By Howie Lindsey
After Shocking
The Swimming World,
Mallory Comerford
Wants More
Mallory Comerford can go faster
–
and she knows it.
But we’ll get back to that. First, the race.
University of Louisville sophomore Mallory
Comerford brought the swimming world to its
feet during the 2017 NCAA Championships when
she crashed the podium, turning in a blazing-fast
final lap to tie five-time Olympic Gold medalist
Katie Ledecky for the NCAA Championship in
the 200-yard freestyle.
It was the greatest race of Mallory’s life, the
fastest time she had ever swam. After jamming
her hand into the wall to finish as quickly as
she possibly could, she turned to check the
scoreboard and saw her name.
Her mouth dropped open and her hand raised
to cover her shocked expression. She just out-
swam two Olympic stars, Ledecky and Simone
Manuel, two of the best swimmers in the world,
in the final lap at the national championships.
“When I saw the one next to my name, it was
just unreal,” Comerford said. “I knew I swam
a good race, but I didn’t expect to see the one
next to my name. I looked over at my teammates
and they were all going crazy.”
Her Louisville teammates erupted on the
pool deck, screaming with tears in their eyes
for their teammate’s breakthrough moment.
Louisville Athletic Director Tom Jurich and
his wife, Terrilynn, were in Indianapolis for
the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and
made sure to be there for the finals of the race.
“I’ve been to a lot of athletic events, bowl
games, the national championship in basketball
32 EXTOL SPORTS / MAY 2017
Photo by Michael Hickey, UofL sports Information
… That was one of the best moments of my
career,” Jurich said. “The entire team was crying,
my wife was crying.”
Swimming insiders all billed the race as a
showdown between Ledecky and Manuel, but
Comerford would be standing at the top of the
podium. She beat Manuel and tied Ledecky
down to the one-hundredth of a second, 1:40.36.
“Mallory tied Katie Ledecky in the 200,”
those in the swimming community say, with
significant reverence, emphasizing Ledecky’s
name like the legend she already is.
Ledecky, a Stanford freshman, has already
been to two Olympics, has five Gold medals
and nine World titles. Just 20 years old, she has
broken 13 world records.
“She never loses,” Olympian Maya DiRado
said. “Her off days are winning by a lot but not
setting the world record. It’s a totally different
standard than everybody else is working on.”
Ledecky didn’t lose the 200-free, but
Comerford out-raced her on the final lap for
the tie.