Lilly King Blasts #2, Kierra Smith #5 All-Time 200 Breast at B1Gs

2017 B1G WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS

Tonight in the nail-bitingly exciting race that we have been waiting for all week, Olympic gold medalist sophomore Lilly King of Indiana and Olympic finalist senior Kierra Smith of Minnesota faced off on the Big Ten Conference Championship stage for the first time in the 200 breast.

And, boy, did they deliver. Though King didn’t quite take down her Big Ten (and NCAA, and American, and U.S. Open, and, heck, Indiana University) record of 2:03.59, she did set new Big Ten meet and Purdue pool records, and, more importantly, put up the second-fastest time in history.

Smith was on her tail the whole time. Though King definitely swam her 200 breast like more of a breaststroke 100 specialist, going out fast with a 27.29 first 50, Smith swam hers with a strong back half, outsplitting King in the final 50: 32.08 to 32.86. You can see a split comparison below:

The two swimmers took the second and fifth fastest swims in history, with Smith bumping down Breeja Larson to become the third-fastest swimmer all-time. You can see the top ten performances in history below:

  1. Lilly King: 2:03.59 (2016)
  2. Lilly King: 2:04.03 (2017)
  3. Emma Reaney: 2:04.06 (2014)
  4. Emma Reaney: 2:04.34 (2014)
  5. Kierra Smith: 2:04.37 (2017)
  6. Breeja Larson: 2:04.48 (2012)
  7. Breeja Larson: 2:04.48 (2014)
  8. Kierra Smith: 2:04.56 (2015)
  9. Rebecca Soni: 2:04.75 (2009)
  10. Caitlin Leverenz: 2:04.76 (2012)
  11. Breeja Larson: 2:04.92 (2014)

 

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Maddy
7 years ago

Kierra Smith should also have a No. 8 ranking for her 2:04.56 at the 2015 NCAA Championships!

SwimmerFoxJet
7 years ago

Today I had a meet, and one of the swimmers called Sierra Smith won a race. The confusion.

sven
7 years ago

Small correction: Larson would be bumped to fourth fastest all time after these swims, not third.

Amazed
7 years ago

King’s first 100 would have gotten 2nd in the 100.

Swimfish87
7 years ago

You need to post a video of the 100 from last night

Coach Mike 1952
Reply to  Swimfish87
7 years ago

Please! And thank you.

About Hannah Hecht

Hannah Hecht

Hannah Hecht grew up in Kansas and spent most of her childhood trying to convince coaches to let her swim backstroke in freestyle sets. She took her passion to Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa and swam at NAIA Nationals all four years. After graduating in 2015, she moved to …

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