WATCH: Kieran Smith’s 4:06 500 Free, Race Videos from Day 2 of 2020 SECs

2020 SEC SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The first individual finals races of the 2020 SEC Champions took place tonight in Auburn, Alabama. Swimmers competed in finals of the 200 free relay, 500 free, 200 IM, and 50 free. Florida’s Kieran Smith made history tonight as he smashed the NCAA and American Record in the 500 free. Smith won the title in 4:06.32, nearly 2 seconds faster than the former NCAA Record time.

Texas A&M’s Shaine Casas became the 7th man to ever break 1:40 in the 200 IM. Casas won the title in 1:39.91 to become the 7th fastest man in history. Tennessee’s Erika Brown broke the SEC Record with the 2nd fastest 50 free in history, a 21.03. The Auburn women swam the 2nd fastest NCAA 200 free relay ever as they won the title and blew away the school record.

You can check out the men’s championship finals below, courtesy of TAMU Swim on YouTube. We’ll keep an eye out for women’s race videos, but haven’t seen them yet. SwimSwam will post those videos later on if they become available.

MEN’S 500 FREE

MEN’S 200 IM

MEN’S 50 FREE

MEN’S 200 FREE RELAY

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THEO
4 years ago

Taller distance swimmers seem to fare better in SCY, whereas shorter ones in LCM. Clark Smith is a really strong example in recent history. Erik Vendt in the other direction a bit longer ago. This of course makes sense when you think about it… the pool is 6 inches shorter for these guys than their competition, but that advantage is cut in half (or a bit more than half) when moving to LCM.

It seems less true in breast/fly/sprints, and my guess is because those also depend on being able to get in/out of the walls really fast, which is harder for taller people, so there’s more of a tradeoff than a clear advantage in the SC format. Plus… Read more »

NoFlyKick
Reply to  THEO
4 years ago

Shorter thinner folks have an aerobic advantage – it’s less work to pump blood around the body and less muscle volume demands less oxygen. LCM races have a larger aerobic component.

DrSwimPhil
4 years ago

Unpopular opinion: This swim will place unrealistic expectations on Smith for this summer.

Watching this race again, the ~10yd segment beginning with the initiation of his last stroke into the wall through his 2nd stroke off the wall on every turn was far-and-away the difference between Smith and the rest of the field. His stroke is good (obviously backed up by his 1:46-mid summer 200 LCM), but that was almost 200yds worth of the 500 that he was easily 4+ seconds better than the rest of the field. He won’t have that large of a percentage of the swim (whether it be the 200 or 400) this summer to do that to everyone else.

Svird
Reply to  DrSwimPhil
4 years ago

Ok nobody is saying he’s gonna drop a WR lol. But since he went a 1:46 last summer and is swimming well now, it’s not unreasonable to think he could be in the mix for at least the relay.

DrSwimPhil
Reply to  Svird
4 years ago

Relay? Sure
Making the team individually? That’s already a stretch, albeit he definitely has a shot
Beating Rapsys/Sun (which was said multiple times in the other thread)? Yeah..unrealistic expectations. Could it happen? Sure, and I’d be at the forefront of his bandwagon, but to EXPECT it??

Water Bug
4 years ago

Did the women not swim at SECs?

Ger
4 years ago
Ol' Longhorn
4 years ago

Really shows you how Townley’s fly-and-die swim for the record could’ve turned out differently. He was 2 sec ahead of Smith’s pace, meaning Smith back-halfed Haas’ swim by 4 seconds. I say screw NCAAs, get back to work, and go crazy at OTs and then Tokyo. This kid’s gots skeelz.

Swimmer A
4 years ago

His flip turn technique is very interesting. He takes his last stroke into the wall a lot earlier than other swimmers, and then basically glides with both arms by his side until he flips at the wall. Compare that with Walker Higgins in lane 4 at the beginning, he finishes his last stroke on each lap and immediately goes into his turn. You’re taught to do that as an age grouper cause you decelerate if both your hands are by your side, but Kiran Smith doesn’t lose any momentum. I wanna try that next time I’m in the pool.

JDSwimmer3
Reply to  Swimmer A
4 years ago

He initiates his turn with an early upper body downward movement rather than waiting to get to a “standard” distance from the wall. This allows his momentum to continue regardless of arm stroke or arm position. It’s a great technique, but must be immediately followed by a tight and fast chin tuck to the chest, otherwise the body will be too “open” to complete a tight a fast turn.

DrSwimPhil
Reply to  Swimmer A
4 years ago

He’s not “gliding with both arms by his side”. He’s already starting the turn sequence with his last stroke by diving downward. It’s all one continuous motion (from the beginning of the last stroke to the feet hitting the wall) that carries him towards the wall covering distance while flipping (ala tumbling in gymnastics).

swimgeek
Reply to  DrSwimPhil
4 years ago

“covering distance while flipping” — thank you! I’ve been looking for the right phrase to explain this to kids and failing.

Too cool for the pool
Reply to  Swimmer A
4 years ago

Not too hard either when you’re 6’6”

Sqimgod
Reply to  Swimmer A
4 years ago

Yannick agnel did the same type of flip turn

M L
Reply to  Sqimgod
4 years ago

Exactly! See his first turn in the London 200 free final for a perfect example.

Michael Schwartz
4 years ago

Goku needs to explain to Smith the finer points of powering up. It’s not even NC’s yet! You’re supposed to start out small and work your way up!

iLikePsych
Reply to  Michael Schwartz
4 years ago

Well based on DBZ pace maybe if he starts powering up now he might be close to fully charged by the time he gets to NCs

Dbswims
4 years ago

Scariest part is that it looked ez for smith.

swimgeek
Reply to  Dbswims
4 years ago

It did. And he really ramped up his tempo the final 25. It almost looked like he could have started that earlier and he had lots left in the tank. (easy for me to say sitting on my couch!)

About Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh is a former NCAA swimmer at the University of Arizona (2013-2015) and the University of Florida (2011-2013). While her college swimming career left a bit to be desired, her Snapchat chin selfies and hot takes on Twitter do not disappoint. She's also a high school graduate of The …

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