arena Swim of the Week: South African Simone Moll Hits 1:00.00 100 Breast In SCY Debut

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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.

It was a successful NCAA debut for Miami Hurricanes freshman Simone Moll, as in her first day swimming short course yards, she became one of the fastest breaststrokers in program history.

Moll, a South African native, logged a time of 1:00.00 in the women’s 100 breaststroke during Miami’s dual with FIU last weekend, making her the fourth-fastest swimmer in school history and the fastest in the NCAA so far this season by a wide margin.

Moll only trails school record holder Tara Vovk (58.89), Zorry Mason (59.60) and Fia Johansson (59.81) in Miami’s all-time performers rankings, and it seems likely she’ll move her way up the ladder and challenge Vovk’s record later this season.

 

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A native of Heidberg, South Africa, Moll committed to Miami last year with an impressive pedigree that included being a semi-finalist in the girls’ 50 and 100 breaststroke events at the 2023 World Junior Championships in Netanya.

The 19-year-old showed marked improvement during the 2024 long course season, setting lifetime bests of 31.06, 1:08.05 and 2:31.62 in the LCM 50, 100 and 200 breast, and has carried that momentum over into her debut NCAA season.

Through the first few weeks of the 2024-25 campaign, Moll ranks 1st in the 100 breast by more than two and a half seconds, with San Diego State’s Moa Bergdahl sitting 2nd at 1:02.64.

In addition to the 100 breast, Moll also put up the nation’s top time in the 200 breast (2:16.09), and added a 27.58 split on Miami’s 200 medley relay as they cruised to the meet win over FIU.

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