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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.
The Southern Illinois University swimmers went on a record-breaking spree last weekend at the A3 Performance Invitational, and leading the charge for the Salukis was junior Olivia Herron.
Herron, 20, reset four SIU School Records at the meet, headlined by her performance in the 200 IM.
Entering the season, the program record in the event stood at 2:00.74, set by Celia Pulido at the 2022 A3 Performance Invite, and Herron came into her junior year with a lifetime best of 2:01.21.
After breaking Pulido’s record during a tri-meet at the beginning of November in 1:58.80, Herron took the mark all the way down to 1:57.21 last weekend, putting her more than three and a half seconds under where the record stood entering the season.
Split Comparison
| Pulido, 2022 | Herron, Old Record | Herron, New Record |
| 24.91 | 25.91 | 25.69 |
| 53.86 (28.95) | 55.96 (30.05) | 55.15 (29.46) |
| 1:31.65 (37.79) | 1:29.77 (33.81) | 1:28.57 (33.42) |
| 2:00.74 (29.09) | 1:58.80 (29.03) | 1:57.21 (28.64) |
Herron’s performance ranks her 12th in the NCAA this season and 1st among mid-major swimmers by a wide margin—though the vast majority of teams have yet to race their midseason invitational meets.
In addition to the 200 IM record, Herron also broke School Records in the 100 breast, 200 breast and 400 IM, all marks she had broken lowered earlier in the season as well.
In the 100 breast, Herron clocked 1:00.83 to reset the record of 1:01.00 she set in October, having entered the season as the record-holder at 1:01.09.
In the 200 breast, she broke both her school and Missouri Valley Conference Record twice, first clocking 2:09.63 in the prelims to down her previous record of 2:11.13 from last month. She followed up by winning the final and re-lowering the record in 2:09.60. Coming into the season she held the record at 2:11.88.
In the 400 IM, racing as exhibition, she clocked 4:16.25 in the prelims, resetting the record of 4:17.17 she set in October. She also held that record coming into the season, having gone 4:18.34 at the 2023 Missouri Valley Conference Championships en route to a runner-up finish.
In addition to her impressive individual results, Herron also played a crucial role on three winning relays for the Salukis, splitting 27.67 on breast in the 200 medley and 1:00.38 in the 400 medley as the team set two more Program Records. Herron also had the fastest split in the field on the winning 800 free relay (1:51.19).
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