NCAA Runner-Up Sarah Gibson Swims Lifetime Best in 100 LCM Fly

Texas Senior Circuit Long Course Meet #2

• June 8th-10th, 2016
• College Station, Texas (Texas A&M University)
• Live results available on Meet Mobile, search “Texas Senior Circuit Long Course Meet #2” or simply “College Station.”

Texas A&M senior-to-be Sarah Gibson, who was one of the breakout swimmers of last year’s NCAA season, has swum a lifetime best in the 100 long course meter fly on Friday at the Texas Senior Circuit meet in her home pool. She swam a 58.47 on Friday night at the prelims-finals meet designed to offer more racing opportunities for sectionals-level swimmers. Her previous best was a 59.0 done during the college season at the Arena Pro Swim Series meet in Austin.

Gibson’s junior season, which saw her end the season as the NCAA runner-up in the 100 yard fly (50.61) was overshadowed in March by the fact that she happened to be racing against Kelsi Worrell, who was destroying her own all-time records in the same event at the national championship meet.

She dropped two-and-a-half seconds in that 100 yard fly as a junior at A&M, and has now carried that improvement over to the long course season.

In our very first Olympic Trials preview, we picked Gibson to finish 8th with a 59.6, and two weeks out from the start of trials, she’s already gone two-tenths better than that predicted time. Gibson is now the 5th-ranked American in the 100 fly this season, behind Dana Vollmer (56.94), Worrell (57.27), Claire Donahue (58.37), and Kendyl Stewart (58.44).

That’s one of four wins through two days of the meet for Gibson; she also won the 50 fly (26.94), 100 free (56.34), and 400 free (4:14.61).

Other big names and relevant results from the first 2 days of the meet:

• 2012 U.S. Olympian Breeja Larson won the 100 breaststroke on Friday in 1:07.89. That’s just a two-tenths short of her 2016 best in the event, but is also two-tenths faster than she was at this same stage in 2012 where she made the team in the 100 breaststroke. Larson also won the 200 breast on Thursday in 2:27.03.
• U.S. National Teamer Sarah Henry won the 400 IM in 4:42.26, with Texas A&M swimmers taking the top 4 spots. Henry has now swum the three fastest non-championship times of her career in the year 2016, which follows the three fastest overall times of her career at last year’s World University Games and Decembers Winter Nationals. Sydney Pickrem, who will swim this race for Canada at the Olympics, took 2nd in 4:46.99.
• Henry also won the 200 free in 2:00.24, but didn’t swim the 400 free.
• 16-year old Clayton Bobo from the Dad’s Club in Houston won the men’s 100 free in 51.38. That’s his best time by over a second and makes him the 5th-best 16 & under in the event this season.