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In a weekend that looked to be pretty quiet on paper, Division III swimmers across the country made an impact on the national rankings, record books and more.
Three women in particular kept things interesting as most teams are in the final preparations for their upcoming conference championships. From the bitter cold of Massachusetts to the sunny skies of California, here are this week’s top quick swims from coast to coast:
Little East Championships: Walsh Breaks Three
Photo Courtesy: Keene State Swimming
Keene State College junior Hope Walsh broke the LEC conference records in the 1,000, 200 and 500 freestyles on Saturday. She was also a member of the winning 400 freestyle relay with teammates Margaret Dean, Katie Brandeberry and Rachel MacKinnon.
To open the meet, Walsh swam a 10:20.93 in the 1,000 to break the previous meet record by over 30 seconds. This swim puts her fifth in the national rankings. She took out the race in a season-best 500 (5:08.8) and broke the previous Keene State school record of 10:28.34 set in 2013. This is the fastest 1,000 of Walsh’s career and puts her in serious contention to qualify for the NCAA Championships in the mile in March.
Walsh also broke the conference marks in the 200 free (1:55.43) and 500 free (5:10.22). Her efforts helped boost Keene State to its eleventh-straight Little East Conference title.
Pomona-Pitzer vs. Claremont Mudd Scripps: Kauahi Splits 22.93
Photo Courtesy: Pomona-Pitzer Swimming
While Pomona-Pitzer’s Maddie Kauahi did not improve her national rankings in the individual 50 free, she swam an impressive 23.97 to take the event in a dual meet against Claremont Mudd Scripps. But this was not even the highight of the day. Her most notable swim, a 22.93 50 free split, came in the 200 medley relay.
Kauahi’s 23.97 is the fastest she has gone so far this season and is .01 faster than what she swam at this meet last year. To be less than four tenths of a second off her December time in this event is a good sign for Kauahi being just a few weeks out from the SCIAC Championships.
The true difference between this year’s meet and last is Kauahi’s 22.93 freestyle split to anchor the 200 medley relay. Few females in Division III have split under 23 seconds so far this season, especially in a dual meet scenario.
The Pomona-Pitzer 200 medley relay team has a good shot of qualifying for NCAAs in this event since their 1:45.47 from this weekend gives them an eighth place rank among many rested and suited swims. This swim earned the team an NCAA B cut; Kauahi, Erin Bigus (30.50) and Sarah Jin (25.31) all lowered their splits from December, while backstroker Angela Ling was .40 seconds off her split, showing even more room for improvement at the conference meet.
Kauahi was also victorious against CMS in the 100 free (52.68) and earned runner-up honors in the 400 freestyle relay (52.96/3:36.50).
Springfield vs. Holy Cross: Medeiros Splits Butterfly Events
Photo Courtesy: Springfield Athletics
Top-ten ranked Emily Medeiros of Springfield had an interesting weekend as well, focusing on the butterfly events instead of her signature breaststroke races this time around. In a tight match up against Holy Cross where the Pride ended up the win 153.5-144.5, Medeiros split her events going two for four.
Despite her efforts to out-split Holy Cross’ Maura Mullaney in the 200 medley relay, the Pride took second, 1:53.27 to 1:53.73. Mullaney then took the 200 fly 2:12.56 to 2:12.89. A late charge from Medeiros was not enough as Mullaney led the race from start to finish.
Medeiros did turn her meet around in the 100 butterfly, beating Mullaney by over a full second in the shorter distance. She then teamed up with Kate O’Connor, Haley Cordery and Olivia Paione to take the 400 free relay in 3:41.95.
With conference meets quickly approaching, these women are the just the beginning of the fast swimming to come over the next month. But you can expect to see these three, the best of the east and west, in Shenandoah come March.
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Congrats to sophie and Keene state.?????