Catherine Fox had won the 50 three years in a row. She wanted to become only the sixth woman in NCAA history to win an event four straight years. But standing in her way was top qualifier, Carrie Nixon of Notre Dame (24.99), two hundredths of a second faster. To complicate matters, Northwester’s Courtney Allen had led off her team’s freestyle relay in a still faster time—24.90. Then there was Georgia senior, Courtney Shealey, who has been swimming well all year. Her coach, Jack Bauerle, predicted she would have an outstanding meet.
Allen took the lead on the first lap and held it through the turn. Coming home the field was blanketed as each swimmer dug deep down to find what it took to win. At the touch it was Georgia’s Shealey who claimed the win in 24.80. Allen was second in 24.87, followed by Fox (24.97) and Nixon (25.09).