Sophie Hansson Takes Back ACC 100 Breast Records With 57.45, 3rd-Straight Title

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

Coming into this week, NC State junior Sophie Hansson owned the ACC conference and meet records in the 100 breast with a time of 57.74, the mark she’d recorded winning the event both in 2019 and 2020.

This morning, UVA junior Alexis Wenger wrested those records from Hansson with a 57.67 in prelims, but that time stood for only roughly 8 hours.

Tonight, the pair dueled it out in the middle of what proved to be one of the fastest championship final heats ever. Wenger got out to an early lead with a 27.02 split at the halfway mark, but Hansson overhauled the Cavalier down the stretch to win 57.45 to 57.60, with both women finish under Wenger’s record from this morning.

The top three finishers all hit new personal bests, as NC State junior Andrea Podmaníková broke 59 for the first time this morning with a 58.84, then dropped to 58.10 in finals to take 3rd.

With two swimmers under 58, six under 59, and the entire A-final under 60 seconds, this was one of the fastest conference championship meets ever in this event. By way of comparison, the 2018 NCAA Championships A-final had the same name of women under each of those marks, although, of course, that included all-time record holder Lilly King, who went 56.25 there before lowering the record to 55.73 the next year. Hansson and Wenger were part of that championship final in 2019, with Hansson taking 3rd in 57.90 and Wenger finishing 6th with a 58.64.