In one of the youngest fields in the entire NCAA championships that featured four freshmen, one sophomore and three juniors, it was Wisconsin rookie Phoebe Bacon who came out on top in the 200 backstroke final in Greensboro with a 1:48.32. Bacon moved up to eighth all-time with her swim as she came off the pace on the third 50 to split a 27.7 and ran away from the field on the final 50.
The big favorites in the race were Alabama’s Rhyan White and NC State’s Katharine Berkoff, who won the 100 last night. Berkoff showed her speed up front, flipping at 52.58 to White’s 52.61, but Bacon, much like Paige Madden in the earlier 1650, stayed poised and nailed the third 50. Bacon flipped first at 1:20.42 ahead of White (1:20.51) and Berkoff (1:20.88) at the 150 and had all the momentum on the final 50, being the only swimmer under 28 seconds on the last 50.
“I am really happy. It was definitely a tough race,” Phoebe Bacon said. “I knew all three of the girls were going to be right on my hip or my head (coming into the last 50), so for me, it was keeping my legs in it and don’t slow down my tempo. I really work my back half every day in practice. It is a big focus to keep it strong throughout the whole event.”
Bacon mentioned before the meet that the 200 back was the event she was looking forward to the most heading into this meet due to her improvements in her first year with coach Yuri Suguiyama.
“It was pretty incredible,” Phoebe Bacon told Swimming World from her hotel room. “Especially competing against these other teams that had almost full seasons where they got the amount of swims that they did, and then for us to have three dual meets and then Big Tens, it was definitely a big difference. I’m happy we made it and we were able to have the meet and stay COVID safe.”
White was second at 1:48.99 while Cal freshman Isabelle Stadden placed third at 1:49.66. The two other rookies placed fourth and fifth in Virginia Tech’s Emma Atkinson (1:50.43) and Virginia’s Reilly Tiltmann (1:50.66).
“It really shows the freshmen class I’m in and the classes coming up, this meet is going to keep getting faster and faster,” Bacon said. “The different events are going to really start surprising some people, especially watching that 100 fly and Maggie go a 48. I think we are going to see another 48 next year and who knows if it is a freshman or someone else.”
Berkoff faded in the final 50, placing sixth at 1:50.88 ahead of teammate Emma Muzzy (1:51.70) and Kentucky’s Sophie Sorenson (1:52.63).
Wisconsin now has three NCAA titles in the 200 backstroke, which is tied for fourth all-time among Division I schools. Bacon joins Maggie Meyer (2011) and Beata Nelson (2019) as winners of the event for the Badgers.
“Going into the 200 back, I was thinking, ‘Beata had this two years ago and probably could have won it last year so I might as well make it a third year in a row and keep the Wisconsin tradition and carry it on.'”
