Torri Huske Leads Swimmers With Big Decisions to Make For NCAAs Lineup
The upcoming NCAA Championships will be unlike any in history: no consolation finals, diving finals split between two segments and a new lineup of races making its debut next month. Swimmers and coaches have been aware of those changes since the start of the season, giving them time to hone in on potentially different event choices from years’ past. Following the busiest weekend of Division I conference meets, those decisions have come into focus.
The most consequential decision belongs to an individual Olympic gold medalist who is the most accomplished swimmer currently racing in college. Last season, Torri Huske won her first individual NCAA title in the 200 IM before placing second behind Gretchen Walsh in both the 100 butterfly and 100 freestyle. With the new schedule, Huske almost certainly must decide between the 200 IM and 100 free, set to be contested back-to-back on the final night of the national meet.
Previously, the 100 free seemed like the logical choice thanks to the composition of the Stanford roster: if Huske were to skip the 200 IM, the top returners from last season’s NCAAs would be a pair of her Stanford teammates, Caroline Bricker and Lucy Bell. But that was before the emergence of Anna Moesch, the Virginia sophomore coming off the ACC Championships in pole position in both the 100 and 200 free. In the 100-yard race Saturday evening, Moesch scored a win over Huske, swimming the fastest time in the country in the process.
On the other hand, Huske has the country’s top time in the 200 IM after her narrow ACC victory over Louisville newcomer Anastasia Gorbenko last week. She is the only active college swimmer to ever crack the 1:50-barrier. As for Stanford, Bricker might have to choose between the 200 IM and 200 fly, both on the Saturday schedule on the national level, giving the Cardinal another reason to assign Huske to medley duty.
As she drops either the 100 free or 200 IM, Huske is closing in on becoming the second woman ever under 48 in the 100 fly, and she is a near-lock to pick up the 50 free this season. She clocked 20.92 on a relay leadoff at last season’s national meet, and she had the nation’s quickest time entering conference season at 21.01. Huske will not be the top seed for the NCAA Championships in the event, however, after Camille Spink went 20.87 to win the SEC meet.
Hubert Kos — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
On the men’s side, the only swimmer with sufficient versatility to require an event decision that will have championship implications is Texas’ Hubert Kos. A year ago, Kos won both backstroke events plus the 200 IM at the NCAA Championships, with the fastest times ever in both backstroke races and tying the second-quickest mark ever in the medley. A repeat performance would require Kos to swim both the 200 IM and 200 back on the final night of the national meet.
There had been speculation of an event switch-up, but Kos tested out the double Saturday night at SECs. It did not go perfectly as Kos was unable to catch up with Florida’s Jonny Marshall in the 200 back. At this point, a repeat effort is possible. A fully-tapered Kos could secure the 200 back national title even while fatigued.
The schedule is coming together perfectly for Virginia’s Claire Curzan, who can race her three best events now that the 100 back and 100 fly no longer take place concurrently. During her monster ACC Championships performance, Curzan swam the fastest time ever in the 200 back while moving to second-fastest all-time in the 100 back and fourth-best ever in the 100 fly, with a close runnerup finish to Huske in the latter race.
Bella Sims, on the other hand, will have to make tough choices for all three full days of competition. Sims is best known for her success in the 200 free, the event which catapulted her onto the U.S. Olympic team as a teenager for relay duty, and her two career individual NCAA titles came in that event plus the 500 free. Expect to see neither event on her lineup for her first NCAAs as a Michigan Wolverine.
Rather, Sims is likely to swim the 400 IM, where she has the top time in the country at 3:58.02, and the 100 back, an event in which only Curzan has the speed to match or surpass her. For the last day, the 200 IM is a possibility, but Sims has been a top-three finisher at each of the last NCAA Championships in the 200 back.
And who knows what Aimee Canny will pick. The Virginia senior has six different events where a top-five national finish is possible. Does she pick the 200 free, long considered her best event, or the 400 IM on Thursday? There’s also the outside chance of a run in the 100 breast after Canny split 56.38 on Virginia’s 400 medley relay at the conference meet. Friday’s slate includes the 200 breast and 500 free, the events in which Canny owns her highest national rankings, but the decision between those two races became easier when she went a stunning time of 2:02.97 in the 200 breast at ACCs. At least for the final day of the meet, the 200 IM appears to be an obvious choice.
Now, all of these swimmers have completed their conference meets. NCAA entries will not be finalized until next week, but all of these versatile competitors have surely made their decisions already to give themselves their best chance at maximizing points in March.
