2023 W. NCAA Previews: The 100 Breast Is Set To Be A Major Toss-Up

2024 WOMEN’S NCAA SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 20-23, 2024
• Gabrielsen Natatorium, Athens, Georgia
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WOMEN’S 100 Breaststroke

• U.S. Open Record: 55.73 — Lilly King, Indiana (2018)
• American Record: 55.73 — Lilly King, Indiana (2018)
• NCAA Record: 55.73 — Lilly King, Indiana (2018)
• 2023 NCAA Champion: Lydia Jacoby, Texas — 57.03

While most of the spotlight at the 2024 NCAA Women’s Championships is focused on superstars like Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, and Bella Sims, events like the 100 breast get overlooked. However, this race is set to be one of the most competitive and unpredictable showdowns of the entire meet, where there are multiple contenders with a shot at winning it all. With existing stars and new swimmers on the block, there’s plenty of talent to dive into when it comes to the 100 breast.

The 56 Club

Mona McSharry (photo: Jack Spitser)

Two swimmers have broken the 57-second barrier this season: Tennessee’s Mona McSharry and USC’s Kaitlyn Dobler.

McSharry is the top overall seed with a time of 56.87, which is a personal best time that she clocked at the Tennessee Invite last November. As a three-time ‘A’ finalist and last year’s NCAA runner-up, she’s set best times in every single one of her NCAA Championship 100 breast races. Even when Tennessee has had a history of adding from SECs to NCAAs (which, albeit, didn’t happen as much last season), McSharry has been one of the team’s most consistent performers, so there’s a strong case to make for her winning it all this year with how fast she’s been going.

Dobler was the 2022 NCAA Champion and the top seed heading into last year’s NCAAs, but she ended up finishing fourth in the latter meet. Like McSharry, her season-best time of 56.99 comes from midseasons and is just 0.06 seconds off her personal best from when she won a national title. USC started the season on a hot streak of momentum, and it will be interesting to see whether the Trojans continue it at the big show or run out of gas. And Dobler, who has long been one of the team’s leaders, will play a big factor. She’s pulled off surprise victories with massive personal bests in some races while also adding significant time in other races — what will she have in store this time around?

It’s worth noting that last season, the top 100 breast time came during midseasons. It very well could happen this year too, as nobody could top McSharry or Dobler during conference championships. That being said, it’s hard to pick anyone aside from McSharry winning if we had to choose. She already has the fastest time of all her competitors, and her consistent success in this event is a recipe for a title.

The Longhorn Duo

With Lydia Jacoby and Anna Elendt, Texas has the best breaststroke duo in the country.

Of course, Jacoby is the reigning NCAA champion. She didn’t compete for the first half of the NCAA season due to an Olympic redshirt but was back like she never left during conference championships. At Big 12s, she won with a time of 57.27, which ranks her fourth on the psych sheets and is just 0.24 seconds off her best time from last year’s NCAAs.

Anna Elendt (photo: Jack Spitser)

In a preview from last year, we mentioned that Jacoby knows how to turn on the jets and finish on top when she’s an underdog, as proven at the Tokyo Olympics and last year’s NCAA Championships. This year, she’s in a different position as the one defending her crown — will she keep the same momentum?

Elendt, meanwhile, has been a top 100 breaststroke for the past three seasons but has never reached the top. While seeded fifth with a 57.51, she’s been as fast as 56.88 in the event before, which is faster than any other woman in this field. However, she finished third at last year’s NCAAs and fifth the year before, with her performance in the latter meet coming after she set her best time during prelims.

While Elendt will certainly be a threat, nothing this year suggests she’s a favorite to win, so we have to put her behind some other names mentioned above.

Rising Stars

JASMINE NOCENTINI
2023 European SC Championship
credit FABIO CETTI

The largest riser in this year’s 100 breast field is Virginia’s Jasmine Nocentini. Last season at Northwestern she tested the waters with breaststroke for the first time, and it resulted in her becoming the nation’s 10th-fastest performer despite not competing at Big Tens or NCAAs. This year, while training with arguably the deepest breaststroke groups in the country, her best time improved from 58.14 to 57.03 and she’s now seeded third heading into the NCAA Championship.

