2019 NCAA DIVISION III MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Dates: Wednesday, March 20 – Saturday, March 23, 2019
- Swimming: prelims 10am, finals 6pm; Diving: 2pm
- Location: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champions: Denison (results)
- Digital Program
- Official Psych Sheet
- Live Results │ Diving Results
- Championship Central
At last year’s NCAA championship, Kenyon’s David Fitch turned heads in his freshman debut, as he did flip turns on every wall of his 100 fly leg of the Lords’ 400 medley relay. Many of our readers were skeptical of this strategy, especially considering his split in the relay was almost a second slower than his previous best time, which was without the flip turns.
It appears, however, that the jury has reached a verdict. In the finals of the 100 fly at the 2019 NCAA DIII Championships, Fitch won the event en route to a new national record time of 46.92 – sporting flip turns at every wall along the way. That time is a 0.51 second drop from his prelims time of 47.43, as well as a 0.82 second drop from his previous best of 47.74 from Kenyon’s mid season invite, which was also with the flip-turns.
Note: In order for a butterfly/breaststroke flip turn to be legal, the swimmer must first touch the wall with two hands before initiating the flip.
Here’s a comparison of the splits from the previous and current records:
| Reed Dalton 3/17/2015 | David Fitch 3/21/2019 | |
| First 50 | 22.03 | 21.74 |
| Second 50 | 24.94 | 25.18 |
| FINAL TIME | 46.97 Old Record |
46.92 *NEW RECORD*
|
Although he’s getting less oxygen off the walls without the breath from the open turn, Fitch managed to hit roughly 12.5 yards off of every wall; and he wasn’t even breathing every stroke when he was up. He’s a short and stocky guy – perhaps his size helps him get a shorter stroke into the wall, which is likely necessary to execute the turn fast. Either way, the strategy seems to be paying dividends for the sophomore.
Fitch finished 5th in the 50 free on night with a 20.08. He’s scheduled to swim the 100 back tomorrow, where he’s seeded second with a 47.89.
I think a few things need to be in place for this to happen… And Fitch has all of them… 1) shorter build, with a 2) good wingspan, but most importantly… 3) freaky athleticism
Video?
Elizabeth Tinnon did it back in the day for Texas. She was darn good at it too!
I feel like this would add a lot of time. Perhaps a 46.3 with no flip turns
48.4 best time prior to college. 46.9 two years into it. Clearly the turns didn’t shave off 1.5 seconds…but they sure as heck ain’t slowing this kid down.
My son can also do this — his ability to execute this turn we believe has to do with a larger than normal wingspan for his height and shorter legs. You have to time the stroke perfectly @ the touch, get a tight tuck and flip quickly. Other swimmers of similar height (all under 6′) have done it, with most slamming their heels into the wall. My son’s wingspan measures at least 6’2″ — but he’s only 5’9-5’10. The extra reach helps.
Can’t speak for every swimmer… but watching him do it…. it pretty clearly looks faster. I was really impressed with how he did that actually. Heck of a flip turn on that dude
I was at the meet this morning, David Fitch’s flip turn on fly is very fast and it is legal.
I did not count the number of kicks off the wall but he kicks about 11 or 12 meters and then breathes on his third stroke off of the wall.
The first time I saw it (200 MR on Wednesday morning) I had a little bit of Ye Shiwen Deja’s Vu. I was sitting in the Kenyon section and a friend of mine said “oh yeah, that’s kind of different,” but she had seen it before.
When DF swam this morning I was specifically paying attention to him in the heat. It’s a very fast turn, he… Read more »
Man, he must be quick. Maybe in breaststroke but in fly….