Smith Cracks AR In 100 Back: Regan Smith lowered her best time in the 100 back for the first time in five years at the Speedo Grand Challenge, clocking 57.51 to erase the American Record of 57.57 she set at the 2019 World Championships.
Also: NCAA approves a multi-billion dollar settlement in the landmark House case, the SEC proposes swimming roster limits in the wake of the settlement, and Dave Salo is added to the coaching staff at Arizona State.
Smith, Manuel & Marchand On Fire At Speedo Grand Challenge In Irvine
Regan Smith continued her impressive run of in-season performances last weekend at the Speedo Grand Challenge in Irvine, setting a new American Record in the women's 100 back and adding personal bests in two other events.
Smith rocketed to a time of 57.51 in the 100 back, knocking off her five-year-old American Record of 57.57 set in 2019. The swim marks the fifth-fastest in history, with the top four all belonging to Kaylee McKeown, whose world record stands at 57.33.
Smith has now broken 58 seconds 17 times in her career, passing McKeown (16) for the most in history.
The 22-year-old Smith also set new personal bests in the 100 fly (56.26)—ranking #5 in the world this season—and 200 free (1:57.23), and added a season-best time in the 200 IM (2:09.05).
In the 200 free, Smith was a close 3rd in Irvine behind training mates Paige Madden (1:57.00) and Simone Manuel (1:57.03), who both set season-bests of their own and had some strong showings in other events.
Madden set a new PB in the 400 free, touching in 4:03.02 to rank 2nd to only Katie Ledecky among Americans this season, while Manuel went 53.10 in the 100 free her fastest swim since 2019.
On the men's side, French star Leon Marchand had some promising performances less than two months out from the Olympics, setting a season-best of 1:55.74 in the 200 IM and a lifetime best of 59.06 in the 100 breast, setting meet records in both.
Another standout performance from the competition came from Beach Cities Swimming's Gabi Brito, 13, who swam a blazing 25.71 in the 50 free to break Dara Torres' California Swimming LSC Record from 1982.
NCAA Approves Multi-Billion Dollar Settlement In House Case
The NCAA Board of Governors, along with the SEC and Pac-12, have approved settlement terms in the House v. NCAA class-action lawsuit, moving the landmark case forward that will reshape the college sports business model.
With the ACC, Big 12 and Big Ten presidents and chancellors having already approved the terms, the case will now move forward to U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken for approval.
The settlement terms include almost $2.8 billion in back damages for lost opportunities from the organization’s past restrictions on name, image, and likeness (NIL), and more consequentially moving forward, a revenue-sharing model that will allow schools to share up to $22 million annually with athletes—essentially a salary cap—likely starting in the fall of 2025.
“This would be the biggest change in the history of college sports. Period,” Tulane sports law professor Gabe Feldman told Yahoo Sports. “There have been significant changes and incremental changes. The NIL era has opened a lot of doors, but to have athletes share revenue with the schools would be not only monumental but would be contrary to what the NCAA has espoused for a century.”
NCAA member schools will pay the majority of the damages rather than the organization itself, with individual institutions combining for 59% ($1.65 billion) of the $2.8 billion compared to 41% for the NCAA. The 27 non-Power Five conferences will pay $990 million over a decade compared to $664 million for the Power Five (including Pac-12).
The damages will be paid to approximately 14,500 players dating back to 2016.
Read more here.
SEC Proposes Swimming & Diving Roster Limits After House Case Settlement
In the aftermath of the NCAA approving the settlement terms in the House case, the SEC has discussed implementing roster limits for swimming & diving, a source told SwimSwam.
The proposed House case settlement terms include the elimination of scholarship caps in favor of roster limits.
Current NCAA rules limit women’s swimming and diving teams to 14 scholarships and men’s programs to 9.9, but there’s no cap on overall roster size. According to sources, the SEC proposed a roster limit of 35 for women and 22 for men.
The proposed limits figure to impact men’s rosters more than women’s. The average women’s roster last year was about 33 swimmers, with South Carolina boasting the most at 46. Meanwhile, the average men’s roster was about 26 swimmers, with Florida totaling the most at 41.
The roster limit for the SEC Championships is currently 22, while 18 are allowed at the NCAA Championships.
As noted above, the settlement is not final, and still needs approval from Judge Wilken.
The SEC is hosting its Spring Meetings this week.
NCAA Coaching Shuffle: Salo Joins ASU, MacDonald Takes Over At WVU
Two unexpected NCAA coaching moves were made last week as Dave Salo joined the staff at Arizona State and Brent MacDonald was named the new head coach at WVU after a long tenure at Xavier.
