NCAA Championships, Day 4: Emma Sticklen Clips NCAA Record For Third Straight 200 Fly Title
On the first four occasions in which she swam in the NCAA final of the 200 butterfly, Emma Sticklen never led at any intermediate splits, but she still came away with two national titles. Her first win in 2023 saw Sticklen come from behind on the last 50 to take down Alex Walsh, and a year later, Sticklen picked off three swimmers (two of them Texas teammates) with her powerful underwater dolphin kickout off the final turn.
Not the case this time, with Sticklen choosing to set a furious pace and never give anyone hope of catching up. The strategy came at the expense of Walsh, who was returning to the 200 fly after opting for the 200 breaststroke instead in 2024. Sticklen clocked 23.79 after 50 yards and turned in 51.02 at the halfway point, just under a second clear of her Virginia counterpart. Walsh narrowed the gap coming home but not nearly enough to catch Sticklen.
Her usual last-second fireworks unnecessary, Sticklen’s final underwater kickout was still plenty dominant, and she touched in 1:49.11 to break Walsh’s NCAA record of 1:49.16 set last February. Sticklen had previously come one hundredth shy of the mark at last month’s SEC Championships. The time is the second-quickest effort ever recorded behind the American and U.S. Open records of 1:48.33 set by Regan Smith in 2023.
“That took a lot of confidence-building,” Sticklen said of her strategy and her three-peat. “The first time I did it was just kind of starting to believe that I could. Senior year, which was last year, I was like, ‘Can I do it again? Maybe I can. I don’t know.’ Kind of a little hesitant.
“The way I’ve swum this year and carried my energy the whole season, I’ve been like, ‘I’m going to own this from start to finish.’ I still definitely respected the field a lot. I think that’s very important as well to know that while I’ve won it the past two years, I didn’t win it until I won. I was definitely expecting there to be a fight, and I think I put up the best one.”
The swim marked the final individual race of a college career in which Sticklen arrived in Austin far from star status but became the most valuable performer on a team that finished second or third all five years of her career.
“I feel so fortunate because I think a lot of people don’t get to put a bow on swimming or their college career all the time,” Sticklen said. “Stuff doesn’t always go as planned. For me, everything didn’t go always as planned this year, but I couldn’t have asked for a better ending for my college career, and I’m really thankful for that.”
Walsh took second in 1:49.88, also under the old NCAA Championships record of 1:49.90 set by Sticklen in prelims, which in turn bested the 1:49.95 Sticklen swam two years ago. Third went to Stanford’s Caroline Bricker in 1:51.55, a strong back half helping distinguish herself from the rest of the field, which also included Virginia’s Tess Howley (1:51.79) and Michigan’s Hannah Bellard (1:51.89) getting under 1:52.
Event 19 Women 200 Yard Butterfly
=========================================================================
NCAA: N 1:49.16 2/23/2024 Alex Walsh, Virginia
Meet: M 1:49.90 3/22/2025 Emma Sticklen, Texas
American: A 1:48.33 10/20/2023Regan Smith, Sun Devils
US Open: O 1:48.33 10/20/2023Regan Smith, Sun Devils
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== Championship Final ===
1 Sticklen, Emma 5Y Texas 1:49.90 1:49.11N 20
r:+0.64 23.79 51.02 (27.23)
1:19.46 (28.44) 1:49.11 (29.65)
2 Walsh, Alex 5Y Virginia 1:52.18 1:49.88M 17
r:+0.76 24.39 51.98 (27.59)
1:20.40 (28.42) 1:49.88 (29.48)
3 Bricker, Caroline SO Stanford 1:52.13 1:51.55 16
r:+0.64 25.03 53.63 (28.60)
1:21.99 (28.36) 1:51.55 (29.56)
4 Howley, Tess SO Virginia 1:51.92 1:51.79 15
r:+0.66 24.80 52.91 (28.11)
1:22.15 (29.24) 1:51.79 (29.64)
5 Bellard, Hannah SO Michigan 1:52.86 1:51.89 14
r:+0.79 25.30 53.77 (28.47)
1:22.82 (29.05) 1:51.89 (29.07)
6 Nordmann, Lillie SR Stanford 1:52.29 1:52.10 13
r:+0.66 25.21 53.69 (28.48)
1:22.76 (29.07) 1:52.10 (29.34)
7 Stoll, Campbell SO Texas 1:52.61 1:52.29 12
r:+0.64 25.23 53.87 (28.64)
1:22.62 (28.75) 1:52.29 (29.67)
8 Pelzek, Greta SR South Carolina 1:52.91 1:53.93 11
r:+0.64 25.72 54.78 (29.06)
1:24.10 (29.32) 1:53.93 (29.83)
