Nelson garners gold again in the 100 backstroke

Friday, February 22

Bloomington, IN

10 a.m. / 5:30 p.m. (CT)

Wisconsin Badgers

Big Ten Championships

Photo by: Craig Bisacre

Nelson garners gold again in the 100 backstroke

February 22, 2019 | Women's Swimming & Diving

American record-holder repeats as Big Ten champion for Badgers

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – On the third day of the Big Ten women's championships, Wisconsin junior Beata Nelson bagged her second title of the meet by clocking in at 49.83 seconds in the 100-yard backstroke.

Nelson, the fastest woman in the history of the event, successfully defended the first of two conference titles she's seeking to repeat this week.

"It was very exciting, and it was just a great race," Nelson said. "There are some great swimmers in that field, so I think they really pushed me to be my best."

Nelson's effort gives her 5 of the 11 sub-50 second swims ever recorded in the 100 backstroke.

"Breaking 50 seconds for the first time was incredible, but it came along with this question of 'will that ever happen again?' or 'was this just a one-time thing?'" Nelson said. "So being able to do it over and over again, is really validating."

Nelson's title, the fourth individual Big Ten crown of her career, came on the heels of a win in the 200 individual medley on Thursday.

"Beata was awesome to win her second Big Ten title in as many nights," UW head coach Yuri Suguiyama said. "Her consistency this year in that event has been exceptional and shouldn't be taken for granted."

Nelson will now look to defend her title in the 200 backstroke, another event in which she holds the Big Ten record, on Saturday.

Posting a time of 52.99 in Friday's 100 backstroke final, senior Jess Unicomb stood on the podium as the Badgers' seventh-place finisher, as junior Hannah Lindsey finished 15th with a personal-best mark of 53.7.

Qualifying for the 200 freestyle finals with a personal-record finish of 1:44.73 in prelims, freshman Lillie Hosack sprinted to fourth place with a time of 1:45.00.

"Lillie is an inspiration to me," Nelson said. "We have Badgers on the team that are gonna fight to put their hand on the wall."

"She's a complete example of that and a great teammate."

Freshman Jenna Silvestri also posted a personal-best time, touching the wall at 1:01.44 in the 100 breaststroke finals.

With a mark of 292.40, freshman Tereza Vithoulkas tallied nine points for the Badgers in the 3-meter diving event.

"We're really excited about three of our freshmen – Lillie, Jenna and Tereza – finishing and scoring on back-to-back nights," Suguiyama said. "This is a tough meet, and to do it their first year bodes well for the future."

Hosack and Unicomb also were part of Wisconsin's 200 freestyle relay squad that finished fourth in 1:29.82, joining Kathleen Coughlin and Ari Saghafi.

Saghafi also claimed 12th in the 100 butterfly with a personal-record mark of 53.69, alongside junior Megan Doty and sophomore Alex Reddington, who finished 13th (53.70 PR) and 18th (53.64), respectively.

Sitting at fifth place in the team standings, with 478 points, the Badgers will resume competition Saturday at 10:30 a.m. followed by finals at 5:30 p.m. The final day's schedule includes the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly and platform diving.

"This whole team is fighting and grinding away for each point," Suguiyama said.