200 Freestyle Relay: California (1:26.41) snatches the 200 free relay title away from Stanford (1:26.52) thanks to a lightning quick 21.17 anchor leg out of Farida Osman. Wisconsin’s Ivy Martin got the Badgers out early but Stanford took control throughout the middle of the race with Georgia not far behind. The ended up in third in 1:26.93.
Consolation Final: The lead changed hands after each leg but the team with the initial lead ended up the victor. Tennessee’s Faith Johnson led off in 22.03 and the Vols (1:28.01) came back on the anchor leg to win over USC.
Quick Quotes -200 Freestyle Relay - Kaylin Bing, California
On winning the national title
“It was my first individual national title, so it felt awesome. The team really stepped up, and it’s a phenomenal experience to have that.”
Team started out behind. What was it like to watch teammates come back?
“Being the first leg and making a couple of mistakes here and there… Having Missy and Farida behind me was such a confidence booster and I wouldn’t want to have anyone else behind me on a relay.”
California makes up 12 points from the morning seeds and takes their first lead of the championships.
500 Freestyle: Virginia’s Leah Smith (4:31.54) leads from start to finish, taking the Cav’s first NCAA title since 2001. Cal freshman Cierra Runge is second in 4:33.82 in her first NCAA race while North Carolina native and Texas A&M Aggie Sarah Henry scored a career best third place finish (4:34.34). Georgia’s Amber McDermott (4:35.31) was fourth followed by Florida’s Jessica Thielmann (4:37.22).
Consolation Final: USC’s Chelsea Chenault led for the first half and UGA’s Jordan Mattern did so for the second, taking a win in 4:36.49. Chenault grabbed second in 4:37.55 with North Carolina’s Danielle Siverling third (4:38.53).
Quick Quotes - 500 Freestyle, Leah Smith, Virginia
On ability to have a comeback swim after the performance this morning
“Yeah, it was similar to the race I had at the Georgia Invite. In the morning my coach just said I want you to have a strong race but be sure to bring it back fast. That morning, I thought I was going to touch 4:39 and I touched 4:32. Last year I didn’t make the A-final which I was very upset about so this year I went in there with a mindset of doing anything I can to have the best race possible.”
“People were telling me ‘Hey, you’re ahead by 5 seconds. It’s not going to be that hard.’ But I knew it was going to be difficult with the field of competitors. However, I did realize it wasn’t going to take another huge drop for me to win the race. So, just being realistic while trying to have a great race.”
Georgia leads with 92 while Cal has 58. Both Cal and Georgia were -2 from prelim seeding so no ground gained for either from the morning swims. Texas A&M is third with 44 Wisconsin fourth (35).
200 IM: Missy Franklin took control of this race on the backstroke leg and never let up, winning her second individual NCAA title in a time of 1:52.11. Teammate Elizabeth Pelton (1:52.80) gave her a race while Madisyn Cox of Texas brought her ‘A’ game with a third place finish in 1:54.43. Notre Dame’s Emma Reaney took fourth in 1:55.13 while Virginia’s Courtney Bartholomew was fifth in 1:55.71.
Consolation Final: Texas A&M freshmen Bethany Galat (1:55.48) and Lisa Bratton (1:56.58) went 1-3 for A&M with strong back halves while Cal’s Caroline Piehl (1:56.28) split them up.
Quick Quotes
200 Individual Medley - Missy Franklin, California
On what the meet means to her
It means so much to me. If someone would’ve told me coming into college swimming that I would’ve won the 200 IM at NCAAs, I probably would’ve laughed. It’s just really cool thinking about all the training that I’ve done and being able to do an event kind of out of my specialty and be able to win it, especially with Liz (Pelton) getting second.
On two other Cal swimmers in the A final and the team race
Georgia swam lights out this morning so I think that really got us motivated. I think we’ve had some really awesome swims tonight, but I think the most important thing is that we stay focused on us. We’re the only people that we can control and as a team we’re going to try keep lifting each other up and see what we can do to reach our own goals.
Cal takes the lead with 115 while Georgia is right behind them 112. A&M is third with 59 followed by Virginia with 42 and Wisconsin fifth (35).
