2020 BIG 12 SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- When: Wednesday, February 26th to Saturday, February 29th | Prelims 10:00 am | Finals 6:00 pm
- Where: Aquatic Center at Mylan Park, University of West Virginia, Morgantown, WV (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champion: University of Texas Men (40x), University of Texas Women (8x)
- Streaming: Here
- Championship Central: Here
- Detailed Timeline: Here
- Psych Sheets: Here
- Live Results: Here
The Big 12 held a time trials session this morning, ahead of the official start to the meet tonight. Tonight, we’ll see 200 medley relay and 800 free relay, but Texas decided to tryout a women’s 200 medley relay this morning as well. Thye Longhorns swam a season best by .09 seconds, clocking a 1:37.08. Their previous top mark of the season was 1:37.17, which they swam at the Minnesota Invite in early December. This morning, Texas changed up the relay slightly from the mid-season relay, swapping mid-season breaststroker Evie Pfeifer for Kennedy Lohman this morning.
Here is the split comparison between the mid-season relay and this morning’s relay:
| Minnesota Invite, December 2019 | Big 12 Champs Time Trial, February 2020 | ||
| Claire Adams | 24.24 | Claire Adams | 24.03 |
| Evie Pfeifer | 27.55 | Kennedy Lohman | 27.73 |
| Kelly Pash | 23.48 | Kelly Pash | 23.16 |
| Julia Cook | 21.90 | Julia Cook | 22.18 |
| FINAL TIME | 1:37.17 | 1:37.08 |
Lohman was just slightly off Pfeifer’s split from December, while both Claire Adams and Kelly Pash swam faster this morning than they did at the Minnesota Invite. Julia Cook was also a bit off her anchor from December, although, it also wasn’t by much. Texas swam a season best this morning, however, they unfortunately came in just .03 seconds off the NCAA ‘B’ standard of 1:37.05. Earning the ‘B’ cut is important because it will allow the Longhorns to compete in this relay at NCAAs. They will get another opportunity tonight, where it seems likely Lohman will remain on the breaststroke leg. Evie Pfeifer could resume her spot on the relay tonight, but Pfeifer will be on the Texas 800 free relay tonight as well, so she may not want to swim the medley relay in order to stay fresher for the 800.
There were 4 swimmers that time trialed the women’s 200 fly this morning, led by West Virginia’s Morgan Bullock. Bullock, who was the runner-up in the 200 fly last year at Big 12s with a 1:55.25, swam a 1:59.06 this morning. While it was well off her personal best of 1:54.13 from 2018, Bullock’s time was a season best, and the first time she cracked 2:00 this season. Texas freshman Mary Smutny swam a 2:00.94 this morning, coming in off her season best of 1:59.97. Texas teammate Grace Ritch, a junior, swam a 2:01.32 for a season best, and Kansas sophomore Greta Olsen swam a 2:01.73 for a season best by nearly 3 seconds. Olsen just missed her personal best of 2:01.67, which she swam at Big 12s last year.
Kansas sophomore Dewi Blose swam a lifetime best 55.10 in the 100 fly this morning. She narrowly undercut her personal best of 55.12, which she had swum at the Kansas Classic this past November. Kansas teammate Paige Riekhof, also a sophomore, swam a season best of 1:50.12 in the 200 free. Riekhof was just off her lifetime best of 1:50.02, which she swam at last year’s Big 12 Championships. Kansas senior Elizabeth Amato-Hanner also swam a lifetime best this morning, clocking a 53.17 in the 100 back. The swim marked a .36 second drop from her previous best of 53.53, which she had also swum at the 2019 Kansas Classic. Amato-Hanner’s time comes in .71 seconds off the 52.46 it took to earn an invitation to NCAAs last year.
West Virginia senior trayton Saladin swam a new lifetime best in the 200 back this morning, finishing in 1:45.58. Saladin swam his previous best time of 1:45.87 at last year’s Big 12 Champs. Fellow West Virginia senior Jack Frazier swam a huge lifetime best in the 100 free. Frazier blew away his season best of 47.24 with the swim, and took 1.40 seconds off his lifetime best of 46.53.
OTHER TIME TRIALS THIS MORNING:
Women’s 50 free:
- Emily Haimes (West Virginia) – 24.69
Men’s 100 fly:
- Conrad Molinaro (West Virginia) – 50.75
Women’s 100 back:
- Anna Ellis (Iowa State) – 1:01.92
Women’s 100 free:
- Kyla Leibel (Texas) – 49.94
- Mackenzie Bravence (Kansas) – 51.98 (lifetime best)
- Kennedy Tranel (Iowa State) – 52.09 (lifetime best)
- Trinity Gilbert (Iowa State) – 52.53 (season best)
Women’s 200 breast:
- Holly Jansen (Texas) – 2:17.59 (season best)
Season best and not in the top 10 nationally
Actually looked it up not even top 20
Underwhelming time trials. Feels like we’re used to one of the Texas men throwing up some historic swim in this session. Saving it for later?
Hard to believe that Texas hasn’t already qualified with a “B” cut in the 200 Medley. With all that talent? Incredible. Also, if memory serves didn’t Kennedy Lohman split a 26.7 on a Medley Relay when she was at Arizona?
Yes, that’s correct
not good..
Lohman and Holly Jansen the other breastroker have definitely been *off* this year. Hopefully they can find a few more tenths on that relay tomorrow. Wasn’t much sense to taper Adams, Pash & Cook since they are shoo ins for individual invites. But no medley relay even making the cut would be very discouraging result
Stanford, UCLA and the Arizona schools don’t have it either.
Lohman broke her jaw at the beginning of the year. Has had a tough time bouncing back.