2024 Purdue Invite
Celia Pulido of Southern Illinois University swam to a 51.07 in prelims of the 100 backstroke on Friday. Pulido is the fastest mid-major swimmer in the 100 backstroke of all-time after swimming a 50.73 to finish 7th in the event at the 2024 NCAA Championships.
Pulido notably swam a 50.98 in prelims at NCAAs before dropping 0.25 in finals. Today’s swim also improved upon where she was at a year ago as she swam a 51.99 in prelims before swimming a 51.82 in finals at the 2023 Purdue Invite. Her past success to drop from prelims to finals bodes well for tonight.
Top 5 Mid Major Women- 100 Backstroke
In addition to being the top mid-major swimmer ever, Pulido also is the fastest 100 backstroker in the state of Illinois as her best time is faster than the school records at Power 4 institutions such as Illinois and Northwestern.
Pulido is currently in her senior season at SIU and made huge waves last year as she was the highest scoring mid-major swimmer at Women’s NCAAs. In addition to her ‘A’ final appearance in the 100 back, she finaled in the 200 backstroke finishing 13th in a 1:52.31.
She will swim out of lane 4 tonight as the top seed by over two seconds, giving her the potential for clean water once again in finals. Purdue’s Abby Marcukaitis had the 2nd fastest time of the morning with a 53.70.
