arena Swim of the Week: Emily Brown Drops Eight Seconds In One Day At SECs In 400 IM
Yesterday at 11:53 AM
By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn't get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
Tennessee freshman Emily Brown had a phenomenal day of racing at the SEC Championships on Thursday, resetting her lifetime best in the 400 IM twice and finishing the night eight seconds faster than she had been coming into the day.
Brown, 18, came into her first year with the Lady Vols with a personal best of 4:13.55 in the 400 IM, set back in December 2022 at the Winter Junior Championships – East.
After lowering her PB down to 4:13.17 at the Tennessee Invitational in November and then 4:13.07 at a dual meet against Alabama in early January, she knocked off more than five seconds in the prelims at SECs, clocking 4:07.66 to advance into the ‘A’ final tied for 5th.
Despite ultimately placing 6th in the final, Brown had another standout swim, taking off two and a half seconds from the prelims to finish in a time of 4:05.17, marking a drop of almost eight seconds compared to where she was at the beginning of the meet.
Brown Personal Best Time Progression, 400 IM (SCY)
- December 2022 (Pre Tennessee) – 4:13.55
- November 2024 (Tennesseee Invite) – 4:13.17
- January 2025 (Tennessee vs Alabama) – 4:13.07
- February 2025 (SEC Prelims) – 4:07.66
- February 2025 (SEC Final) – 4:05.17
Split Comparison
Relative to where she was at the Tennessee Invite, Brown has progressed significantly in the breaststroke leg over the last few months, and compared to the SEC prelims (and the dual meet against Alabama), she had much more front-half speed in the SEC final.
| Brown, Tennessee Invite | Brown, Tennessee vs Alabama | Brown, SEC Prelims | Brown, SEC Final |
| 26.43 | 26.65 | 25.87 | 25.42 |
| 55.97 (29.54) | 56.73 (30.08) | 55.64 (29.77) | 54.58 (29.16) |
| 1:28.12 (32.15) | 1:29.76 (33.03) | 1:27.67 (32.03) | 1:26.11 (31.53) |
| 1:58.95 (30.83) | 2:00.90 (31.14) | 1:58.45 (30.78) | 1:56.63 (30.52) |
| 2:36.53 (37.58) | 2:37.08 (36.18) | 2:34.10 (35.65) | 2:31.63 (35.00) |
| 3:14.64 (38.11) | 3:13.71 (36.63) | 3:11.26 (37.16) | 3:08.00 (36.37) |
| 3:44.65 (30.01) | 3:44.26 (30.55) | 3:40.36 (29.10) | 3:37.36 (29.36) |
| 4:13.17 (28.52) | 4:13.07 (28.81) | 4:07.66 (27.30) | 4:05.17 (27.81) |
The swim ranks Brown 21st all-time in the girls’ 17-18 age group and 5th all-time in Tennessee school history.
On Wednesday, Brown set back-to-back best times in the 200 IM, lowering her best time down from 1:56.49 to 1:55.95 in the prelims before placing 10th in the final in 1:55.24. The swim ranks her 6th all-time in Tennessee history and 24th in the 17-18 age group.
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