2021 ACC WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS
- When: Wednesday, February 17th – Saturday, February 20th | Prelims: 11:00 am | Finals: 7:00 pm (EST) (Except Wednesday’s timed finals, which begin at 5:15 EST)
- Where: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC
- Defending Champion: University of Virginia (x1) (results)
- Format: 25 Yards/Short Course Yards (SCY)
- Championship Central: Here
- Championship Manual
- Psych Sheets (uncut)
- Live Results
- Day 4 heat sheets
University of Virginia sophomore Kate Douglass won’t attempt the 200 breaststroke on the final day of the 2021 ACC Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships, where she’s the current ACC Record holder and currently has the fastest time in the nation by over 2 seconds.
Instead, she’ll swim as the top seed in the 100 free, where her 46.86 season best gives her a second-and-a-half seed clearance over NC State junior Kylee Alons as the #2 seed. Alons won the 50 free already previously in the meet.
Last season at these ACC Championships, Douglass finished 3rd in the 200 breaststroke in 2:05.89, behind NC State’s Sophie Hansson and her Virginia teammate Ella Nelson. The top 14 swimmers form last year’s 200 breaststroke were all non-seniors last season.
In the 100 free, her teammate Morgan Hill won last season but graduated, while Alons placed 2nd last year.
In her previous individual swims this week, Douglass placed 2nd to teammate Alex Walsh in the 200 IM on Thursday and then won the 100 fly in a new ACC Championship Record of 49.96 on Friday. Her Virginia team enters the meet with a 157 point lead over NC State, which means event selection as it pertains to a team title is less important with the Cavaliers in a dominant position.
With the 400 free also scheduled for Saturday evening, this gives Douglass 3 cracks at a 100 free on Saturday.
Significant Day 4 Scratches:
- The #2 seed in the women’s 200 backstroke, Virginia’s Paige Madden, has scratched the event. Madden will swim the mile, where she’s an NCAA title contender. NC State’s Katherine Berkoff now holding the top seed in 1:50.20, which she swam at the team’s mid-season invitational. Berkoff won the 100 back by over a second on Friday and will be chasing her high school best of 1:50.13 on Saturday.
- The #4 seed Sophie Lindner, one of a number of UNC swimmers who aren’t at this meet because of COVID-19 protocols, and the #11 seed Alons have also scratched the 200 back. Virginia super-freshman Alex Walsh, who won the 200 IM on Thursday, now lurks as the #3 seed post-scratches.
- Berkoff, the #3 seed, has scratched the 100 free in favor of the aforementioned 200 back, while UNC’s Heidi Lowe, another COVID scratch, is also absent as the #9 seed.
- Douglass and Walsh, the top 2 seeds in the 200 breaststroke, have both scratched for Virginia. That leaves NC State’s Andrea Podmanikova as the #1 seed ahead of Virginia’s Ella Nelson. NC State’s Sophie Hansson, the defending champion in the event, enters the race as the post-scratch #11 seed with a season-best of just 2:11.98. After her 100 victory on Friday, though, she’s probably the favorite here still.
She has the coolest skill set I’ve seen in ages. What fun when putting together meet lineups.
A question for those who’ve been involved a top conference meet: how much “deciding” does a college kid do in a conference meet? In football, the coach(es) decide who’s starting, and what plays are called.
Curious how it works in college.
In HS a few years ago, I watched a coach not swim a faster kid who already had a cut at a regional meet so another could get to states on place.
Honestly not much. It does depend on the coach but in my experience most of the time the swimmer has very little say at a meet like this.
If your school is clearly in the lead and points don’t matter then the swimmer will have more of a say but when a title is on the line the coach has the final say.
I would agree with College Swimmer. It’s been a few years since I was competing as a college swimmer, but my coach always signed me up for 200IM/500FR on Day 1 and 400IM/200FR on Day 2 for our mid-season taper and conference (NCs I never made it for more than 2 events). Usually was just a matter of looking at the psych sheet and determining which one I was more likely to final in and earn more points.
I remember my sophomore year at my conference meet, I was seeded at 8th in the 400IM and 3rd in the 200FR, but I was still pushed into the 400IM because there was less likely to be “movement” among the top seeds… Read more »