Last year’s Wisconsin HS Div. 1 runner-up in the 100 butterfly, Megan Doty, has stayed in-state and will swim for Whitney Hite’s Badgers starting next fall.
Doty is a big local pickup for Wisconsin, who just graduated their best sprint butterflier in Ivy Martin. The Arrowhead High School senior went a 53.57 to place 2nd in Division I to only Beata Nelson, who broke the national high school record in the event with her 51.70 from that race. The record now belongs to Katie McLaughlin.
While Doty’s 100 fly might be the event that jumps out to those following her times, she is very good in the 50 through 200 freestyles, making her an immediate candidate for the Badgers’ free relays. She is also a solid IMer– she finished 2nd in the 200 IM at last year’s Wisconsin HS Div. 1 Champs (2:02.11), along with swimming fly on their title-winning medley relay (24.78) and anchoring their victorious 400 free relay (50.36).
Doty’s Top Times
- 50 free – 23.39
- 100 free – 50.41
- 200 free – 1:50.28
- 100 fly – 53.57
- 200 fly – 2:01.87
- 200 IM – 2:02.11
The Lake Country Swim Team member has qualified for Winter Juniors in the 50 and 100 free as well as the 200 fly and 200 IM; her 100 fly time qualifies her for Winter Nationals. Notably, she goes a 1:01.10 in the 100 meter butterfly (LCM), which is under the Olympic Trial qualifying standard.
Her sprint free times will help make up for the losses of Martin as well as Aja van Hout, and her fly times would put her third on Wisconsin’s top times list from last year. She’ll look to be the Badgers’ 2nd-best butterflier after current junior Dana Grindall, and take over that spot after Grindall graduates. She won’t have that spot easily, though, as current freshman Ariana Saghafi also has a best time of 53 mid. The current freshman class at Wisconsin includes seven very capable freestylers, some better at the 50-100 double while others better at the 100-200 pairing, so Doty might be able to focus primarily on butterfly when she gets to Madison next fall.
This is a big pickup for Wisconsin, who has had top-end talent in recent years but not the depth necessary to rise up in the Big Ten and national ranks. They’ve built the groundwork for a fuller, faster team in the next few years, and Doty has the potential to be right in the thick of things for the Badgers in their post-Ivy Martin era.
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