NISCA All-American Showcase: Sippy Woodhead, Joe Hudepohl Were Ahead of Their Time in 200 Free

PHOENIX, Arizona, July 9. AS part of our 11-day series highlighting the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association’s release of the 2013-14 All-America lists, Swimming World will also be looking at the history of each event that is part of the high school schedule. Today, we take a look back at two swimmers who were so far ahead of their time that they would still be competitive today – decades later.

When you talk about boys 200-yard freestyle in high school competition, there’s really only one name that comes to mind as synonymous with the event – Joe Hudepohl. His awe-inspiring 1:34.96 from 1991 stood for 18 years as the national high school record, only to be beaten during a techsuit-fueled 2009 when Tom Shields hit the wall in 1:33.83. That’s an epic run as no one even came close until Shields took the record. The previous best run at Hudepohl’s mark had been a 1:35.81 from Clay Kirkland of the Bolles School in 2001.

What’s even more remarkable is that Hudepohl’s performance is still on the books as the national independent school record as he set it in March of 1991 for St. Xavier High. His time from 1991 also would have put him second in the nation this year, that’s how timeless that swim truly is. Only Caeleb Dressel’s 1:34.69 is faster this year, and Hudepohl would have eclipsed Maxime Rooney’s 1:35.69 clocked for Granada High in California.

BOYS 200 FREESTYLE TOP TIMES PER YEAR
1974, 1:40.6, Peter Rocca, Campolindo
1975, 1:38.80, Dick Hannula, Wilson
1976, 1:39.39, Michael Elleman, San Marino
1977, 1:37.15, Brian Goodell, Mission Viejo
1978, 1:39.47, Brian Roney, El Camino Real
1979, 1:38.28, Andy Schmidt, Mission Viejo
1980, 1:38.75, Greg Goulet, Winston Churchill
1981, 1:37.88, Mike Heath, Highland Park
1982, 1:37.257, Rich Saeger, Mercersburg
1983, 1:37.11, Chris Jacobs, Newark Academy
1984, 1:38.84, Rodney Bowman, Wayne
1985, 1:36.36, Richard Oppel, Valley
1986, 1:38.47, Dan Jorgensen, Mission Viejo
1987, 1:38.51, Ken Quarterman, Cascade
1988, 1:38.17, Chad Hundeby, Woodbridge
1989, 1:37.34, Erik Maurer, Loyola Academy
1990, 1:36.68, Greg Burgess, Bolles School
1991, 1:34.96, Joe Hudepohl, St. Xavier
1992, 1:37.80, Chad Carvin, Laguna Hills
1993, 1:36.77, Scott Tucker, Seminole
1994, 1:36.73, Eric Matuszak, Andover
1995, 1:36.51, Thomas Malchow, St. Thomas Academy
1996, 1:37.35, Jamie Rauch, Cypress Creek
1997, 1:36.22, Jay Schryver, Loveland
1998, 1:37.72, Chris Epp, Tom C. Clark
1999, 1:37.29, Dan Ketchum, Sycamore
2000, 1:37.04, Clay Kirkland, Bolles School
2001, 1:35.81, Clay Kirkland, Bolles School
2002, 1:35.87, Aaron Peirsol, Newport Harbor
2003, 1:37.59, Garrett Wagner, Del Oro
2004, 1:37.84, JK Koehler, Springfield Catholic Central
2005, 1:36.69, Michael Klueh, Bowie
2006, 1:36.33, Shaune Fraser, Bolles School
2007, 1:37.97, David Mosko, Saint Xavier
2008, 1:35.85, Morgan Priestley, Birmingham Seaholm
2009, 1:33.83, Tom Shields, Edison
2010, 1:36.67, Mike Wynalda, Grandville
2011, 1:34.28, Clay Youngquist, Battle Creek Lakeview
2012, 1:35.86, Sam Shimomura, Bellarmine Prep
2013, 1:35.60, Reed Malone, New Trier
2014, 1:34.69, Caeleb Dressel, Clay

While it took 18 years for Joe Hudepohl’s historic time to fall, Cynthia “Sippy” Woodhead’s brain-boggling time of 1:45.98 for Mission Viejo in 1982 withstood 21 years of pressure before Rhi Jeffrey finally cleared it in 2003 with a 1:45.49 for Atlantic High.

