SwimSwam Midseason Mania: Records Abound As Invitational Meets Delivering Stunning Swims

Record-Setting Week In NCAA: There was no shortage of blistering performances produced during last week's slate of midseason invitational meets, including three American Records falling by the wayside.

Also: The big winners from the 2024 Golden Goggle Awards, plus all of the highlights from a wild week of invites.

Walsh, Curzan Set New All-Time Records At Tennessee Invite

The only two swims last week that did the trifecta, breaking the NCAA, U.S. Open and American Records, both came at the Tennessee Invite, and both came from Virginia women.

In the women's 100 fly, Gretchen Walsh reset her all-time record in a time of 47.35, lowering the 47.42 marker she produced last season at NCAAs. Already the only swimmer in history under the 48-second barrier, Walsh now owns the six fastest swims of all-time, having also recorded a time of 48.26 in the prelims in Tennessee, which ties for #4 all-time.

Walsh's meet also included swimming the third-fastest time ever in the women's 50 free (20.54) and splitting 20.09 on the Virginia women's 200 free relay, the second-fastest ever.

In her third individual event, Walsh opted to go outside of her speciality and race the 200 back, where she went head-to-head with teammate Claire Curzan.

Curzan, the 2023 NCAA champion in the event, dropped the fastest swim in history, clocking 1:46.87 to break Regan Smith's U.S. Open and American Record of 1:47.16 set in 2019 and Beata Nelson's NCAA Record of 1:47.24 also set in 2019.

Walsh touched in 1:48.18, a time under the old ACC and Virginia Records prior to Curzan's swim, and it also slots her into #9 all-time in the event.

Curzan's meet also included setting new best times in the 100 free (46.98) and 100 back (49.37), and setting a season-best time of 49.50 to place 2nd to Walsh in the 100 fly.

Walsh's time of 49.31 in the 100 back from leading off the 400 medley relay ranks #1 in the NCAA this season, while Curzan's time is a close 2nd.

Another nation-leading time came from Tennessee sophomore Camille Spink in the women's 100 free, clocking 46.61 to dip under her previous best of 46.69 set last season.

On the men's side, Tennessee senior Jordan Crooks was a dominant force, sweeping the 50 free (18.16), 100 free (40.26) and 100 fly (43.77), setting new best times in the two latter events (and ranking #3 all-time in the 100 free and #6 in the 100 fly). He also had his fastest-ever swim in the 200 free leading off Tennessee's 800 free relay, clocking 1:30.00 to rank #8 all-time.

He also recorded the second-fastest 50 free relay split in history (17.57) and the fastest 100 free relay split ever (39.89)—he became the first swimmer ever to split sub-40 in a relay, with Caeleb Dressel having set the individual record of 39.90.

In the men's 400 medley relay, won by Tennessee (3:01.62) with a 43.64 fly split from Crooks, Virginia was a close runner-up in 3:02.01, with Jack Aikins, Noah Nichols, Spencer Nicholas and Connor Boyle coming within half a second of the American Record set by Cal in 2017.

Rex Maurer Breaks Men's 500 Free American Record At Texas Invite

The American Record in the men's 500 free was broken twice at the Texas Hall of Fame Invite, with post-grad Carson Foster getting his hands on it for a few hours before Texas sophomore Rex Maurer lowered it later that same day.

Racing in a time trial, Foster unofficially broke the American Record in a time of 4:05.81, taking down the 4:06.32 mark Kieran Smith set at the 2020 SEC Championships and then matched at the same meet in 2021.

Shortly thereafter, Maurer stormed his way to a time of 4:04.45, crushing Foster's newly-minted American Record by well over a second (and if Foster's was unofficial, breaking Smith's record by nearly two seconds) while also becoming the second-fastest performer in history. Maurer, who also set a best time of 4:09.49 in the prelims, only trails Frenchman Leon Marchand in the all-time rankings, with Marchand having set the NCAA and U.S. Open Record of 4:02.31 last season.

