This week’s ZUMO Performance of the Week goes to Arkansas senior Anna Hopkin for her 21.19 50 free at the Missouri Invitational on Wednesday the week before Thanksgiving. Hopkin, a native of Preston, England, moved to fourth all-time with her swim in Columbia, Missouri as she posted the top time of the NCAA Division I season, only to be matched the very next night by Tennessee senior Erika Brown. (Hopkin gets the nod for performance of the week because it was a best time for her).
That sets up an interesting matchup between Hopkin and Brown at next year’s SEC Championships in February as those two will certainly take a crack at the American record of 21.02 by Abbey Weitzeil set last season (if she doesn’t take it down before then).
Hopkin has been on a tear this year for Arkansas as she was fifth at NCAAs in March at 21.51 and followed that up with a runner-up finish in the 100 free at 46.56 in one of the fastest fields ever assembled in short course yards. That was Hopkin’s first NCAAs as she had come to Fayetteville to pursue a Masters degree in Kinesiology after completing a degree at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom.
Hopkin followed that up with a seventh place finish in the 50 freestyle at the World Championships this summer which was her first final on the international stage. The Brit seems to be a woman on a mission this year as she swum two best times in the 50 and 100 at the Mizzou Invite in November (46.56 in 100 free matching her lifetime best) and is looking to become the first woman swimmer from Arkansas to win a national title. Diver Brooke Schultz won the 3m diving event in 2018 but no swimmer has ever won for the Razorbacks.
Congratulations to Anna Hopkin on winning the ZUMO Performance of the Week!
Top 10 All-Time Women’s 50 Free (SCY)
- 21.02, Abbey Weitzeil, USA (2019)
- 21.15, Erika Brown, USA (2019)
- 21.17, Simone Manuel, USA (2017)
- 21.19, Anna Hopkin, GBR (2019)
- 21.21, Olivia Smoliga, USA (2016)
- 21.27, Lara Jackson, USA (2009)
- 21.28, Liz Li, CHN (2018)
- 21.32, Farida Osman, EGY (2016)
- 21.34, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, BAH (2011)
- 21.48, Natalie Coughlin, USA (2007)
Previous ZUMO Performances of the Week
ZUMO Performance of the Week: Caeleb Dressel Breaks American Record in 50 Fly
ZUMO Performance of the Week: Katie Ledecky Back on Track With 8:14 800 Free in Greensboro