Alex Walsh Is All That Lies Between Texas and a 200 Fly Podium Sweep

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
• Invited Swimmers By Team
• Alternates List
• Eligible Relays

It takes some scrolling down the psych sheets to find the swimmer best equipped to break up a 1-2-3 Texas finish in the 200 butterfly. 

Defending champion Alex Walsh is seeded way back at No. 30 for this year’s NCAA Championships with a season-best 1:55.63 after winning last year with a 1:50.79 as the fifth seed. She’s got some ground to make up to pull off a podium finish — her season-best time is nearly four seconds slower than last year — but it’s tough to bet against this reigning world champion and Olympic silver medalist adding more hardware to her collection next week in Knoxville, Tennessee. 

The Longhorns boast the top three seeds between junior Emma Sticklen (1:51.37), senior Kelly Pash (1:51.45), and graduate transfer Dakota Luther (1:51.58). They’re the only swimmers sub-1:52 in the event this season. 

Narrowing the top four contenders down to three medalists is a toss-up, but we gave the edge to Pash because of her improvement trajectory. She’s already more than half a second faster than she was at NCAAs last year (1:52.01), and if history tells us anything, another drop is almost certainly on the way. Pash has only been sub-1:52 twice — the first time in December and then again at February’s Sterkel Classic — but it doesn’t seem far-fetched for her to dip beneath 1:51 in the final. 

Sticklen, Luther, and Walsh could also join Pash in the sub-1:51 club, but they seem to have just slightly less momentum at the moment. Sticklen threw down a personal-best 1:51.37 in January before adding time at Big 12s with a 1:52.11. Nonetheless, the top-seeded Sticklen could easily still be considered the favorite given that she shaved more than a second off her season best at last year’s NCAAs. 

Luther is in a similar boat, having posted a personal best in January before adding time at Big 12s (1:52.71) last month. Last year, she was a blink faster than her season-best 1:51.65 at NCAAs with a 1:51.64 in prelims, but she added time in the final to finish fourth in 1:51.80. Luther does, however, own the head-to-head advantage this year: At November’s dual meet between Texas and Virginia, Luther (1:53.83) beat out Pash (1:54.38) and Walsh (1:55.63) for the win. 

Arizona State senior Lindsay Looney is also looking to make some noise following her Pac-12 title in 1:52.68 last month. She took nearly six-tenths of a second off her previous-best 1:53.25 from last year’s NCAAs, where she dropped a second. A drop of similar magnitude this year could vault Looney close to medal contention. 

Stanford has a strong chance of putting a pair into the A-final thanks to freshman Charlotte Hook and sophomore Lillie Nordmann. Hook blazed a personal-best 1:52.48 in November, then went 1:52.90 for a runner-up finish at Pac-12s. Nordmann’s season-best time of 1:53.89 is slightly faster than last year’s season best (1:53.92) before she fired off a 1:53.20 at NCAAs, so a sub-1:53 swim could be within reach for the second-year Cardinal swimmer. 

NC State junior Abby Arens is fresh off an ACC title in the 200 fly, reaching the wall in 1:52.91 for a huge new lifetime best that ranks sixth in the NCAA this season. She decided to skip 1:53 entirely as her previous best was a 1:54.11 from last year’s ACCs. After adding more than two seconds at NCAAs following last year’s ACC title, she’s looking to rebound on the national stage this year.

ACC runner-up Abby Hay enters as the No. 7 seed with a 1:53.51 from conference championships. Last year, the Louisville junior was consistent with her postseason performances, going from 1:54.43 at ACCs to 1:54.44 at NCAAs.  

Top 8 Picks

Dark Horse: Michigan freshman Katie Crom appeared to be on an odd trajectory this season until righting the ship at Big Tens. Crom came into Ann Arbor with a best time of 1:56, but after going 1:56.79 in October, she added time in November (1:57.44) and January (1:58.96). Then at February’s Big Tens, she threw down a personal-best 1:53.94 to shave more than two seconds off her lifetime best. It’s a longshot that Crom has enough left in the tank for another big time drop, but she’s surprised us before.