Swim of the Week: Letitia Sim Shines With 200 Breast PB At SMU Classic

Disclaimer: 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 Swim of the Week 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.

Breaststroke was a glaring weakness on the Michigan women’s 2020-21 swimming & diving team, and they appear to have found their answer in Letitia Sim.

Sim started off her freshman campaign with a bang at the SMU Classic last weekend, sweeping both the women’s breaststroke events for the Wolverines, including a new personal best in the 200.

Sim won the event by more than two seconds in 2:09.08, dipping under her previous best of 2:09.50 (set at the 2021 NCSA Junior Championships in March) and establishing the top time in the country this season by a mile.

And of course, freshman Letitia Sim was honored for her incredible weekend at the SMU Classic!!#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/rD2NGDlgJm

— Michigan Swimming & Diving (@umichswimdive) October 13, 2021

The TNT Swimming product made some major strides in her senior year of high school, progressing from 2:11.0 to 2:09.5 in the 200 breast, and given the fact that she’s already hit a best time in October, the sky’s the limit for what she can do come March.

In addition to the 200 breast, Sim also won the women’s 100 breast at the SMU Classic in a time of 59.09, narrowly missing her PB of 59.01, and also posted the fastest time of the meet in the 200 IM at 1:57.16 out of the ‘B’ final. Coaches assign swimmers to ‘A’ and ‘B’ finals at the meet, so Sim only earned seventh-place points despite being the fastest swimmer in the field.

The 200 IM marked a new lifetime best as well, with Sim’s previous best standing at 1:57.43 from those 2021 NCSAs.

After the Wolverines had no swimmers entered in the 100 or 200 breast at the 2021 NCAAs (and no 200 IM scorers), Sim appears well on her way to putting points on the board at the end of the season. Last season, times of 59.16, 2:08.62 and 1:57.13 were required to score at NCAAs in the 100 breast, 200 breast and 200 IM.

Michigan also placed fourth in the 400 medley relay at NCAAs last season despite being tied for the 16th-fastest breaststroke split in the 18-team field. Sim should provide a 2+ second improvement and help the team challenge for a top-three finish.