50 Free: Simone Manuel swims the second fastest time ever (21.32) in her first-ever NCAA individual final to win her first-ever individual title. Wisconsin’s Ivy Martin takes second in 21.61. Louisville’s Kelsi Worrell actually held the lead at the halfway but still managed a terrific time of 21.62 for third. Osman, who basically won the 200 free relay for Cal, took fourth in 21.68. Georgia took fifth and sixth with Maddie Locus (21.80) and Chantal Van Landeghem (21.97). N.C. State's Riki Bonnema (22.03) and 2014 champ Olivia Smoliga (22.09) rounded out the big girl heat.
Consolation Final: Penn State’s Carolyn Fittin (22.07) used a good start to inch her way past Texas A&M freshman Béryl Gastaldello (22.09) and Tennessee’s Faith Johnson (22.11).
Quick Quotes
50 Freestyle - Simone Manuel, Stanford
On being a national champion
I’m pretty excited. 50 free, first individual event at NCAAs, so I’m really excited for the rest of the week.
On what she was feeling before and after the race
I was a little nervous. I made a couple mistakes on my relay swim, so I just tried to focus on some of the things my coach was telling me. At the same time, you don’t want to think too much because you might mess up something else. So I really just tried to go out there and have as much fun as I could.
Georgia retakes the lead 150-130 over Cal with A&M still holding third but way back at 70.5. Stanford (54) and Wisconsin (52) round out the top five.
One-Meter Diving
Round 1: Stanford’s Kassidy Cook opens with the lead at 58.80 followed by Purdue’s Mary-Beth Dunnichay (56.25). Minnesota’s Yo Zhou is third with 52.90 points while Florida’s Kahlia Warner (50.40) is fourth. Samantha Pickens of Arizona is fifth with 48.75 points followed by Wenting Zhang of Illinois State (48.30), Kentucky’s Rebecca Hamperian (47.15) and Florida State’s Katrina Young (46.80).
Round 2: Cook (111.60) remains in the lead while Pickens (109.85) ascends to second with Dunnichay (107.95) sliding a spot to third. Zhou (105.70) slips to fourth while Young (104) climbs three spots to fifth. Warner (102.15), Zhang (101.60) and Hamperian (99.95) round out the top eight.
Round 3: Zhou (169.40) hits a big one to take the lead from Cook (168.80) while Pickens (166.20) slides to third. Zhang (159.20) climbs from seventh to fourth while Hamperian (157.55) climbs from eighth to fifth. Warner (152.85) holds at sixth followed by a sliding Dunnichay (152.80) and Young (152.30).
Round 4: Cook (227.30) regains the lead with Pickens (226.20) following her lead past Zhou (221.90). Zhang (213.20) holds in fourth while Warner (208.05) climbs a spot to fifth as does Dunnichay (206.80) to sixth. Hamperian (205.65) slides from fifth to seventh while Young (193.10) remains eighth.
Round 5: It will come down to the last dive between Pickens (284.70), Zhou (280.40) and Cook (280.20) for who wins the title. Warner (271.05) climbs another spot into fourth with Dunnichay (269.20) climbing another spot to fifth. Hamperian (266.85) jumps a spot to sixth with Zhang (266) slipping from fourth to seventh. Young (247.70) continues to be eighth.
Round 6: Arizona’s Samantha Pickens (345.90) wins back her NCAA one-meter diving title won in 2013 over Stanford’s Kassidy Cook (340.20) and Minnesota’s Yu Zhou (338.00). Kentucky’s Rebecca Hamperian (326.65) moves from sixth to fourth in the final round while Purdue’s Mary-Beth Dunnichay (323.20) finishes fifth. Florida’s Kahlia Warner (321.75), Illinois State’s Wenting Zhang (314.10) and Florida State’s Katrina Young (297.70) round out the top eight.
Consols:
Round 1: Notre Dame’s Allison Casareto (58.50) opens with the lead followed by Indiana’s Jessica Parratto and Miami of Ohio’s Pei Lin (54.00). N.C. State’s Rachel Mumma (52.80), Kentucky’s Christa Cabot (52.50), Hawai’I’s Aimee Harrison (51.60), Miami of Florida’s Thea Vock (50.60) and USC’s Haley Ishimatsu (37.95) round out the top eight.
Round 2: Casareto (114.40) continues to lead followed by Lin (112.50) and Harrison (111.40). Parratto slides two spots to fourth While Vock climbs two spots to fifth. Cabot (104.5) slides a spot to sixth followed by Mumma (97.65) and Ishimatsu (82.95).
Round 3: Lin (167.70) takes the lead over Casareto (165.00) with Parratto (159.30) moving up a spot into third. Vock (156.95) continues to climb while Harrison (152.80) slides two spots to fifth where she is tied with Cabot. Mumma (151.65) and Ishimatsu (135.75) continue to hold their spots at the bottom.
