Disclaimer: Dolfin 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 Dolfin Swim 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.
In February, SwimSwam got a flood of 57 comments on a story about the Arizona-Arizona State dual meet – far more than any dual meet typically garners. There was a heated controversy about racing suits and plenty of predictions of doom and gloom in the post-season for Arizona State, who suited up for the rivalry dual meet.
Junior Emma Nordin won three events in that meet, going 4:41.73 in the 500, 1:44.95 in the 200 free, and 9:37.14 in the 1000 free. At the time, the 200 and 1000 times were season-bests, and the 500 within eight tenths of a second.
But despite the much-discussed fears that Arizona State couldn’t possibly swim fast ever again, having worn racing suits for one day in February, Nordin exploded at the Pac-12 Championships last week, blasting the nation’s best 500 free time and dropping four seconds from her personal best.
Nordin was a blazing 4:33.74 to win the Pac-12 title. That’s the fastest time in the nation this season by nine tenths of a second. It’s within seven tenths of a second of moving into the top 10 performers of all-time in NCAA history in the event. It also sets up Nordin as the top seed heading into this month’s NCAA Championships.
At Pac-12s, Nordin was also second in the 1650, hitting a career-best 15:52.27 and going out in a career-best 9:35.61 at the 1000 mark. She added a second-place 200 free (lifetime-best 1:43.45) to the mix as Arizona State firmly backed up their dominating win over Arizona, besting the Wildcats by 218.5 points for fifth place.
Here’s a look at Nordin’s progression over her college career so far:
| High School | College Freshman | College Sophomore | 2020 Pac-12s (Junior) | |
| 500 free | 4:45.15 | 4:46.47 | 4:37.68 | 4:33.74 |
| 200 free | 1:46.03 | 1:46.18 | 1:44.28 | 1:43.45 |
| 1650 free | 16:21.30 | 16:21.16 | 15:54.83 | 15:52.27 |
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LightStrikeTM was developed after years of research in biomechanics, active drag analysis, fabric innovation, and compression analysis. This new FINA approved suit is supported by Dr. Genadijus Sokolovas, PhD in Biomechanics and former Performance Director with USA Swimming and Styku® 3D Biomapping Engineering.
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