Maurer also posted a significant lifetime best in the 400 IM, clocking 3:34.19 to rank #5 all-time, and he added personal bests in the 200 free (1:31.59), 1650 free (14:30.47), 100 back (45.36) and 200 back (1:38.27) in a standout performance.

Other highlights on the men's side included Texas sophomore Will Modglin becoming the 11th swimmer in history to break 44 seconds in the 100 back, clocking 43.98 in the prelims before dropping a time of 43.91 in the final to rank #9 all-time. Fellow Longhorns second-year Nate Germonprez also moved up the all-time rankings in the men's 100 breast, touching in 50.39 to rank #7 in history.

Modglin, who is the only swimmer sub-44 in the nation this season, also posted an NCAA-leading time of 1:37.84 in the 200 back.

For the women, Stanford's Torri Huske won the 50 free (21.81), 100 free (46.62) and 100 fly (49.24), and Texas' Emma Sticklen topped the 100 back (50.85), 200 fly (1:49.54) and 200 IM (1:52.75), with Sticklen's 200 fly swim marking the fourth-fastest in history, lowering her Texas School Record of 1:49.77. Sticklen also set a new program record en route to finishing 2nd to Huske in the 100 fly (49.60), and moves to #1 in the NCAA with her swim in the 200 IM.

For Huske, she also set a best time in the 50 free leading off Stanford's 200 free relay (21.38), ranking 3rd in the NCAA this season, while her season-bests in the 100 free and 100 fly both rank 2nd to Gretchen Walsh.

Another headlining performer for the women was Texas freshman Jillian Cox, who set new best times and Texas School Records in the 500 free (4:30.68) and 1650 free (15:34.66), ranking her 7th and 10th all-time, respectively.

Stanford's Caroline Bricker broke 4:00 for the first time in the women's 400 IM, touching in 3:59.88 to rank #1 in the NCAA.

Other Invitational Highlights: ASU, Florida Perform Well

The Arizona State men were impressive at the Wolfpack Elite Invitational, while Florida had several standout swims at the UFA Fall Invitational. Below, find some highlights from the rest of last week's invites.

• ASU sophomore Ilya Kharun continued his dominant season at the Wolfpack Elite Invite, setting new best times in the men's 50 free (18.51) and 100 fly (43.85), both ranking him 2nd in the NCAA this season behind Jordan Crooks. Kharun's top performance arguably came in the 200 medley relay, where he split 18.89 on fly, the fastest in history. He also won the 200 fly in 1:39.00, with his #1 time in the nation sitting at 1:38.74.
• The Wolfpack Elite Invite also had nation-leading times produced in both 200 breaststroke events. In the men's event, Virginia Tech's Carles Coll-Marti improved his time of 1:50.77 from the SMU Classic in 1:50.09, with Indiana's Josh Matheny (1:50.31) and Jassen Yep (1:50.71) also posting sub-1:51 swims at the OSU Fall Invite. In the women's event, Duke's Kaelyn Gridley clocked 2:05.71 to lead the nation, with her PB of 2:04.94 set last season at NCAAs.
• Florida swimmers Anita Bottazzo and Julian Smith swam NCAA-leading times in the 100 breast at the UGA Fall Invite, with Bottazzo, an Italian freshman, posting the lone sub-58 swim for the women in 57.49. Smith broke Caeleb Dressel's SEC Record in the men's race in 49.98, the lone sub-50 swim of the season.
• Another Gator, Bella Sims, swept her individual events, topping the 500 free (4:31.06), 200 back (1:49.43) and 400 IM (4:00.44) while setting a PB of 49.93 in the 100 back on a relay lead-off. She ranks 2nd in the NCAA this season in the 500 free and 400 IM and 3rd in both backstrokes.
• At the OSU Invite, Indiana's Owen McDonald was a top performer as he recorded the #2 time in the country in the men's 100 back (44.93), 200 back (1:38.07) and 200 IM (1:40.86).
• Michigan's Stephanie Balduccini put up an NCAA-leading time of 1:41.85 in the women's 200 free at the Georgia Tech Fall Invite, overtaking USC's Minna Abraham (1:42.01).
• There were also five NCAA Division II records set last week. At the Gamecock Invitational, Tampa's Jacob Hamlin set new D2 marks in the men's 500 free (4:16.84) and 1650 free (14:55.02), while the Colorado Mesa Invitational saw a new record set by CMU's Agata Naskret in the women's 100 back (51.86). At the SMU Invite, Drury's Jonette Laegreid set a new D2 record in the women's 200 breast (2:08.86), and the Panthers' men's 400 medley relay set a new record of 3:06.83.

