Audrey Derivaux Breaks 100 FL Junior Pan Pacs Meet Record In 57.99 After Scratching Into Final

2024 JUNIOR PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS

• August 21-24, 2024
• Canberra, Australia
• LCM (50 meters)
• Live Results
• Live Stream
• All Days Prelims Heat Sheet
• Prelims Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
• Finals Recaps: Day 1  | Day 2 | Day 3

Audrey Derivaux wasn’t originally supposed to be in the championship final of the girls’ 100 butterfly at 2024 Junior Pan Pacs. But she made the opportunity of a scratch from teammate Leah Shackley, using a powerful back half to win the event and shatter the meet record with a lifetime best of 57.99.

Derivaux’s 59.19 morning swim was in the top eight prelims times but the two finals swimmers per country rule boxed her out of the final, as her American teammates Charlotte Crush (58.55) and Shackley (59.09) were both faster. But Shackley scratched the event to focus on the 200 backstroke (where she also set a meet record), putting Derivaux through to the final in her international debut meet.

Derivaux’s 57.99 breaks Maggie MacNeil‘s meet record of 58.38 from 2018. Her swim is another example of the outstanding improvement trajectory that she’s been on this season; she went under 1:00 for the first time in this event only three months ago, at May’s Martha McKee Open. In three months, she’s dropped 2.03 seconds in this event.

At the U.S. Olympic Trials, Derivaux turned heads by making the 400 IM final at 14 years old. Now 15, Derivaux has continued to make an impression in her new age group. By swimming 57.99, she’s already the 6th fastest 15-16 American girl in history.

Split Comparison

Derivaux set her previous personal best of 58.93 about a month ago at the Austin Futures Championship. While she was faster than her previous splits on both 50s, clearly the big difference is her back half, where she dropped .58 seconds from Futures to Junior Pan Pacs. While MacNeil’s second 50 was faster than Derivaux’s by .05 seconds, Derivaux had already jumped out ahead of MacNeil with a 27.33 opening 50.

But it wasn’t Derivaux leading at the 50-meter mark. Crush split 26.95 on the first 50 and continued to hold the lead through the majority of the second 50. Derivaux gained on her though, and pulled into the lead just outside of the flags. The Americans went 1-2 in the event, with Crush also getting under the previous meet record in a personal best of 58.19.