University of Virginia swimmer Kate Douglass and University of Iowa basketball player Caitlin Clark are two of the top athletes in the NCAA. In addition, they are both 2023 Honda Sport Award finalists for their respective sports (swimming and basketball), meaning that they have a chance of being up against each other for the overall Honda award (amongst other potential awards)—which is given every year to the best Division I athlete on the women’s side.
Because of this, and also because of the recent hype surrounding Clark’s dominant NCAA tournament performance that led Iowa to the national championship game, I was left wondering: who had the better 2022-23 NCAA season, Douglass or Clark?
Caitlin Clark is a human highlight reel. The way she moves with so much purpose on the court and the control when she pulls up for 3 after moving full speed…the Steph Curry comparisons are actually kind of perfect.
— Braden Keith (@Braden_Keith) April 1, 2023
Before comparing the two, it’s crucial to recognize that Douglass and Clark excel as the top individual performers in their respective NCAA sports.
Douglass, honored with the 2023 CSCAA and SwimSwam Women’s Collegiate Swimmer of the Year awards, showcased exceptional talent by winning all three individual events at the 2023 NCAA Championships and setting NCAA records in each. Meanwhile, Clark dominated women’s basketball, clinching all five major “player of the year” honors in 2023, including the Naismith College Player of The Year, Wooden Award National Player of The Year, AP Women’s College Basketball Player of the Year, Wade Trophy, and Ann Meyers Drysdale awards.
Although swimming and basketball are vastly different disciplines, comparing Douglass and Clark would be akin to comparing apples and oranges. Nonetheless, such comparisons can still offer intriguing insights – for instance, oranges are juicier than apples; while some prefer the taste of apple juice over orange juice.
RECORDS BROKEN
During the 2022-23 NCAA season, Douglass broke three NCAA records in three individual events, swimming the fastest times in history in the 200 IM, 100 fly, and 200 breast. She also set the record for the fastest 100 fly in history off a relay start. Many historic barriers were also broken by Douglass this year, as she became the first woman to get under both the 1:50 and 1:49-point barriers in the 200 IM, the first woman to split a sub-49 100 fly, as well the first to get under 2:02-point in the 200 breast.
Last year, Douglass also became the first swimmer in NCAA history to win national titles across three different strokes, though it wasn’t possible for her to do it again this year with her NCAAs event lineup.
Clark also made history in many ways, recording the most points and assists ever in an NCAA tournament (her points record was also higher than the men’s tournament record) and scoring the most three-pointers ever in a women’s NCAA title game. Several barriers were broken by her too, as she became the first player to have 900+ points and 300+ assists in one season, the fastest Division I women’s basketball player to score 2,000+ career points (tied alongside Elle Donne Donne), and the first player in NCAA tournament history (men’s or women’s) to record a 40+ point triple-double when she put up 41 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists in the Elite Eight against Louisville.
Overall, Clark outnumbers Douglass 9-8 in records/barriers broken this season. However, it’s also important to note that there are way more categories and opportunities for breaking records in basketball, whereas in swimming it’s really only possible to take down records in events. That being said, even when you only consider single-category records that don’t factor in time constraints, Clark also outnumbers Douglass 5-4.
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