Early Years
Comerford was born on September 6th, 1997. She is the daughter of Laurie Comerford, and Scott and Laura Comerford.
As a freshman, Comerford won the Michigan State High School Championships in the 50 and 100 free and then as a sophomore won the 200 and 500 Frees. As a junior, Comerford did not compete at the high school level. Comerford was named the Michigan Swimmer of the Year Award as a freshman and sophomore. She earned All-American status in the 50, 100, 200 and 500 freestyles, She is the Michigan state Division 3 record-holder in the 100, 200, and 500 free.
National Junior Team
In the summer of 2015, she was named to the 2015-16 National Junior team roster as USA Swimming selected 114 of the nation’s top up-and-coming swimmers, qualifying in the 100- and 200-freesyle.
University of Louisville
2015-2016
At the NCAA Division I Women’s Championships she was a two-time finalist as an individual with a silver medal in the 200-free, going 1:42.54 and was eighth place 500-meter free, clocking in at 4:38.25. In relays, she was a part of the seventh place 800-free relay, splitting 1:42.72 as part of the posted time of 6:59.58.
2016-2017
Katie Ledecky and Mallory Comerford with their first-place tie trophies from the 200 free.
Comerford finished fourth in the 500 Free with a time of 4:36.16, just missing third place by .03 seconds. She anchored Louisville’s fourth place 400 Medley Relay team splitting a 46.13.
The 200 Free could be considered one of the biggest almost upsets as Comerford tied the swimming phenom, Katie Ledecky for first place, both touching the wall at 1:40.36. Beating third place finisher Simone Manuel by .34 seconds. Comerford then finished in third place in the 100 free with a time of 46.35 just .05 seconds out of second place. Comerford swam the second leg on Louisville’s sixth place 400 free relay, splitting a 46.38.
2017-2018
Comerford had another successful season with the Cardinals as she helped the team finish fifth at the NCAAs. She defended her title in the 200 freestyle and became the second woman to swim under 1:40 in the event. She went a 1:39.80 and took first by 0.89 seconds. She also finished second in the 100 freestyle with a new best time of 46.20.
2018-2019
Comerford saved the best for last, not only 3-peating in the 200 free (1:40.26) but also winning her first title in the 100 free (46.26). She also placed 3rd in the 50 free (21.49) and helped Louisville to it’s first ever team trophy, placing 4th overall in the team race.
2017 US World Championship Team Trials
Comerford made the US Team by finishing first in the 100 M Free. Comerford set a meet record in her morning swim, and then came back at night and swam .04 seconds faster, setting a new Meet, and US Open Record with a time of 52.81. This time puts her ranked third in the world. Comerford finished fourth in the 2o0M Free likely earning her a spot on the US 4x200M Free Relay. Comerford just missed making the team in another individual event, finishing third in the 100M Fly just 0.01 out of second place.
2017 FINA World Championships
In the 4×100 freestyle relay Comerford took down the American Record in the 100 free with her 52.59 opening split. That shaved just over a tenth off the former record, which was set at a 52.70 by Simone Manuel when she tied for Olympic gold last summer. Comerford was 2nd on the leadoff leg only to Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom, who smashed the World Record with a 51.71.
Day five of competition in the women’s final of the 4x200m freestyle relay, Leah Smith led off for the Americans in a personal best 1:55.97. Comerford (1:56.92) and Melanie Margalis (1:56.48) took over the middle legs of the relay as they battled down the stretch with China and Russia. It was a very tight race with China going into the final leg, but Katie Ledecky took off with a 1:54.02 split to help the Americans strike gold again.
2017 Winter National Championships
Comerford had an impressive showing in Columbus, Ohio as she broke two Championship Records. Her first record came in the 200 freestyle when she beat Missy Franklin’s time of 1:41.40 by 0.23 seconds. On the last day of the meet, Comerford stormed into a quick 46.70 which took down Natalie Coughlin’s previous record by 0.15 seconds.
SwimSwam Magazine Cover – 2018
Mallory Comerford graced the covered of SwimSwam Magazine’s 2018 Spring Issue, WOMEN IN SWIMMING. Comerford’s progress at the University of Louisville has extreme, notably tying Olympic Champion Katie Ledecky in the 200 yard freestyle at the 2017 Women’s NCAA DI Championships. She defended her 200 yard free title at the 2018 Women’s NCAA DI Championships touching in 1:39.80, only the second woman to break the 1:40 barrier along with Olympic Champion Missy Franklin.
2018 U.S. National Championships
Comerford finished as the runnerup in the 100 freestyle behind Simone Manuel (53.09) and fourth in the 100 butterfly (57.95). She also placed seventh in the 200 freestyle (1:58.38) after swimming 1:57.92 in the prelims.
2018 Pan Pacific Championships
After swimming prelims of the 200 free on day 1, Comerford qualified for the finals of the 100 free on day 2. In finals, she swam to 4th in a time of 52.94, just outside of medaling. On day 3, she led of team USA’s 4×100 free relay (53.48) to help them to a 2nd place finish.
2018 Short Course World Championships
On day 1 of the championships, Comerford pulled a double, first earning individual silver in the women’s 200 freestyle, and then swimming the 3rd leg on the women’s 4×100 free relay to help team USA earn gold. On day 2, she was on both gold medal and world record relays, anchoring the women’s 4×50 medley and going 3rd on the mixed 4×50 free relay. On day 3, she raced her away to individual bronze, this time in the women’s 100 free, breaking an American record in the process (51.63).
On day 5, Comerford once again joined team USA on the women’s 4×200 free relay, helping them to silver behind a red-hot home crowd favorite Chinese team. On the final day of competition, Comerford swam in the final of the 50 free, racing to 4th just outside of medals as well as the American record. She started the session with a win in the women’s 4×50 free relay, and finished her meet with another gold, anchoring the women’s 4×100 medley relay in a dominant performance that set a meet and American record.
ISL – Cali Condors
On June 11, 2019, Mallory Comerford was announced as a member of the Cali Condors ISL team, headed by GM Jason Lezak.
2019 World Championships
Comerford started her world championships in the women’s 4×100 free relay, where she led off in 52.98 to help USA get a silver medal. She was back on Day 4 in the prelims of the 4×100 mixed medley relay, anchoring in 52.78, which went on to earn a silver medal in the final heat.
On Day 6, Comerford swam in the finals on the mixed 4×100 free relay, where she split 52.72 to help Team USA garner gold in a new world record. On the final day, Comerford swam on the prelims relay of the 4×100 medley relay, splitting 53.05 to help USA gain the top seed, which they held in finals to earn gold.
2022 World Championships
In Budapest, Comerford swam in the prelims of the 400 free relay on day 1, splitting 53.86 to help secure the 2nd seed for team USA. In the final, the US finished in 3rd, netting comerford a bronze medal.
