Emma Reaney lowers American and NCAA 200 breast records with 2:04.06

When Notre Dame’s Emma Reaney broke the NCAA and American records at the ACC Championships, it caught much of the swimming community off guard. When she did it again while winning an NCAA Championship a few weeks later, maybe the crowd was much less surprised, but still equally impressed.

Reaney was dominant in the NCAA final, blasting out to almost a full second lead at the 100 mark, and only accelerated from there. After the ACC Championships, Reaney and her coach Brian Barnes told SwimSwam the key to getting the first American record was going out in under a minute. The key this time appeared to be an even bigger back-half, as Reaney went out a tenth slower (59.35 to 59.25) in the first 100 but came home much faster, going 2:04.06 to break her ACC mark of 2:04.34.

Reaney’s stroke is so efficient. She was constantly pressing forward, and made even the talented field around her look a little choppy by comparison. The junior will spend the summer training at SwimMAC before returning to Notre Dame for one more season. The 200 breast has been a tough race to repeat in as of late, but Reaney has to already have her sights set on the first 2:03 in American history, a barrier she already rattled Saturday night.

Here is a splits comparison of Reaney’s NCAA and ACC American record swims:

• NCAA: 27.87/ACC: 28.01
• NCAA: 31.48/ACC: 31.34
• NCAA: 32.01/ACC: 32.30
• NCAA: 32.70/ACC: 32.69
• NCAA: 2:04.06 /ACC: 2:04.34