Finke, Huske Earn Top Honors At 2024 Golden Goggle Awards

Bobby Finke and Torri Huske earned Athlete of the Year honors and also claimed Race of the Year at the 2024 Golden Goggle Award which took place Saturday in Indianapolis.

Finke was named Male Athlete of the Year after he was the lone American male swimmer to win individual gold at the Paris Olympics, setting the world record in the men's 1500 freestyle while adding a silver in the 800 free. This is his second time winning the award after also doing so in 2022.

Earlier in the night, Finke won Male Race of the Year for his world record swim in the 1500 free, claiming the award for the fourth straight time. He won it in 2021 and 2022 for his swims in the 800 free (Olympics and 2022 Worlds), and last year's victory came from the 1500 free at the 2023 Worlds.

Huske won Female Athlete of the Year for the first time after earning five medals at the Paris Olympics, including an individual gold in the women's 100 fly and two more golds on the U.S. women's and mixed medley relays, both of which set world records. She also won individual silver in the 100 free and added a silver in the women's 400 free relay.

The women's 400 medley relay that set the world record won Relay Performance of the Year, with that squad also including Regan Smith, Lilly King and Gretchen Walsh.

Huske's 100 fly victory also landed her Female Race of the Year, having posted a time of 55.59 to win gold over world record holder Walsh (55.63) by four one-hundredths.

Walsh was named Breakout Performer of the Year, while her coach, Virginia's Todd DeSorbo, walked away with Coach of the Year honors for the first time.

All 2024 Golden Goggle Winners

• Male Athlete of the Year: Bobby Finke
• Female Athlete of the Year: Torri Huske
• Coach of the Year: Todd DeSorbo
• Fran Crippen Open Water Swimmer of the Year: Katie Grimes
• Perseverance Award: Paige Madden
• Relay Performance of the Year: Women's 4x100 Medley Relay
• Foundation Impact Award: Scott and Lorraine Davison
• Alumni of the Year: Rowdy Gaines
• USA Swimming Impact Award: Arlene McDonald
• Male Race of the Year: Bobby Finke, 1500 freestyle
• Female Race of the Year: Torri Huske, 100 butterfly
• Breakout Performer of the Year: Gretchen Walsh

See a full recap of the awards here.

Quick Hits

• Mona Nyheim-Canales, the former head age group coach of Pitchfork Aquatics in Arizona, has died after a battle with cancer at the age of 59.
• Torri Huske has withdrawn from the Short Course World Championships, and the U.S. will not name a replacement and therefore only send 15 women to Budapest.
• Read the story of Jack Punswick, a Kansas state champion who was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.
• USA Swimming has announced that five meets in 2025 will be used as selection for the 2026 Junior Pan Pacific Championships.
• Keep track of all the rosters for next month's Short Course World Championships with the SwimSwam Roster Index here.
• Bulgarian Olympian Antani Ivanov has announced his retirement amidst a suspension from the federation.

NCAA/American/US Open Record As Gretchen Walsh Posts 47.35 100 Butterfly

Rex Maurer Breaks Hours Old American Record With 4:04.45 500 Freestyle

Claire Curzan Breaks American, NCAA, and U.S. Open Records in the 200 Back in Tennessee

2024 Golden Goggle Awards- Live Recap

Jordan Crooks Anchors 200 Medley Relay In 17.57 50 Free, #3 Performance All-Time

Ilya Kharun Splits 18.89 on Arizona State 200 Medley Relay, Fastest Split in History

USA Swimming Announces Selection Meets for 2026 Pan Pacific Championships