Mallory Comerford to Swim 500, Not 100 Fly, at NCAAs

The 2018 NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving Championship pre-selection psych sheets are out, with the University of Louisville’s Mallory Comerford opting out of the 100 fly, instead sticking with the 500 free.

With the absence of Stanford’s Ella Eastin in the 500, who last week posted the #2 time in the nation (4:34.04), Comerford is seeded 5th with a 4:35.78, whereas she would have been 6th in the 100 fly (50.92). In her stead, Louisville teammate Grace Oglesby moves up to the 6-spot with a 51.11.

Had Comerford not entered the 500, Louisville’s highest seed would have been freshman Sophie Cattermole at #13 with a 4:37.48.

More importantly, Comerford will try to defend her 200 free national title, which would be on the same night as the 100 fly. With co-champion Katie Ledecky out of the picture, she’ll duke it out with #1-seed Simone Manuel, #3-seed Siobhan Haughey, and the #4-and 5-seed DeLoof sisters from Michigan.

At ACCs last weekend, Comerford went 1:40.12 in her 800 free relay split, then went 1:42.17 in her individual 200 free. Her seed time of 1:41.17 is from Winter Nationals in December.

 

 

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YAS
6 years ago

Cattermole is a junior

Yozhik
6 years ago

Actually Katie Ledecky can compete indirectly at 200 free. Same way as Sarah Sjostrom did in Kazan by swimming first leg in 800 relay. But honestly I wouldn’t like that unless she breaks Franklin’s record. If she gets slower than the winner of individual race it will spark some stupid talks that she excluded 200 race to avoid embarrassment. If she is faster than anybody in individual race then it will be another kind of discussion that SHE is a real Champion and only the restriction of three events per person prevented her of proving that. And it is not true because many things happen during actual race plus a swimmer has to complete a preliminary stage.

Right Dude Here
6 years ago

Pulling what we call a “reverse Conger”

paloozas
6 years ago

katie mclaughlin is doing the double, swimming the 100 fly instead of the 500 free

Tea rex
Reply to  paloozas
6 years ago

Surprising

Bupwa
6 years ago

EVERYBODY is just skeered o Erika “BIG BAD” Brown!!!

Korn
6 years ago

It would have been funny (?) if Mallory and Katie would have skipped the 200 free!

marklewis
6 years ago

In the 500 free, Katie Ledecky likes to take control of the race by going out fast.

So Mallory will just be swimming in her wake and eating her bubbles, like Leah Smith did. Glug,glub,glub.

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  marklewis
6 years ago

but she will likely take the 200 free – which is way more interesting to watch

SwimGeek
Reply to  marklewis
6 years ago

I wish I could eat bubbles like Leah Smith going 4;28…

toastedcoconut
6 years ago

I’d say Bilquist dropping the 2 back (arguably her best event) in favor of the 100 free is a pretty big deal.

Dee
Reply to  toastedcoconut
6 years ago

This *really* excites me; I’ve said for a long while that her sprint free potential is untapped. Can’t wait to see what she does.

Ervin
Reply to  Dee
6 years ago

Disagree on the sprints. While shes looked good on relay splits (both this year and in the past) she has missed the top 16 at NCAAs in the 50 free the past 2 years. Hopefully that changes this year. On the other hand she could have been top 5, if not higher in the 200back. I dont get the move frankly….the 100 is always loaded. Anyone know if this is official?

ALEXANDER POP-OFF
Reply to  Ervin
6 years ago

She has been 1:49 in 200 back before so I am with you. However, she just hit a 21.7 pb in 50 free and can be faster. I say she makes finals. Who knows? Maybe she is focusing on sprints and has a 47 low flat start in her.

Taa
Reply to  Ervin
6 years ago

It’s exciting for a swimmer to try a new event at a championship meet. I’ll be sure to follow her progress. And also great to see her coach have a little flexibility and support her swimmer

Double Arm Freestyle
Reply to  toastedcoconut
6 years ago

That is big

Pvdh
Reply to  Double Arm Freestyle
6 years ago

If true.

About Torrey Hart

Torrey Hart

Torrey is from Oakland, CA, and majored in media studies and American studies at Claremont McKenna College, where she swam distance freestyle for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps team. Outside of SwimSwam, she has bylines at Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, SB Nation, and The Student Life newspaper.

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