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.
If it weren’t for a back injury to reigning ISL MVP Sarah Sjostrom, we might never have gotten to see it.
Maddy Banic‘s 24.97 blowup swim in the 50 short course meter butterfly, that is. Pressed into action with Sjostrom sidelined, Banic went from a relay-only swimmer for Energy Standard in the season opener to an event winner.
Banic, an alumnus of the University of Tennessee’s swim program, competed in just two ISL meets last season, swimming a total of three 4×100 free relay legs across two meets for the LA Current.
Now signed with the defending league champs, Banic swam three relays in week 1, starting to make some waves with a 56.2 butterfly split on Energy Standard’s B medley relay – that was the third-best split in the eight-team field.
But heading into the weekend, Banic still had zero career swims in USA Swimming’s database in short course meter butterfly. It was her first-ever official 50 fly that picked up the key win and surged her to the #2 American performer of all-time:
Top U.S. Performers All-Time, 50 SCM Fly
- Kelsi Dahlia (2018) – 24.93
- Maddy Banic (2020) – 24.97
- Alyssa Marsh (2020) – 25.37
- Lara Jackson (2009) – 25.44
- Erika Brown (2020) – 25.58
Banic could be chasing the American record as soon as Friday, when Energy Standard will wrap up match #7. Banic is also the #13 performer of all-time among all nationalities, and would only need a 24.80 to crack the top 10.
She also came through with a huge 55.69 in the 100 fly last week. That makes her the #15 performer of all-time, and like the 50 fly, it was her first-ever official swim in the short course meters version of the event. She’s third among Americans all-time behind Dahlia and Dana Vollmer.
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It will be fun to watch her continue to develop internationally.