Arkansas’ Anna Hopkin Split 45.78 on 400 Medley Relay Anchor

2020 SEC SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

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Arkansas’ women’s 400 medley relay may have only finished 10th place on Friday evening at the SEC Swimming & Diving Championships, but their senior anchor Anna Hopkin is still going to steal the headline.

After earlier in the meet splitting a 20.27 on Arkansas’ free relay, Hopkin has now split 45.78 on the anchor leg of their 400 medley relay. While no official records are kept for relay splits, our records indicate that this is the 5th-best 100 yard freestyle relay split in history.

1. Simone Manuel, 45.45, 2015 NCAA Championships
2. Simone Manuel, 45.47, 2018 NCAA Championships
3. Taylor Ruck, 45.65, 2019 NCAA Championships
4. Mallory Comerford, 45.74, 2018 NCAA Championships
5. Anna Hopkin, 45.78, 2020 SEC Championships

On paper, Hopkins’ 50 free split was the fastest-ever in history, though in practice, the -.05 recorded reaction pad time, combined with the fact that an early start was overturned by officials on review, means that it probably wasn’t an actual 20.27, though it may still have been the fastest split ever. This time, with a recorded .32 reaction time, her start was much safer.

Regardless, Hopkin, who came to Arkansas after spending her first 2 years of college swimming in her native UK at the University of Bath, has had one of the most meteoric rises in recent memory in college swimming.

Arkansas sits in 11th place after 4 days of competition at tthe SEC Championships, 19 points behind LSU for 10th.