Lilly King Blasts #2, Kierra Smith #5 All-Time 200 Breast at B1Gs

2017 B1G WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, February 15th to Saturday, February 18th | Prelims 11am | Finals 6:30pm
• Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champions: Michigan Wolverines (results)
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Live Stream via Big Ten Network
• Championship Central

Tonight in the nail-bitingly exciting race that we have been waiting for all week, Olympic gold medalist sophomore Lilly King of Indiana and Olympic finalist senior Kierra Smith of Minnesota faced off on the Big Ten Conference Championship stage for the first time in the 200 breast.

And, boy, did they deliver. Though King didn’t quite take down her Big Ten (and NCAA, and American, and U.S. Open, and, heck, Indiana University) record of 2:03.59, she did set new Big Ten meet and Purdue pool records, and, more importantly, put up the second-fastest time in history.

Smith was on her tail the whole time. Though King definitely swam her 200 breast like more of a breaststroke 100 specialist, going out fast with a 27.29 first 50, Smith swam hers with a strong back half, outsplitting King in the final 50: 32.08 to 32.86. You can see a split comparison below:

• Lilly King: 27.29/31.57/32.31/32.86 (2:04.03)
• Kierra Smith: 28.49/31.97/31.83/32.08 (2:04.37)

The two swimmers took the second and fifth fastest swims in history, with Smith bumping down Breeja Larson to become the third-fastest swimmer all-time. You can see the top ten performances in history below:

1. Lilly King: 2:03.59 (2016)
2. Lilly King: 2:04.03 (2017)
3. Emma Reaney: 2:04.06 (2014)
4. Emma Reaney: 2:04.34 (2014)
5. Kierra Smith: 2:04.37 (2017)
6. Breeja Larson: 2:04.48 (2012)
7. Breeja Larson: 2:04.48 (2014)
8. Kierra Smith: 2:04.56 (2015)
9. Rebecca Soni: 2:04.75 (2009)
10. Caitlin Leverenz: 2:04.76 (2012)
11. Breeja Larson: 2:04.92 (2014)