Woodhead was part of an unprecedented run in the 200 free with Mission Viejo posting the top time in the event in high school competition during seven out of eight years. The eighth year happened to be Woodhead, when she previously competed at Riverside Poly before transferring to Mission Viejo.

Not only did it take 21 years for Woodhead’s time to fall, a full 32 years later in 2014, she would have finished fourth in the nation behind only Katie Ledecky (1:42.38), Katie McLaughlin (1:44.66) and Courtney Harnish (1:45.91). That just completely astonishing considering the type of advances this sport has seen in more than three decades of action.

GIRLS 200 FREESTYLE TOP TIMES PER YEAR
1974, 1:50.8, Shirley Babashoff, Fountain Valley
1975, 1:50.25, Kim Peyton, David Douglas
1976, 1:51.83, Lisa Kelsey, Ingleside
1977, 1:51.14, Tracey Cook, Estancia
1978, 1:48.65, Jill Sterkel, Wilson
1979, 1:49.36, Jennifer Hooker, Mission Viejo
1980, 1:47.430, Cynthia Woodhead, Riverside Poly
1981, 1:46.62, Marybeth Linzmeier, Mission Viejo
1982, 1:45.98, Cynthia Woodhead, Mission Viejo
1983, 1:48.66, Tiffany Cohen, Mission Viejo
1984, 1:48.68, Tami Bruce, Mission Viejo
1985, 1:47.42, Kim Brown, Mission Viejo
1986, 1:48.32, Kim Brown, Mission Viejo
1987, 1:48.66, Nancy Marley, Pine Crest
1988, 1:46.63, Nancy Marley, Pine Crest
1989, 1:47.91, Amy Shaw, Capostrano Valley
1990, 1:48.52, Megan Oesting, Mercer Island
1991, 1:48.12, Stacie Dorman, Northgate
1992, 1:48.64, Stephanie Northrop, Cherry Creek
1993, 1:47.95, Sarah Anderson, California
1994, 1:48.25, Lindsay Benko, Elkhart Central
1995, 1:47.28, Trina Jackson, Bolles School
1996, 1:47.57, Ashley Whitney, Bolles School
1997, 1:47.46, Stef Williams, Bloomsburg Area
1998, 1:47.20, Ashley Whitney, Bolles School
1999, 1:47.31, Cassidy Maxwell, Satellite
2000, 1:47.15, Janelle Atkinson, Bolles School
2001, 1:48.14, Kim Vandenberg, Campolindo
2002, 1:46.93, Codie Hansen, Lamar
2003, 1:45.49, Rhi Jeffrey, Atlantic
2004, 1:46.32, Elizabeth Hill, Westminster
2005, 1:45.64, Dana Vollmer, Granbury
2006, 1:45.49, Kate Ziegler, Bishop Denis J. O’Connell
2007, 1:45.96, Kate Dwelley, Liberty
2008, 1:45.14, Karlee Bispo, Thomas Downey
2009, 1:42.81, Dagny Knutson, Minot
2010, 1:44.11, Jasmine Tosky, Palo Alto
2011, 1:44.20, Jasmine Tosky, Palo Alto
2012, 1:43.15, Missy Franklin, Regis Jesuit
2013, 1:42.96, Katie Ledecky, Stone Ridge
2014, 1:42.38, Katie Ledecky, Stone Ridge

2013-14 NISCA Girls High School All-Americans

2013-14 NISCA Boys High School All-Americans

NOTE: All America times have to be submitted to NISCA by a certain deadline in order to make the 2014 All-American list. Coaches can submit times here: http://www.niscaonline.org/aaswimming/. Corrections can also be submitted to NISCA via three emails: Boys Swimming contact: boysswaa@niscaonline.org; Girls Swimming contact: girlsswaa@niscaonline.org; Boys and Girls Diving contact: aadiving@niscaonline.org

This is the second day of what will be an 11-day showcase of the NISCA All-American program. Swimming World is proud to partner with NISCA to provided a global spotlight on high school swimming in the U.S., and will be talking to some of the top movers and shakers in high school swimming this week as part of the Morning Swim Show. Additionally, we’ll be taking a look back at some of the best of the best high school swimmers historically.

To access high school All-Americans all the way back through 1974, purchase back issues of Swimming World Magazine!

For more incredible high school content, make sure to subscribe to Swimming World TODAY to make sure you get our High School Swimmers of the Year (August) and High School National Champions of the Year (September) issues.

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