2024 Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships
Women’s 400IM
US Open Record: 3:54.60 – Ella Eastin, Stanford (2018) American Record: 3:54.60 – Ella Eastin, Stanford (2018) NCAA Record: 3:54.60 – Ella Eastin, Stanford (2018) 2023 NCAA Champion: Alex Walsh, Virginia – 3:57.24
Alex Walsh has dominated the 400 IM on the collegiate degree since taking over the occasion in earnest throughout his sophomore yr on the University of Virginia.
Walsh did not compete on this event for 2 years, from November 2019 to November 2021, however shortly confirmed that he has the most effective mixture of versatility and endurance within the nation, profitable 4 on the 2021 Tennessee Invitational. He recorded a time of 1:01.40 seconds and went on to win the 2022 NCAA title. His time was 3 minutes 57.25 seconds.
Walsh, who beat reigning champion Brooke Ford by three seconds in 2022, efficiently defended her title final season, beating teammate Ella Nelson by greater than two seconds and setting her profession finest with a time of three:57.24. The time was lowered by 0.01 seconds.
Only 5 ladies have ever been quicker than Walsh, and if Bella Sims (private finest 3:56.59) had chosen to run the 400IM in her first NCAA, we might have had a race in hand. I may have finished it. But in her absence, this race is predicted to be all Walsh.
She led the NCAA rankings this season with a time of 4:00.52 in UVA’s three meets towards North Carolina State and UNC in January, a time surpassed solely by swimmer Nelson. There is just one particular person.
2023-24 NCAA Rankings, Women’s 400 IM (SCY)
Alex Walsh, Virginia – 4:00.52 Emma Weyant, Florida – 4:01.20 Bella Sims, Florida – 4:01.47 Caroline Bricker, Stanford – 4:02.32 Lucy Bell, Stanford / Justina Kozan, Southern California College – 4:03.25 – Zoe Dixon, Florida – 4:03.33 Paige McEachern, UCLA – 4:03.47 Ella Nelson, Virginia – 4:03.61 Megan Van Bercom, Minnesota – 4:04.36
In addition to his SCY skills, Walsh certified for the World Championships in 2023 by swimming the 400 IM in a protracted channel pool for the primary time in over three years, finally ending fourth with a finest time of 4:34.46. I did.
Behind Walsh, Nelson and Emma Weyant are the frontrunners and the battle for second place ought to be an thrilling one.
Runner-up Race — Veteran
Nelson, a fifth-year scholar at UVA who’s the one different athlete apart from Walsh to interrupt 4:00, needs to be thought-about the favourite for second place, despite the fact that he sits in eighth place on the Psycho Sheet.
Nelson lowered his private finest time from 4:02.11 to three:59.33 on the 2023 ACC Championships, profitable his third consecutive convention title. After ending second on the NCAAs with a time of three:59.54, he gained the ACC this season with a time of 4:03.80, profitable 4 straight and profitable by almost six seconds.
Since his NCAA Championship debut, Nelson has completed third or higher within the 400IM (2022) and was runner-up in each 2021 and 2023.
Now 22 years previous, she has confirmed she will be able to carry out when the second requires it.
Weyant, who was a freshman on the University of Virginia in 2022 (she was 20 on the time, which is why she is taken into account a “veteran” right here), ran a private finest time of 4:03.17 and gained the NCAA He completed in 4th place, 10 seconds and seven seconds behind Nelson.
After transferring to Florida, Weyant lowered his PR to 4:01.18 on the 2023 SEC Championships, however added on to take third on the NCAAs (4:03.50).
Last month, she ran a break up of 4:01.20, about the identical break up as her 2023 swim, almost matching her private finest time en path to her second straight SEC title.
The query is whether or not she will be able to time her taper correctly and drop it on the NCAAs, or if she’ll add a little bit extra like she did final season. In the tip, Nelson’s benefit over Weyant within the breaststroke is the large distinction between the 2, and all of it comes down as to whether Weyant can keep far sufficient within the 300 meters to depart room to nook Nelson within the free skate.
west coast categorical
The Pac-12 might disappear after this season, however from 2023 to 2024 will probably be house to a number of the nation’s high ladies’s 400 IMers.
Swimmers from 4 completely different Pac-12 colleges maintain six spots within the high 11 on the Psycho Sheet, led by the duo of Stanford University’s Caroline Bricker and Lucy Bell.
Bricker was on an entire tear throughout his freshman season, coming into the season with a private better of 4:09.57 after which operating a private better of 4:02.32 en path to the Pac-12 title. It reached its climax. The 19-year-old has a 2:06.8 200 breast and a 1:52.0 200 fly in her repertoire, and different rivals don’t have anything to fret about given her enchancment curve.
