NCAA Swimming - Ryan's Records

Ryan Lochte currently holds individual NCAA records in the following events:

200 yard IM - 1:40.55 (Ryan's best time is 1:40.08, which is the American record)
400 yard IM - 3:38.15 (Ryan's best time is 3:37.88. Michael Phelps has the American record at 3:36.26)
100 yard Back - 44.60 (This is still Ryan's best time and is also the American Record)
200 yard Back - 1:37.68 (Ryan's best time is 1:36.81, which is the American record)

The NCAA conference championships have started, and nobody has broken any of Ryan's records.....yet.

200 yard IM

At the Big 10 championships today, Tyler Clary swam a 1:44.34 in the prelims of the 200 yard IM, setting a pool record. It looks like Alex Vanderkaay's Big 10 record (1:43.88) is going down in the finals. Bradley Ally of Florida swam a 1:41.96 in the SEC Championships last weekend and I predict Clary will go faster tonight. Ryan's record of 1:40.55 is probably safe.

400 yard IM

In the 400IM, Clary is the fastest in the NCAA this year with a time of 3:40.96. Ally swam 3:41.35 at the SEC championships, the second fastest time. Ryan's record of 3:38.15 appears safe.

100 yard Back

Eugene Godsoe of Stanford has the fastest time in the NCAA this year with a 45.94. He will be swimming in the Pac 10 championships this weekend, and it will be interesting to see how fast he can go. The second fastest time - 46.04 - is from Pascal Wollach of Auburn at the SEC championships. I've never heard of either of these swimmers before so I'll have to do a little research. Ryan's record of 44.60 appears safe, but you never know.

200 yard Back

Clary has the 4th best time in the NCAA this year with a 1:40.85. Rex Tullius and Omar Pinzon of Florida swam the 1st and 2nd fastest times: 1:39.88 and 1:40.15 at the SEC championships. Godsoe had the third fastest time, 1:40.61. It will be interesting to see if Clary beats those times at the Big 10 championships. Prior to the SEC championships, Clary had the best NCAA time in the nation in this event. Ryan's record of 1:37.68 probably will not be broken.

Prediction: I do not think any of Ryan's NCAA records will be broken this year. However, if I had to pick one, my prediction would be the 400IM. Clary keeps getting faster and faster and there is much room for improvement in a longer race. Clary's best time is 2.81 seconds slower than Ryan's record; however, he has not competed in this event yet in his conference championship or the NCAA championships. Therefore, his time of 3:40.96 presumably was achieved while unrested. I think he can go a lot faster when he is rested.

I doubt if Ryan cares too much if his NCAA records are broken. Unlike with world records, there's nothing Ryan can do about it because his college career ended in 2006 and he can't swim in any more NCAA events.

It's interesting, though, to view Ryan's records as a testiment to how good he was 3 years ago compared to the some of the best swimmers in the world today.