Round 4: Lin (221.70) remains in the lead over Casareto (216.60), Parratto (211.05), and Vock (210.95). Mumma (206.25) jumps from seventh to fifth while Cabot (203.50) slides a spot to sixth. Harrison (203.20) slides two spots for the second straight round while Ishimatsu seems firm in eighth (189.05).
Round 5: Casareto (271.20)) regains her lead over Lin (266.80) with Vock (265.55) now moving up to third. Mumma (263.45) climbs for a second straight round while Parratto (260.25) slips two spots into fifth. Harrison (254.45) moves up a spot to fifth followed by Cabot (253.90) and Ishimatsu (235.25).
Round 6: Every single spot held from round five as Notre Dame’s Allison Casareto (325.20) wins consols over Miami of Ohio’s Pei Lin (321.40) and Miami of Florida’s Thea Vock (319.55). N.C. State’s Rachel Mumma (318.45) and Indiana’s Jessica Parratto (314.00) take fourth and fifth. Aimee Harrison of Hawai’I (308.45), Christa Cabot of Kentucky (304.30) and Haley Ishimatsu (288.05) of USC round out the 9-16 spots.
Quick Quotes - One-Meter
Samantha Pickens, Arizona
On winning a national championship
“It means a lot. A ton of hard work has been put into it and I’m really excited.”
On her preparation before the finals
“My coach tells me to just try and be calm, relax and do the dives that you’re capable of. I’ve done these dives so many times you just have to put them on autopilot and go.”
On if this win gives her extra confidence going into 3-meter
“A little bit [of extra confidence] but tomorrow is a completely new day. What happened here, keep it here and regroup for tomorrow.”
Cal (150) and Georgia (130) remain on top with the same scores however Stanford takes over third with 71 points while A&M is less than a point back at 70.5.
400 Medley Relay – Stanford won at the absolute last possible millisecond with a NCAA, American and U.S. Open record of 3:26.41 thanks to a superhuman 45.45 anchor leg by Simone Manuel. Virginia swam the second fastest time ever in 3:26.42 while Cal was third in 3:27.17. Missy Franklin anchored in a similarly befuddling 45.98. Missouri (3:30.70), Tennessee (3:30.84) and Louisville (3:30.91) round out the top six while USC (3:31.00) and Georgia (3;31.91) took the final two big girl spots.
Consolation Final: Kentucky jumped out to an early lead with a 52.27 lead off leg, but it was all Texas from there on out as the Longhorns won going away in 3:30.98. North Carolina (3:32.78) held off a charging Texas A&M (3:32.99) squad for second.
Quick Quotes
400 Medley Relay - Greg Meehan, Stanford
“I think for starters, congrats to Virginia and to Cal because they had two great relays and it wasn’t easy to get a win there. It was a very impressive performance by both of those squads. Simone’s teammates put her in that position to do what she’s capable of. She’s capable of doing some pretty crazy things. To get her hand on the wall first was an amazing thing for our program and for our fans to celebrate that.”
On Simone Manuel’s split
“In the moment, the time doesn’t really matter. The split is awesome, but the win means more and that’s a testament to her teammates.”
On the 200 freestyle relay
“We had three freshman on that relay and it’s usually hard to rely on freshman for their first NCAA time.”
Georgia will take a 172-162 lead into Friday over California. Stanford (111) also climbed over the century mark with that stunning relay while A&M sits fourth (82.5) and Louisville and Virginia are tied for fifth (76).
Jack Bauerle, Georgia
"We were really particularly happy with the 500s, and we had two young ladies that really didn’t do much at all last year – Hali Flickinger didn’t even swim in the event, she swam in the 200 IM and did not score. That was pretty neat. And then Jordan [Mattern], she hadn’t swum that the last two years, and that was a 4:36.
The three IM-ers did a job. They were not seeded to score in the top 16 so we were happy about that this morning. I think Annie [Zhu] ran out of a little gas today, she had three 200 IMs today and the relays.
Just a job well done. Cal’s a great team, Stanford’s a great team. Heck, there are a lot of great teams here. I’m proud of our 50 ladies too.
This meet’s always won in the mornings, I think. We have to have another good one, and see if we can put a little pressure on because Cal is certainly a great team and is supposed to score a heck of a lot of points tomorrow so it’s going to be hard to even be close."