All-Time Rankings:
- 1:47.16, Regan Smith, Riptide, 2019
- 1:47.24, Beata Nelson, Wisconsin, 2019
- 1:47.30, Kathleen Baker, California, 2018
- 1:47.59, Taylor Ruck, Stanford, 2019
- 1:47.84, Elizabeth Pelton, California, 2013
- 1:47.91, Missy Franklin, California, 2015
- 1:48.06, Rhyan White, Alabama, 2020
- 1:48.32, Phoebe Bacon, Wisconsin, 2021
- 1:48.34, Gemma Spofforth, Florida, 2009
- 1:48.53, Ella Eastin, Stanford, 2019
Event 16 Women 200 Yard Backstroke
=========================================================================
NCAA: N 1:47.24 3/23/2019 Beata Nelson, Wisconsin
Meet: M 1:47.24 3/23/2019 Beata Nelson, Wisconsin
American: A 1:47.16 3/10/2019 Regan Smith, Riptide
US Open: O 1:47.16 3/10/2019 Regan Smith, Riptide
Pool: P 1:47.91 3/21/2015 Missy Franklin, California
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== Championship Final ===
1 Bacon, Phoebe FR Wisconsin 1:50.32 1:48.32 20
r:+0.67 25.46 52.71 (27.25)
1:20.42 (27.71) 1:48.32 (27.90)
2 White, Rhyan JR Alabama 1:50.18 1:48.99 17
r:+0.62 25.14 52.61 (27.47)
1:20.51 (27.90) 1:48.99 (28.48)
3 Stadden, Isabelle FR California 1:50.33 1:49.66 16
r:+0.70 25.72 53.15 (27.43)
1:21.27 (28.12) 1:49.66 (28.39)
4 Atkinson, Emma FR VT 1:51.47 1:50.43 15
r:+0.73 26.45 53.90 (27.45)
1:21.80 (27.90) 1:50.43 (28.63)
5 Tiltmann, Reilly FR Virginia 1:51.40 1:50.66 14
r:+0.73 26.88 54.90 (28.02)
1:22.30 (27.40) 1:50.66 (28.36)
6 Berkoff, Katharine SO NC State 1:50.31 1:50.88 13
25.23 52.58 (27.35)
1:20.88 (28.30) 1:50.88 (30.00)
7 Muzzy, Emma JR NC State 1:51.45 1:51.70 12
r:+0.73 26.51 54.42 (27.91)
1:23.46 (29.04) 1:51.70 (28.24)
8 Sorenson, Sophie JR Kentucky 1:51.74 1:52.63 11
r:+0.76 26.53 54.82 (28.29)
1:23.58 (28.76) 1:52.63 (29.05)
=== Consolation Final ===
9 Moore, Kate SR NC State 1:52.12 1:51.61 9
26.54 54.92 (28.38)
1:23.50 (28.58) 1:51.61 (28.11)
10 Cook, Julia JR Texas 1:52.91 1:51.83 7
r:+0.68 26.05 54.34 (28.29)
1:22.83 (28.49) 1:51.83 (29.00)
11 Brooks, Caitlin SO Kentucky 1:52.04 1:52.01 6
r:+0.57 26.14 54.10 (27.96)
1:22.88 (28.78) 1:52.01 (29.13)
12 Venter, Mariella SO Michigan 1:52.21 1:52.19 5
r:+0.73 26.39 54.65 (28.26)
1:23.54 (28.89) 1:52.19 (28.65)
13 Lindner, Sophie JR UNC 1:53.67 1:52.69 4
r:+0.75 26.95 54.88 (27.93)
1:23.32 (28.44) 1:52.69 (29.37)
14 Stewart, Bayley JR Notre Dame 1:53.35 1:53.08 3
r:+0.67 26.85 55.12 (28.27)
1:23.97 (28.85) 1:53.08 (29.11)
15 Sacha, Ioanna SR Houston 1:53.16 1:53.91 2
r:+0.80 26.58 55.03 (28.45)
1:24.34 (29.31) 1:53.91 (29.57)
16 Lagrand, Susan JR Oakland 1:53.48 1:54.13 1
r:+0.60 27.36 56.32 (28.96)
1:25.25 (28.93) 1:54.13 (28.88)
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 16 1. Virginia 384 2. NC State 276 3. Texas 248 4. California 226 5. Ohio St 189.5 6. Alabama 185 7. Michigan 162.5 8. Stanford 140 9. Kentucky 135 10. Georgia 122 11. UNC 118 12. Tennessee 107 13. Louisville 81 14. Missouri 79 15. Texas A&M 76 16. Northwestern 75 17. Florida 74.5 18. Indiana 63 19. Wisconsin 59 20. Virginia Tech 43 21. Southern California 42 21. Miami 42 23. Minnesota 40 24. Arkansas 26 25. Nebraska 22 26. Arizona 17.5 27. Georgia Tech 16 28. Purdue 13 29. Lsu 9 30. Houston 8 31. Notre Dame 7 32. San Diego St 6 33. Duke 4 34. Akron 3 35. Oakland 1
