2023 NCAA WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- March 15-18, 2023
- Allan Jones Aquatic Center–Knoxville, Tennessee
- SCY (25 yards)
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Live Stream
- SwimSwam Preview Index
- Pick ’em Contest
- Day 1 Finals Live Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Live Recap|Day 2 Finals Recap
- Day 3 Prelims Live Recap|Day 3 Finals Recap
- Day 4 Prelims Live Recap
Prior to the last finals session of the 2023 Women’s NCAA Championships, heats 1 to 5 of the women’s 1650 free will be raced. Unlike the other events, where there are ‘A’ and ‘B’ finals, the 1650 free follows a timed finals format, where swimmers are grouped into heats based on their seed time Kcan win the event out of any heat. In fact, at NCAAs last year, the overall second, fourth, and sixth place finishers all swam their races from the earlier heats.
Some big names from these early heats include last year’s seventh-place finisher Lola Mull in heat 3, 2022 1650 free ACC Champion Liberty Williams as well as U.S. Olympian Emma Weyant in heat 4, and 2023 500 free SEC champ Rachel Stege, 2022 U.S. World Champ team member Mariah Denigan, and 2022 top 8 finishers Abby McCulloh and Maddie Donohoe in heat 5.
These heats take place starting at 3:50 PM EST. The fastest heat of the 1650 will take place at 6:00 PM EST, being the first event of the finals session.
Women’s 1650 Free — Slower Heats
- NCAA Record: 15:03.31 — Katie Ledecky, Stanford (2017)
- Meet Record: 15:07.70 — Katie Ledecky, Stanford (2017)
- American Record: 15.01.41 — Katie Ledecky, Gator Swim Club (2023)
- U.S. Open Record: 15:01.41 — Katie Ledecky, Gator Swim Club (2023)
- Pool Record: 15:15.17 — Katie Ledecky, Nation’s Capital Swim Club (2013)
- 2022 Champion: Paige McKenna, Wisconsin
Top 8:
- Mariah Denigan, Indiana — 15:52.18
- Rachel Stege, Georgia — 15:54.55
- Liberty Williams, Louisville — 15:55.29
- Maddie Donohoe, Virginia — 15:56.83
- Abby McCulloh, Georgia — 15:57.34
- Emma Weyant, Florida — 16:01.59
- Maya Geringer, Ohio State — 16:01.77
- Averee Preble, Auburn — 16:02.99
After Texas’s Olivia McMurray got out to an early lead, Wisconsin’s Blair Stoneburg caught up to her around the 700-yard mark and never turned back. Stoneburg ended up winning the first heat by nearly eight seconds, clocking a 16:15.44 that comes within a second of her best time of 16:14.60 and is a big drop from her season-best of 16:21.38.
Auburn’s Averee Preble had a big swim in heat two, dominating her race and clocking a time of 16:02.99 that will likely score. She dropped nearly four seconds from her previous best time of 16:06.54, which she set three years ago at the 2020 SEC Championships. Nebraska freshman Gena Jorgensen also set a best time to finish in a clear second, going a 16:13.34 and dropping 0.2 seconds from her previous PB.
While Kentucky’s Megan Drumm had considerable lead over the field for the first 1000 yards of the race, it was Northwestern’s Lola Mull who won heat three, making a comeback at the end of her race to take the win in a time of 16:03.98. This time is a seven second drop from her entry time of 16:11.41, but slower than her time of 15:55.96 from last year’s NCAAs. In second was Florida’s Anna Auld, who went 16;10.61, while Drumm fell to fourth and clocked a 16:12.62.
Liberty Williams was the first woman of the day to get under the 16-minute barrier, going a 15:55.29 to win heat four. This swim marks her first time sub-16 this season. Emma Weyant swam a 16:01.59 to get second, beating out her previous best time of 16:02.51. The Ohio State duo of Maya Geringer and Gwen Woodbury went 3-4, going times of 16:01.77 and 16:04.35 respectively.
Indiana’s Mariah Denigan clocked the fastest time out of the afternoon heats, winning heat five in a time of 15:52.28. This is is a 5+ second drop from her previous best time of 15:57.82 clocked at Big Tens. Rachel Stege (15:54.55), Maddie Donohoe (15;56.83), and Abby McCulloh (15:57.34) all got under the 16-minute barrier, and will all likely score and potentially finish top 8.
Anyone who is top 8 so far WILL score (“likely” not needed)
Incredible bounce back from Liberty Williams after a rough 500 to probably clinch the 4th place trophy for Louisville
I think what has to be hurting Weyant the most this meet is having a whole semester where she didn’t race in meets while simultaneously adapting to new training. I’m making an early prediction that next year will be a lot better with a full year at Florida under her belt
Heat sheets. We’re nearing half way through heat one. There is still time for them to be useful. Please. Somebody.
They are on MeetMobile. There’s nothing for distance heats on the official meet site
Once the first heat results posted they just show the rest of the swimmers as still to swim so you can no longer see the heat sheet for the early heats on Meet Mobile.
Go to the top and hit “finals-heat sheet” instead of “finals – in progress”
Thank you! Anyone else having the livestream keep crashing for these mile heats?
Katie “15:26.17” Grimes is watching.
Just a suggestion going forward: I think SwimSwam should refer to them as early heats, not slower heats. None of these swimmers or times are “slow.” It’s also a misnomer since some of these swimmers swim faster than the swimmers in the final heat.
But they are all slower entry times than the final heat.
Of course some of them avoid that final heat on purpose.
They’re seeded slower, no misnomer about it. The swimmers are also emotionally mature enough to not be offended at them being called the slower heats.
You might want to revisit the definition of misnomer. If someone in a “slower” heat swims a faster time than someone in the “faster“ heat then they are therefore, not slower. Hence, a misnomer. Why is this not obvious to you?
The solution is to be faster in-season.
OFFS. It says slower heats; not slow heats.
Time bias is never a good thing. What about “chronographicaly challenged?”
Why not call them the early heats? What’s the objection? It’s at least as factual as calling them the slower heats. And there is always the chance that someone from the “slower” heats could end up winning or at least make the podium – would be interested to know if that has ever happened.
The point is that SS is cranking out quality content at break-neck speed, then someone jumps in word policing in the hopes that no readers’ feelings are hurt on behalf of elite-level athletes. Dont lose the plot.
I challenge you to walk up to a swimmer in one of those heats and say “hey, are you in the slower heat?” and see how they react. My guess is they would be offended or taken aback. Or since it’s no big deal let’s just stop calling them A Final and B Final and say Slower Final and Faster Final. That has a nice ring to it. Lol. This has nothing to do with word policing or talking about anyone’s feelings. It’s just poor follow through by SwimSwam thus I offered a suggestion to fix it. That’s all. This is a community; we offer suggestions, input, and opinions all the time on here. This is no different. Oh, and… Read more »