NCAA Champions Youssef Ramadan, Phoebe Bacon, Jake Magahey Face Rivals at Midseason Invites (Top Races)
As many of the top swim teams in the country prepare to race in their annual midseason invitationals this weekend, swimming fans can look forward to watching rematches of past NCAA champions and some of their top rivals. The results that matter most will come at the national meets in March, when team titles are on the line, but these mid-November races will allow the swimmers to test themselves at a key point and determine what needs work on the way to March.
Men’s 500 Freestyle: Jake Magahey vs. Jake Mitchell
Two SEC-rival seniors will race in the 20-lap freestyle event at the Georgia Invite this weekend. In his three years at Georgia, Magahey has placed first, second and third in the 500 free at the NCAA Championships, and his best time of 4:06.71, recorded in a ferocious duel with Kieran Smith at the 2021 SEC Championships, ranks him third all-time in the event. As for Mitchell, he has been more successful in long course, qualifying for the Olympics in a stunning 400-meter free solo swim at the 2021 Olympic Trials. He did not achieve much NCAA success in two years at Michigan, but his first season at Florida was a successful one. He placed fifth in the 500 free at the NCAA Championships before qualifying for the World Championships and helping the U.S. men earn silver in the 800-meter free relay.
Women’s Backstroke: Phoebe Bacon vs. Olivia Bray and Josephine Fuller vs. Reilly Tiltmann
Phoebe Bacon — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Two different meets feature backstroke A-finalists from last year’s NCAA Championships squaring off. In Austin, Texas, Wisconsin senior Phoebe Bacon races Texas senior Olivia Bray, both top-eight finishers in both backstroke events last season. The two finished nearly even in the 100-yard race, with Bacon surpassing Bray by seven hundredths (50.54 to 50.61), but Bacon is clearly the superior 200-yard swimmer, having placed second in the event nationally the last two years after winning the national title as a freshman. Bacon’s best time of 1:48.32 ranks her among the top-10 swimmers ever.
Meanwhile, Tennessee’s Josephine Fuller will have her hands full with Virginia’s Reilly Tiltmann at the Tennessee Invite. Last season, Fuller placed fourth and Tiltmann sixth in the 200 back at NCAAs while they were seventh and 12th, respectively, in the 100 back, but in long course last summer, Tiltmann was the higher finisher in the 200-meter back at U.S. Nationals, tying for sixth at Nationals. Both swimmers won individual medals at the Pan American Games last month.
Men’s Breaststroke: Denis Petrashov vs. Josh Matheny
Louisville’s Denis Petrashov and Indiana’s Josh Matheny are expected to be two top breaststroke contenders at this season’s NCAAs, and they will race at the Ohio State Invitational. Petrashov placed third in the 100 breast at last year’s meet, and Matheny was ninth, but they are two of the top-three returning swimmers this season thanks to departures from the college ranks. Both men are 50-second swimmers, and Matheny made a big jump this summer as he was a World Championship finalist in both long course breaststroke events. These two are also national top-three contenders in the 200 breast, with the 1:50-barrier in range this season.
Men’s 100 Butterfly: Youssef Ramadan vs. Tomer Frankel and Brendan Burns
Last season, Youssef Ramadan won his first NCAA title and became the second-fastest man ever in the 100 fly with his time of 43.15, surpassed only by Caeleb Dressel. His NCAAs rematch with Josh Liendo will have to wait, but a pair of legitimate rivals await the Hokies junior this weekend at the Ohio State Invitational. Indiana’s Tomer Frankel took second at last year’s NCAAs, entering the all-time top-10 in the event, while his fifth-year teammate Brendan Burns won last year’s national B-final before grabbing the 100 back national crown later in the evening. Burns is also a past national champion in the 200 fly.
Women’s 200 & 400 Freestyle Relays: Louisville vs. Ohio State
It will be strength-on-strength between a pair of potential top-five teams at the Ohio State meet as the host Buckeyes battle Louisville in the sprint relays. Both teams return their entire sprint contingents from last season, including the groups that placed third and fourth in the 200 free relay at the NCAA Championships. While Virginia dominated the event, Louisville’s group of Gabi Albiero, Christiana Regenauer, Julia Dennis and Ella Welch took third in 1:25.73, just three hundredths behind runnerup Stanford, while Ohio State’s Katherine Zenick, Amy Fulmer, Nyah Funderburke and Teresa Ivan were a further seven hundredths back. Both relays are stocked full of swimmers capable of 21-mid-or-better splits. It’s the same deal in the 400 free relay, where Louisville was third and Ohio State fifth last year, with both teams well-positioned to jump in the standings in March.
