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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
Age group standout Audrey Derivaux flew under the radar on Thursday at the Pro Swim Series event in Fort Lauderdale, as the 13-year-old went up against some of the best swimmers in the world in the women’s 200 butterfly.
Derivaux dropped a second from her personal best time to qualify for the ‘A’ final in eighth place, clocking 2:15.20, and then in the final, she got down to 2:13.39 to finish sixth overall.
Split Comparison
| Derivaux, 2022 Junior Nationals | Derivaux, 2023 PSS Prelims | Derivax, 2023 PSS Final |
| 29.92 | 29.65 | 29.48 |
| 1:04.44 (34.52) | 1:03.82 (34.17) | 1:03.34 (33.86) |
| 1:40.51 (36.07) | 1:39.61 (35.79) | 1:38.00 (34.66) |
| 2:16.23 (35.72) | 2:15.20 (35.59) | 2:13.39 (35.39) |
Derivaux, who swims for the Jersey Wahoos, ranks second all-time in the girls’ 11-12 age group with her previous best time of 2:16.23, trailing the 2:15.02 mark established by Cassidy Bayer in 2012.
With her performance on Thursday, Derivaux now ranks second all-time in the U.S. for 13-year-old girls behind Bayer, who went 2:11.44 at the 2014 Summer Nationals.
U.S. Rankings, 13-Year-Old Girls’ 200 Butterfly (LCM)
- Cassidy Bayer (NCAP), 2:11.44 – 2014 Summer Nationals
- Audrey Derivaux (JW), 2:13.39 – 2023 Pro Swim Series – Fort Lauderdale
- Lindsay Looney (METRO), 2:14.57 – 2015 American LC Final
- Easop Lee (UN), 2:15.01 – 2013 Korea Invite
- Becca Mann (CAT), 2:15.20 – 2011 Pro Swim Series – Minneapolis
But perhaps what will stand out more for Derivaux in this swim was that she beat arguably the greatest female swimmer of all-time, and undoubtedly the best of the current generation, Katie Ledecky, head-to-head.
Ledecky, racing one of her ‘off’ events in the 200 fly, was fifth in the prelims in 2:13.77 but faded to eighth in the final in 2:17.19.
Derivaux also got experience racing against current 200 fly world champion Summer McIntosh, the second-youngest swimmer in the ‘A’ final, who broke the Canadian Record en route to victory in 2:05.05.
Despite only having recently aged up, Derivaux already ranks 25th all-time in the girls’ 13-14 age group.
She followed up this performance by making another ‘A’ final on Friday in the 200 backstroke, clocking 2:16.23 to place eighth. Her personal best time in the event sits at 2:15.77, set in July.
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