2019 W. NCAAs Preview: Sub-50 Flyers Hansson and MacNeil Battle

2019 Women’s NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships

• March 20th-23rd, 2019
• Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center – Austin, TX
• Defending Champion: Stanford (2x) (2018 Results)
• Psych Sheet
• Championship Central

100 Butterfly

• NCAA Record: Louise Hansson (USC), 2019- 49.34
• American Record: Kelsi (Worrell) Dahlia (Louisville), 2016- 49.43
• U.S. Open Record: Louise Hansson (USC), 2019- 49.34
• Meet Record: Kelsi (Worrell) Dahlia (Louisville), 2016- 49.43
• 2018 Champion: Louise Hansson (USC)- 49.80

Each year an event at the NCAA meet will get faster and faster. This year, the 100 fly looks to be one of the those events. With the top 3 seeds all under 50 seconds and the fastest-ever 100 fly in the field, it will be one event to watch.

Arguably the most likely swimmer to win the event and defend her 2018 title is U.S. Open and NCAA record holder Louise Hansson of USC. Hansson has broken 50 seconds five times in her career, tying with American record holder Kelsi Dahlia. Coming in with the most experience under the barrier, Hansson could be on track to break 49 seconds and defend her title.

The biggest threat to stealing Hansson’s spotlight is freshman powerhouse Maggie MacNeil of Michigan. MacNeil comes in with 3 of her 10 SCY swims ever in the event under 50 seconds, the third-most times a female swimmer has accomplished this feat. With MacNeil’s personal best of 49.59 under Hansson’s 2018 winning time, it could be natural talent that may out-shine experience.

KNOXVILLE, TN – JANUARY 05, 2018 – Erika Brown of the Tennessee Volunteers during the meet between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Tennessee Volunteers at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center in Knoxville, TN. Photo By John Golliher/Tennessee Athletics

The only other swimmer to ever break 50 seconds in the field is Tennessee’s Erika Brown. Brown comes in as the 2018 runner-up and swam her personal best of 49.85 twice in her career, including tying her own SEC record.

Nearly a second behind the sub-50 top 3 are two returning members of the 2018 A-final, Katie McLaughlin (Cal) and Grace Oglesby (Louisville). In 2018, both swimmers stayed within a tenth of their entry times going into the NCAAs, finishing in 6th and 7th respectively.

Looking to potentially switch their times trend and follow consistency is Auburn senior Alyssa Tetzloff. In 2018, Tetzloff took 6th and 7th place in the 50/100 free, respectively, while gaining half a second to only finish 11th in the 100 fly. Her line-up this year may heighten her chance of reaching the A-final in this event after opting out of the 50 free this year.

Morgan Hill (photo: Mike Lewis)

Making substantial improvements in the 2018-19 season is No. 7 seed Virginia’s Morgan Hill. Before this season, Hill only swam the 100 fly once in a dual meet, only hitting 55.19. At the first dual of this season, she dropped more than second from her PB to swim a 53.99. From there, she kept improving more from her personal best. She swam her now personal best of 51.01 at the 2019 ACCs when she won the title over Grace Oglesby by 0.01.

Ann Ochitwa of Missouri is the 5th-member of the top 8 in 2018, where she finished 8th in a 51.35. This year, Ochitwa chipped a tenth from her 2018 NCAA performance and swam a 51.25 when she took third at the 2019 SECs. However, Ochitwa’s lifetime best was at the 2016 NCAAs, where her 9th place time of 51.02 could have placed 4th overall if she had a faster prelims swim.

Potentially standing in the way of Ochitwa and qualifying for the A-final this year is Cal freshman Isabel Ivey, who joined the Bears in January after graduating high school early. After knocking out her 2016 PB of 52.61 at 2018 Junior Nationals, Ivey has dazzled with the Bears. At the 2018 Pac-12s, Ivey finished 3rd in this event with a lifetime best of 51.15, behind Louise Hansson and Katie McLaughlin.

Top 8 Picks:

Dark Horse Threat: Maddy Banic of Tennessee is seeded 25th in the event with a 52.05. However, her personal best is 51.19, but it’s from November 2015. The Vols’ team captain opened up about her experiences with mental health in fall 2018, explaining her 2017-18 season. The senior could look to take advantage of her last NCAA meet and break the plateau.