Brown Smashes 100 Fly Records at SECs

Friday, February 16

College Station, TX

All Day

University of Tennessee

SEC Championships: Day 3

COLLEGE STATION, TX - 2018.02.15 - SEC Swimming and Diving Championships

February 16, 2018 | Swimming & Diving

Results Photo Gallery

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Sophomore Erika Brown scored her second individual title of the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships on Friday, putting together a historic performance in the 100-yard butterfly.

Brown smashed the SEC and school record with a time of 49.85 seconds, becoming the second-fastest woman ever in the event. Olympian Kelsi Worrell, a former NCAA champion for Louisville, is the American record holder in 49.43.

She won the 100 butterfly final by the better part of a second; Haley Black of Auburn took silver in 50.68.

Brown has now captured four total gold medals this week. She won the 50 freestyle Thursday and was part of the winning 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay teams.

Nine Tennessee swimmers and divers reached championship finals Friday night. Brown was joined in the 100 butterfly final by junior Madeline Banic, who took fifth (52.03).

Junior diver Rachel Rubadue earned a spot on the SEC podium for the fourth time in her career. She recorded a career-best score of 366.40 on 3-meter springboard to take third. She was a model of consistency throughout the six dives, leading the field with an average judge score of 7.64.

Sophomore Stanzi Moseley, who was part of the winning 200 freestyle relay team Thursday, earned bronze in the 200 freestyle, swimming 1:44.88.

Through three days and 22 complete events, the Lady Vols climbed to second in the team standings with 544.5 points with Texas A&M leading with 737. The Tennessee men are fourth with 506 points; Florida leads with 595.

TENNESSEE HISTORY: Brown is the first Tennessee swimmer to win multiple individual titles at one SEC meet since Jenny Connolly won the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke at the 2012 meet.

UT/SEC RECORDS BROKEN: Erika Brown broke the SEC record twice and Tennessee record once. Tennessee has broken seven school records this meet.

Women's 100 Butterfly - Erika Brown - 49.85 (old SEC record: 50.71 - Sarah Gibson - 2017; old UT record: Erika Brown - 50.33 - 2017)

QUOTES
Tennessee Head Coach Matt Kredich:
(On Brown's time and improvement)
"I try to take the time out of it, and evaluate the swim. This morning, she didn't have a great swim. It was kind of a mess. She relaxed and swam a more natural race. The result was six tenths faster. With more adjustments, the performance could still be better. it's exciting to know she's done some historical achievement.

"It's been really satisfying. She made all this progress by doing things the right way. She's really enjoying swimming and enjoying the team, and finding joy in working hard. She's studying the event and studying all the ways she can get better. She was more isolated last year, and now she talks about investing in teammates, which is a real joy to watch. She doesn't want a lot of attention on herself and brings that attention on the team. She's made other people better. It's fun to see her enjoy the sport. She dealt with illness a lot last year and struggled like freshmen sometimes do. She's an example for others. You can struggle as a freshman and that's OK. Once you find a way out, you can plug into parts of the sport you find joy in."

(On team performance)
"I thought our team did a great job this morning positioning ourselves for tonight. I thought we raced well this morning. We showed nerves in some events, and sometimes that's OK. Some were in their first championship final or night swim of their careers. Joey wanted to win and took a hard shot at it (in the 200 freestyle). He probably went too hard at the beginning, but he learned something. I like that he took a shot to win. You learn a ton in the process. Kyle did a great job (in the C final of the 200 freestyle). Winning any heat at night is a big deal. I'm proud of our team for taking their shots."

Diving Coach Dave Parrington:
"It was just a fantastic performance by Rachel this evening, really all day. In two lists, she didn't miss a beat. She gave up some DD, which cost her in the scoring. Some girls had bigger DD dives, but I was very very pleased with her competitiveness and composure. She hasn't had a score that high since freshman SECs. Also credit to Ana (Hernandez) for making the final earlier today. She had to put up a big dive to do it. It was a big moment for her. This experience in the final will pay huge dividends down the road for her."

Tennessee Sophomore Erika Brown
(On sub-50 time)
"It was really exciting. I had the number 49 in my head. I knew I wanted to be there. Just to touch the wall and see that and validate that was really exciting to know the hard work pays off."