With how well Virginia performs at NCAAs, it’s not unreasonable to predict Nocentini getting under that 57-second barrier and winning it all. However, our hesitance with her stems from the fact that she hasn’t raced at NCAAs since 2021. In 2022, she was entered in the meet but abruptly scratched out of it for unknown reasons. Then, in 2023, she was sidelined during the postseason due to a shoulder injury. The conferences to NCAAs transition is a skill that takes many swimmers a long time to master, and it would be very impressive if Nocentini got it right from the jump after being away from the meet for three years. However, if there’s a program that will best prepare her for this challenge, it’s UVA.

Another massive riser is Cincinnati’s Joleigh Crye, one of the best “small school” stories this swimming season. Although she qualified for NCAAs last season and placed 22nd, she went from “NCAA qualifier” to “All-American contender” this season, dropping her personal best from 59.07 to 58.24. She’s currently seeded eighth, and her performance will be dictated by how much she can step up when she’s now regarded as one of the top swimmers in her event.

It’s also worth mentioning the top two freshmen in this event: Tennessee’s Emelie Fast and Florida’s Molly Mayne, who are seeded 10th and 12th respectively with times of 58.44 and 58.56. Neither of them were highly-touted recruits headed into this season, and both will look to finish off breakout seasons with strong NCAAs performances.

Other Contenders

Hannah Bach (photo: Jack Spitser)

We talked about the Texas duo, so it’s only right we talk about the Ohio State duo of Hannah Bach and Josie Panitz. Bach and Panitz are seeded sixth and ninth with times of 57.54 and 58.36 respectively — seeds that are similar to their results from the 2023 NCAAs, where Bach was sixth and Panitz was seventh. Bach is a three-time ‘A’ finalist who has been as fast as 57.32, while Panitz had a massive breakout season last year to get under both 59 and 58 seconds for the first time. Expect both swimmers, Bach especially, to return into the top 8 this year.

Alabama’s Avery Wiseman is seeded seventh with a time of 58.08. She hasn’t made an ‘A’ final in her lifetime and finished 23rd last year, but her best time of 57.79 from the fall of 2021 is one of the fastest PBs in this field. Although she has failed to reach the heights from the start of her freshman season, she could be one to look out for if she learns to peak at the right time. After all, she did go her fastest time since 2021 at SECs this year.

Nocentini’s teammate Emma Weber is “only” a 15th seed with a season-best of 58.81, but as a returning ‘A’ finalist and last year’s 8th place finisher, her name has to be mentioned in this preview. If most of the swimmers seeded above her hold their seed times and she doesn’t see a large improvement, she’s probably not returning to the top 8. However, all she needed was a 58.90 last year to make the ‘A’ final, so don’t could her out if a good amount of the field adds time.

Duke’s Kaelyn Gridley had a successful freshman campaign, finishing 10th last year with a personal best time of 58.76. She improved upon that by 0.02 this season during midseasons and is this year’s 13th seed, but it’s hard not to see her as an ‘A’ final threat considering how well Duke has been performing at NCAAs these last few years. Georgia’s Zoie Hartman is the 11th seed with a time of 58.56 headed into her final NCAAs, but was an ‘A’ finalist in 2021 and holds a best time of 57.40. Based on her history, we shouldn’t expect her to place top eight, but it’s important to mention her as one of the main breaststroke contenders over these last five seasons.

SwimSwam’s Picks

Dark Horse: Alessia Ferraguti, Arkansas — Ferraguti is one of the lesser-known swimmers in the NCAAs, but she’s had a formidable rise this year in the 100 breast. After improving her best time from 59.58 to 58.99, she’s now seemed 18th with an opportunity to move up with either a huge improvement or if the people above her underperform.