performers of all-time in NCAA history in the event. It also sets up Nordin as the top seed heading into this month’s NCAA Championships.
At Pac-12s, Nordin was also second in the 1650, hitting a career-best 15:52.27 and going out in a career-best 9:35.61 at the 1000 mark. She added a second-place 200 free (lifetime-best 1:43.45) to the mix as Arizona State firmly backed up their dominating win over Arizona, besting the Wildcats by 218.5 points for fifth place.
Here’s a look at Nordin’s progression over her college career so far:
| High School | College Freshman | College Sophomore | 2020 Pac-12s (Junior) | |
| 500 free | 4:45.15 | 4:46.47 | 4:37.68 | 4:33.74 |
| 200 free | 1:46.03 | 1:46.18 | 1:44.28 | 1:43.45 |
| 1650 free | 16:21.30 | 16:21.16 | 15:54.83 | 15:52.27 |
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