Texas A&M freshman Beryl Gastaldello may have pulled off some swimming history last night on the women’s 200 yard medley relay at the 2015 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships.  Competing in the fly leg for the Aggies, Gastaldello clocked an unreal 22.46 split over the third 50 of the relay, which by our initial research is the fastest in history.  The Aggies were in a bit of a hole early, coming in 8th at the 100 mark before Gastaldello took over and brought Texas A&M all the way up to the second spot, giving Sammie Bosma a nice cushion to hold off Natalie Hinds, Chantal Van Landeghem, and Allyx Purcell for the silver medal.
We leave some initial skepticism in the title because reliable relay splits from past meets are sometimes hard to come by.  The next fastest splits we could find were a 22.52 from Christine Magnuson and a 22.55 from former [super-suited] Aggie Triin Aljand back in 2009.  Louisville’s Kelsi Worrell in December was 22.57 in December.  Elaine Breeden actually split 22.30 earlier that season at the 2009 Pac 10 Championships, but that Stanford relay was DQ’ed.  While no explanation has yet been seen as to why, given her split, it’s very possible it was an early relay takeoff from Breeden.  Tennessee’s Harper Bruens also falls in the top 10 (and maybe even top 5) with her 22.61 from last night, as well.
Gastaldello might be a new name to American fans, but the freshman is a widely-known star in her native France, and is a member of their National Team.
Find a faster split that we missed?  Post it in the comment section below!
Not sure why the author just assumed Breeden jumped early. The DQ was on the first exchange, so
Breeden’s split was an actual time (but I’d assume it doesn’t count for records purposes). She was the first woman to break 1:50 in the 200y fly at the same meet (an American record of 1:49.92), so it’s not out of the question that she was swimming fast!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/pac-12.com/article/2009/02/28/elaine-breeden-sets-american-us-open-and-ncaa-record-200-fly-carmen-stellar-wins%3Famp
And Kelsi Worrell steals it away…
The time just got beat at ACC’s tonight at Georgia Tech by Kelsi Worrell Louisville 1:38.06 1:36.30 A 56
1) *Kylliainen, Tanja SR 2) r:0.33 Cottrell, Andrea SO
3) r:0.09 Worrell, Kelsi JR 4) r:0.08 *Kneppers, Andrea SO
r:+0.56 12.27 24.88 (24.88)
36.95 (12.07) 51.78 (26.90)
1:01.52 (9.74) 1:14.12 (22.34)
1:24.60 (10.48) 1:36.30 (22.18)
Kelsi Worrell just split 22.34 at ACCs.
I do remember Breeden false-starting on a relay sometime back then, but not sure if it was that particular one. The DQ that I remember was controversial, and may have been appealed, because there was a discrepancy between the timing system and an (unofficial?) video replay in which her start appeared legit.
Yep, it was at the NCAA championships. She did a step-up relay start and the sensor on the block recorded her leaving on the first step rather than her second off the block. The official wasn’t permitted to overturn the sensor so they changed the rules following that incident.
For those who want to know more on Miss Gastadello, you can read my CIA/FBI-like investigations from last year on her. 🙂
http://swimswam.com/adds-two-including-french-national-teamer/
Gastaldello
At risk of exposing my super nerddom – Worrell’s 22.57 was in December. She “only” split 22.66 at NCAAs last season. Dani Barbiea (Minnesota) had the same split.
Dani Barbiea swims for Mizzou.
Fastest split in history? Really? 😯
I knew she had crazy speed in her but I’m really surprised. So early in her college career!
It looks like her first season in USA goes very well. No problem with yards at all.
I’m now waiting for the individual races. We’ll see her real level right now in these races.
But WOW! That sounds very cool for a first college season.
Last year in long course her best event was the 100 fly (59.51) so I can’t wait to see what she can do this week in that race. 😎