The 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Championships continued with an elite race in the 100 butterfly.
The race features, the defending champion, the NCAA record holder, the meet record holder, the world champion, the Olympic gold medalist, four Olympians and five national team members.
It ended in an NCAA and American record.
Kate Douglass continues her all-out assault on the record books.
Last year, she became the first swimmer in NCAA history to win national championships in three different strokes that were also three different distances.
It is difficult to build a legacy more impactful, but this season, Douglass has done it, obliterating records and leading Virginia toward a three-peat.
With all eyes on a stacked field and no margin for error, Douglass was at her best, soaring to the 100 butterfly title in 48.46, the NCAA and American record by four tenths. She held it at 48.84, set at ACCs.
This time, she had to beat the Olympic champion, the U.S. Olympic silver medalist and more head-to-head.
“I think I knew going into the race that I was going to have a good race, and the time was going to be good, honestly I just had no idea who was going to touch first. Anyone in that heat could have touched first,” Douglass said. “I was pretty shocked when I looked at the board. I knew Maggie (Mac Neil) and Torri (Huske) were close to me, and I had a bad finish, so I was definitely shocked to see that I touched first. I was excited to get the points for my team. It was a great race.
“I wanted to just go for it, send it the first 50 and try to hold on. In training the last three weeks, I built up the confidence that I could finish the 100 fly no matter how bad it hurt, so I wanted to go as fast as I could in the first 50.”
She has put together pretty dominant turns, starting with her turn to close out the 200 medley relay on the opening night.
“I struggle with long glides into the wall, so I have a certain kick count and stroke count to stick to. I just hope that I hit the wall correctly,” Douglass said. “I don’t think it has sunk in (how fast we have been).”
But it has sunk in for those watching the progression the past two years.
Now, Douglass has the NCAA and American record in the 200 IM and the 100 butterfly and the 200 breast and had the 50 free records until about a month ago.
The Race Setup
It was one of the most anticipated race of the meet, and it did not disappoint. Maggie Mac Neil, the Olympic gold medalist in the 100-meter fly, entered the season as the NCAA-record holder at 48.89, but Virginia’s Kate Douglass, the American-record holder and NCAA champion in 2022, knocked off that mark at the ACC Championships last month. Douglass went 48.84 at ACCs, but only an hour later in real time, Mac Neil responded with a 48.99 at the SEC Championships.
That doesn’t even include title contenders Claire Curzan and Gabi Albiero – the field was stacked.
The Race
Huske led at the first turn before Douglass and Mac Neil charged ahead at the halfway point.
Douglass led at the second and third turns and closed to win in 48.46. She was out in 22.48 and back in 25.98.
Mac Neil was just behind in 48.51, while Huske finished third in 48.96.
The first two spots broke the record with Huske just off of it, one of the most spectacular races top to bottom in NCAA history.
Mac Neil was out in 22.56 and back in 25.95. Huske was out in 22.75 and back in 26.21.
Curzan was fourth in 50.09, followed by Albiero and Sticklen who tied at 50.15 for fifth.
NC State’s Kylee Alons finished seventh in 50.44 and Ohio State’s Katherine Zenick was eighth in 51.11.
Event 9 Women 100 Yard Butterfly
=========================================================================
NCAA: N 48.84 2/16/2023 Kate Douglass, Virginia
Meet: M 48.89 3/19/2021 Maggie MacNeil, Michigan
American: A 48.84 2/16/2023 Kate Douglass, Virginia
US Open: O 48.84 2/16/2023 Kate Douglass, Virginia
Pool: P 49.73 11/20/2020Kate Douglass, Virginia
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== Championship Final ===
1 Douglass, Kate SR Virginia 50.11 48.46N 20
r:+0.59 22.48 48.46 (25.98)
2 MacNeil, Maggie 5Y LSU 50.51 48.51N 17
r:+0.65 22.56 48.51 (25.95)
3 Huske, Torri SO Stanford 49.77 48.96P 16
r:+0.62 22.75 48.96 (26.21)
4 Curzan, Claire FR Stanford 50.45 50.09 15
r:+0.61 23.45 50.09 (26.64)
5 Sticklen, Emma JR Texas 50.00 50.15 13.5
r:+0.67 23.51 50.15 (26.64)
5 Albiero, Gabi JR Louisville 50.46 50.15 13.5
r:+0.61 23.69 50.15 (26.46)
7 Alons, Kylee 5Y NC State 50.85 50.44 12
r:+0.63 23.24 50.44 (27.20)
8 Zenick, Katherine JR Ohio St 50.84 51.11 11
r:+0.65 23.80 51.11 (27.31)
=== Consolation Final ===
9 Arens, Abby JR NC State 50.86 50.60 9
r:+0.62 23.71 50.60 (26.89)
10 Guevara, Miriam 5Y Northwestern 51.24 50.91 7
r:+0.50 23.52 50.91 (27.39)
11 Ulett, Tristen JR Louisville 51.50 51.18 6
r:+0.74 24.09 51.18 (27.09)
12 Lee, Meghan JR Auburn 51.20 51.20 5
r:+0.59 24.30 51.20 (26.90)
13 Regenauer, Christiana SR Louisville 51.35 51.26 4
r:+0.70 23.89 51.26 (27.37)
14 Cuomo, Lexi SR Virginia 51.18 51.28 3
r:+0.73 23.71 51.28 (27.57)
15 Kragh, Mia SO California 51.38 51.58 2
r:+0.69 23.90 51.58 (27.68)
16 Peoples, Olivia SO Florida 51.62 52.04 1
r:+0.63 24.32 52.04 (27.72)
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 9
1. Virginia 268.5 2. Texas 175.5
3. Stanford 154 4. Louisville 147.5
5. Florida 114 6. Ohio St 108
7. NC State 101 8. Indiana 84
9. Lsu 79 9. California 79
11. UNC 73 12. Georgia 66.5
13. Tennessee 61 14. Alabama 56
15. Wisconsin 49 16. Kentucky 37
16. Southern California 37 18. Minnesota 24
19. Virginia Tech 18 20. Arizona 17
21. Miami (Fl) 16 22. Duke 13
23. Arkansas 12 24. Michigan 10
25. Miami (Ohio) 9 25. South Carolina 9
25. Northwestern 9 28. Auburn 7
28. Texas A&M 7 28. Florida St 7
31. UCLA 6 32. Arizona St 4
33. Utah 2