Salo, the longtime head coach at USC, retired from college coaching in 2020 but has continued to be active coaching at Irvine Novaquatics, Orange Coast College and the ProNOVA group. He'll be an associate head coach with the Sun Devils under recently-named head coach Herbie Behm.
“Dave Salo is a swimming icon," said Behm. "He’s a thinker who has pushed the sport forward for over 30 years and someone I’ve looked up too my entire career. Everything one can achieve as a swim coach, he’s achieved. I’m so lucky to be able to work with someone like Dave and I know the team will be in great hands with his leadership.”
Read more on Salo here.
MacDonald was announced as the head coach at WVU on May 23, taking over for Vic Riggs, who resigned from his post after 17 years in April.
MacDonald joins the Mountaineers after an 18-year run at Xavier, serving as the head coach for 16 seasons (the first in an interim role) after two years as an assistant.
“I am honored and excited to be the next men’s and women’s swimming and diving head coach at WVU,” MacDonald said.
“The world-class facilities and elite student-athlete experience make this a great opportunity. My family and I can’t wait to get to Morgantown to begin enjoying the community we’ve heard so many wonderful things about. I can’t wait to get to work!”
Read more on MacDonald here.
Quick Hits
- Canada's Ruslan Gaziev has been suspended for 18 months for a whereabouts failure, explaining the Tokyo Olympian's absence at the Canadian Olympic Trials earlier this month.
- American sprinter Matt King announced that he will be heading to Indiana University next season, joining the team he originally committed to before switching his commitment to Alabama for his freshman year and then transferring to Virginia. King took a redshirt year this past season in anticipation of the U.S. Olympic Trials.
- At Virginia media day, Kate Douglass and the Walsh sisters told us what they plan on swimming at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
- The Mare Nostrum Tour kicked off on the weekend with the first of three legs running in Canet, with Beryl Gastaldello, Siobhan Haughey and Anastasia Gorbenko among the top performers. Gorbenko set new Israeli Records in the women's 200 IM (2:08.63) and 400 IM (4:36.95). See full Mare Nostrum coverage here.
- Psych sheets for the Australian Olympic Trials dropped on Tuesday, with all of the big guns on the entry lists (save for Mitch Larkin, though he is still expected to compete).
- At the Speedo Sectionals meet in Ocala, Laker Swim's Rylee Erisman made history, becoming the fastest 15-year-old girl ever in the U.S. in the 100 free, posting a blistering time of 54.34.
- 39-year-old Matt Grevers qualified for his seventh U.S. Olympic Trials at the Southwest Classic on Friday, putting up a time of 22.50 in the men's 50 free.
- With the dust settling from Bob Bowman's move from ASU to Texas, see which swimmers followed him to Austin and which have stayed with Herbie Behm in Tempe.
- Angharad Evans had a surprise performance at the AP Race International meet in London, breaking the British Record in the women's 100 breast in 1:05.54, eclipsing her previous best of 1:06.25 and the former national record of 1:06.21 by wide margins.
By Riley Overend on SwimSwam
A revenue-sharing model would allow schools to share up to $22 million annually with athletes — essentially a salary cap — likely starting in 2025.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: NCAA Approves Multi-Billion Dollar Settlement in Historic House Case, Ending Amateurism
By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam
Smith broke her own record that she swam back at the 2019 World Championships leading off the US women's 4x100 medley relay.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Regan Smith Breaks Own American Record With 57.51 100 Backstroke
By Anne Lepesant on SwimSwam
Dave Salo, who retired from college coaching in 2022, will return to the pool deck in Tempe next fall.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Former USC Coach Dave Salo Tapped for Associate Head Coach at Arizona State
By Riley Overend on SwimSwam
According to sources, the SEC proposed a roster limit of 35 for women's swimming and diving and 22 for men in the wake of the recent House v. NCAA settlement.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Sources: SEC Proposes Swim/Dive Roster Limits for Men (22), Women (35) After House Settlement
By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
MacDonald comes to WVU from Xavier, where he's been on staff for 18 years, including the last 16 seasons as the head coach (one as interim).
Read the full story on SwimSwam: WVU Announces Xavier’s Brent MacDonald As New Head Swim & Dive Coach
By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
King, who committed to Indiana in 2019 before switching to Alabama, announced he will join the Hoosiers next season after redshirting the last NCAA campaign.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Matt King Announces Transfer To Indiana, Where He Originally Committed, After Olympic Redshirt
By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
Erisman put up a time of 54.34 in the 100 free, overtaking Gretchen Walsh (54.38) as the fastest 15-year-old American ever and one of the fastest globally.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: arena Swim of the Week: Rylee Erisman Becomes Fastest 15-Year-Old American Ever In 100 Free
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