Bell, a sophomore, set private bests in each the preliminaries (4:06.05) and finals (4:05.56) eventually yr’s NCAAs, inserting seventh, and went on to win silver within the 400 IM on the Pan Championships, incomes him a global berth. After gaining expertise, Amus improved in October by swimming 4:03.25 on the Texas Invitational in November.
Like Bricker, Bell is an elite fly and breast athlete, posting a private finest within the 200 fly of 1:52.62 in a double towards USC in February. Two weeks later towards Cal, he ran a 59 flat within the 100-meter chest race.
It’s price noting that Bell considerably improved on her midseason time within the Pac-12, ending seventh with two sub-4:09 swims, however she in all probability did not get a lot relaxation. , or extra doubtless by no means.
Kozan’s swim included an unimaginable closing 50 of 25.97, and if she has that in her again pocket on the NCAAs, will probably be laborious to disclaim her in any shut race.
UCLA junior Paige McEachern continues to enhance, ending her freshman yr with a private better of 4:10.19 and operating 4:06.17 at Pac-12s final season. She took a giant step again on the convention championships, ending second to Bricker in 4:03.47.
McEachern had good steadiness all through the race and ran evenly with Bricker, however Bricker’s pace within the closing phases stored him one step wanting victory.
Last season, MacEachern added seconds from the Pac-12 to the NCAA, in order that’s notable.
Other seeded gamers from the West Coast embody University of California junior Lee Polonsky, who positioned 14th final season and ran a time of 4:03.90 in 2022, and Lee Polonsky, a junior on the University of California who ran a time of 4:06.00 within the Pack competitors. There was Rosie Murphy, a sophomore at UCLA who ran a private finest. -12 seconds.
Return of different “A” finalists
Two of final season’s “A” finalists that I have never talked about but are North Carolina State’s Grace Cheble and Minnesota’s Megan Van Berkom.
Chebre swam within the 4:04 vary thrice in a row from final season’s ACC finals to the NCAA finals, and completed fifth at nationals with a time of 4:04.83.
She’s nowhere close to that kind this yr, together with her season finest time of 4:09.12 on the North Carolina Invitational, inserting her twenty fourth within the standings.
Van Berkom set a private finest time of 4:03.45 on the 2022 Big Ten meet final month after recording the second-fastest swim of his profession (4:04.37) on the Minnesota Invitational in December. gained the convention title with a time of 4:06.71. .
Now a senior, she has been constant sufficient in her profession that she has likelihood of creating it to the ‘A’ ultimate.
Young names are on the rise
Florida sophomore Zoe Dixon is main the way in which. As a freshman, she recorded her finest time within the SEC of 4:06.18, after which within the NCAA Repechage Finals she recorded a 4:06.92. In order to advance to the “A” ultimate, I needed to obtain a private finest.
The 19-year-old was a giant dropout within the SEC, ending tied with Weyant for second within the breaststroke section with a time of 4:03.33.
If Dixon can proceed his robust kind from the SEC to the NCAA like he did final season, he’ll advance to the ‘A’ finals if he can qualify. She posted elite 200 fly (1:54.9) and her 200 again (1:53.6) instances within the first half, making her among the best swimmers within the discipline.
Princeton freshmen Eleanor Sun and Dakota Tucker, Texas freshmen Campbell Stoll and Angie Coe, Cal State freshman Kathryn Hazle are all aiming for his or her second swim, and sophomore Julia Gehrig ( Texas A&M) and Claire Tuggle (USC) are additionally seeded. Within the highest 16.
The quickest of that group this season was Sun, who posted a finest time of 4:06.07 on the Big Al Invite in December, however was crushed by teammate Tucker at 4:07 on the Ivy League Championship. He fell quick with a time of 4 minutes 10.27 seconds from 32 seconds.
Swim Swam Recommendations
Dark Horse: Nicole Meyer, Miami, Ohio – Meyer topped final season’s ‘B’ ultimate with a time of 4:05.84, however has by no means come inside 3 seconds of that document in every other swim. don’t have. The German senior competed within the freestyle occasions on the Mid-American Conference Championships, attaining a private finest within the 200 free (1:43.90) and coming near a private finest within the 500 free (4:40.30), however simply 4. It was rank. 400IM:09. Although her predominant focus has all the time been on free occasions, she has confirmed that she will be able to additionally swim nice finals-worthy swims in medley occasions as nicely. Could it occur once more?