2020 SEC SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, February 18 – Saturday, February 22, 2020
- Auburn, AL – James E. Martin Aquatic Center
- Prelims/Finals: 9:30 AM/5:30 PM Wed-Sat, 10/4:20PM Tues (Central Standard Time)
- Defending Champion: Florida (7x) (results)
- Live Video – SEC Network+ (prelims), ESPN (finals)
- Men’s Fan Guide
- Women’s Fan Guide
- Psych Sheets
Florida’s Kieran Smith is now the fastest man in history. On night 2 of the 2020 SEC Championships, Smith ran away with the 500 free. His 4:06.32 broke the NCAA Record, formerly held by Townley Haas, by nearly 2 seconds and broke the American Record, formerly held by Zane Grothe, by nearly a second. Coming into this meet, Smith had a best of 4:16.96 from 2017. He was the 2019 SEC Champion in the 200 IM, but chose this event instead today.
Courtesy of TAMU Swim Dive
SPLITS COMPARISON:
| GROTHE, 2017 WINTER NATIONALS | CLARK SMITH, 2017 NCAA’S | HAAS, 2018 NCAA’S | HAAS, 2019 NCAA’S |
KIERAN SMITH, 2020 SECS
|
| 47.58 | 47.34 | 47.41 | 46.38 | 47.28 |
| 1:38.07 (50.50) | 1:37.47 (50.13) | 1:38.11 (50.70) | 1:35.69 (49.31) | 1:37.08 (49.80) |
| 2:28.39 (50.31) | 2:27.44 (49.97) | 2:29.02 (50.91) | 2:25.70 (50.01) | 2:27.35 (50.27) |
| 3:18.07 (49.68) | 3:18.30 (50.86) | 3:19.77 (50.75) | 3:17.27 (51.57) | 3:17.25 (49.90) |
| 4:07.25 (49.18) | 4:08.42 (50.12) | 4:08.60 (48.83) | 4:08.19 (50.92) | 4:06.32 (49.07) |
Smith was over 4 seconds ahead of the field and he finshed 4 seconds faster than the former SEC Meet Record. Texas A&M’s Mark Theall (4:10.77) and Florida’s Bobby Finke (4:10.86) rounded out the podium.
Tonight’s victory came after an electric start to the meet. Last night, Smith had dropped nearly 4 seconds from his best in the 200 free on the leadoff leg of the 800 free relay. His 1:30.11 there made him the 4th fastest man in history. You can watch that race here.
I’m almost as impressed he split an 18.9 before this race…
warm up for the 500!
Do you thin the 200y record will fall this year or next year, in an electric final with Dean Farris?
I think swimmers should be made to count their laps, save for the last length, themselves. Otherwise, why not tell them their DPS, SWOLF, time and place after each lap, too?
You are obviously not a swimmer
Dude is on fire. Not even NC2’s yet either.
Never post the same comment in two different stories on the same day unless you want to confuse people.
Is it possible we now see an explosion similar to when Townley went 1:30 in the 200, but now in the 500? I think Clark Smith may have been right when he said this record is soft.
#2 on ESPN’s Top Ten plays tonight
Then what on earth was #1??
Hmm, big big improvement.
I saw this kid go 1:35 unrested and unchallenged as a Senior in HS. There’s no hmm
Crazy to think that Lochte might be Florida’s 3rd or 4th best 200 LCM freestyler now
He can benefit from those guys as training partners ….best group for him heading into Trials