2024 WOMEN’S NCAA SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- March 20-23, 2024
- Gabrielsen Natatorium, Athens, Georgia
- Short Course Yards (25 yards)
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheets
- SwimSwam Preview Index
- Live Results
- Live Stream
- SwimSwam Pick ’em Contest
Virginia junior Gretchen Walsh just went 7-for-7 at the NCAA Swimming Championships, breaking NCAA records in all 3 of her individual events, swimming on 4 winning relays, and helping UVA to a team title. Is this the best swimming performance EVER at an NCAA Championships?
I pulled some of the other historically great performances from NCAAs (from the 2000s) to compare them to Gretchen’s meet.
***Key for Coleman shorthand***
Next Fastest = the next fastest all-time performer at the time
Next Competitor = the next fastest swimmer in the heat that the NCAA record was set
Gretchen Walsh (UVA 1st)
200 Md-R: 22.1 (1st) (fastest ever)
200 Fr-R: 20.23 (1st) (has fastest ever split)
400 Md-R: 48.2 (1st) (no one faster aside from herself)
400 Fr-R: 45.17 (1st) (fastest ever)
50 Free – 20.37 (next fastest 20.7) +0.4
100 fly – 47.42 (next fastest 48.4) +1.0
100 free – 44.84 (next fastest 45.5) +0.7
Leon Marchand 2023 (ASU 2nd)
800 Fr-R: 1:28.4 (2nd) (fastest ever)
400 Md-R: 49.2 (3rd) (fastest ever)
200 Md-R: 22.2 (2nd) (fastest ever)
400 Fr-R: 40.5 (3rd) (it’s up there)
200 IM – 1:36.3 (next competitor 1:38.1) +1.8
400 IM – 3:28.8 (next fastest 3:32.8) +4.0
200 Breast – 1:46.9 (next fastest 1:47.9) +1.0
Caeleb Dressel 2018 (UF 5th)
200 Fr-R: 17:81 (1st) (fastest ever)
400 Md-R: 50.6 (5th) (2nd fastest of field)
200 Md-R: 17.3 (3rd) (fastest ever)
400 Fr-R: 40.2 (2nd) (fastest ever)
50 Free – 17.63 (next fastest 18.4) +0.8
100 fly – 42.8 (next fastest 43.7) +0.9
100 free – 39.9 (next fastest 40.7) +0.8
Natalie Coughlin 2002 (Cal 6th)
200 Fr-R: 21.5 (4th) (2nd fastest of field)
400 Md-R: 50.5 (2nd) (no one faster aside from herself)
200 Md-R: 23.4 (2nd) (+2 ahead of field lol fastest ever)
400 Fr-R: 47.47 (5th) (NCAA RECORD)
100 fly – 50.01 (next fastest 51.07) +1.0
100 back – 49.97 (next competitor 53.2) +3.3 <<<whatttttttt
200 back – 1:49.5 (next competitor 1:54.1) +4.6
I’m offended.
Would love to know what Desorbo had Walsh do on relays. Were starts supposed to be safe?
Gretchen’s flat start reaction time was well talked about. I thought there was a small chance she could go 43.9 after seeing her 44.8 flat start 100 free
There is a good chance G Walsh could set 4 wr’s this week in scm 100 free/back/fly and 50 free
With that said, Natalie was so versatile. Fastest at 50/100/200 free, fly, back, and im
I’m not sure there is a right answer in who’s better, but Walsh has one more year to make her case
Fun to watch!
GOAT is discussion is one of the most idiotic thing that happens all the time in USA, endless debate without any good parameters….
44.8 is GOAT. Undisputed.
I’m not sure what the margins of victory for Tracy Caulkins at NCAAs were, but I can imagine they were pretty massive. Just for scope, her American record of 4:04.63 in the 400 IM in 1981 would still make finals at NCAAs today. She had both IM records for over a decade.
I’m going to guess that Tracy would win by huge margins. Let’s look at her 1984 NCAAs
100 breast – 1:01.37 (The winning times in 1985 and 1986 were over a second slower)
200 fly – 1:55.55 (the time was beaten the following year by Meagher, but after she graduated, it took until 1990 for the winning time to be faster than Caulkins’ time)
200… Read more »
The exclusion of KD is so flagrant from the comments. She changed our perspective on what is possible in swimming not just from the times but from her level of versatility. That I think is unmatched, perhaps only by March and.
Not including Douglass is so insane. Using the eye test and the experience of watching, seeing Douglass take the 2 breast and 2 Im records to insane new levels while also putting up all time sprinting performances was completely mind boggling at the time and was a wild experience. Obviously Gretchen was a similar experience it may not have been as mind blowing bc of what and both sisters did last year but Douglass has to be in the convo.
Best women’s NCAAs? yes… best between men and women? I said it somewhere else, I dont think so.
Caleb took the 50 into another stratosphere. and not jut slightly, he went so far beyond anyones predictions.
Then… did it AGAIN with the 100 fly. 42!!!! smashed any expectations anyone had.
THEN WENT A 39.9 100 free! the first. and at the end said “I am kinda tired” dude went 39.9 TIRED.
There’s beating expectations, there is breaking records. and then there is what CD did and he showed us the “boundaries” we think we have are set too low. Before CDs NCAAs… we dared to even dream of a 17, 42, and a 39.9. now we… Read more »
not to mention tossing in a near NCAA record on 100 breast and destroying the 2IM record. Versatility. Why didn’t he ever put up a 2Free? He left it to Dean Farris when he could have been 1:27 probably. Waah – I would have loved to see that.