Caroline Arakelian from Queens University has broken the NCAA Division II Record in the 400 IM, pending ratification.
Arakelian swam a 4:13.20 to place 3rd in the B-Final at the 2014 USA Swimming Winter National Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina, which was faster than the 4:14.00 that Casey Hurrell-Zitelman did for Incarnate Word in 2011. Hurrell-Zitelman transferred to Incarnate Word after three years at Texas A&M, and Incarnate Word is now in their transitional years up to Division I.
That’s Arakelian’s best time by over four seconds (as compared to pre-meet). The Queens junior won the 400 IM National Championship as a freshman in 2013, but last year placed only 4th. This swim puts her back in the driver’s seat to win the title again this year. Interestingly, as compared to her finals swim from NCAA’s last year, which at the time was her personal best, she had an identical fly split, and was effectively the same times through the first 300 meters. Arakelian dropped four seconds in 9 months by simply getting better at finishing – she held a huge lead going into the freestyle leg at NCAA’s last season and let it slip away. It doesn’t look like she’s going to let that happen again.