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.
A big sprint weekend from senior Julie Meynen at the SMU Classic has the Auburn Tigers looking like a team on the rise in the NCAA.
Our Swim of the Week goes to Meynen for a lifetime-best in her primary event in October – a time of year when most career-best times are coming in off-events. Meynen tied the fastest 50 free of her career, winning the SMU Classic B Final in 22.05.
Meynen was 22.05 at SECs last year. She was only 22.09 at NCAAs. Prior to last season, Meynen’s lifetime-best was 22.11 from 2017. Last year, her top time outside of the post-season was a 22.60 at the Georgia Tech Invite in mid-November.
That 22.05 leads all swimmers nationwide this year. that includes a 22.12 from star Virginia freshman Kate Douglass. Auburn also sits 1-4 in the 50 free, with Claire Fisch going 22.18 at the SMU Classic.
It was a great weekend all around for Auburn. Meynen went 48.20 in the 100 free and leads the nation there, too. Meynen’s career-best is 47.61, but she was only 47.8 last year and has only broken 48 twice in her career. Her time at SMU is a full second faster than she went at Auburn’s mid-season rest meet last year.
Fisch sits third in the 100 free (48.41). In the 200, freshman Abbey Webb is 2nd nationally for the Tigers after going 1:46.37 at the SMU Classic, and Emily Hetzer is fifth at 1:46.67. That kind of prowess through the relay-distance freestyles has Auburn looking like a tailor-made NCAA scoring team. They were 12th last year, and we ranked them 11th in our preseason Power Rankings. But they might be quickly becoming a top-10 program under new head coach Gary Taylor.
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Calypso Sheridans 400IM at the same meet would have been 9th after prelims last year at NCAAs. This swim would have scraped in Top 16. Just a casual observation.
True. But this article also wanted to highlight the entire Auburn team.
Tailor-made, more like Taylor-made. Am I right?!
Sherrard-Made more like…..
Sherrard and Louw made
She is fast BUT Erika Downtown Brown is FASTER
It was only a matter of time…