Katie Ledecky took a hammer to Leah Smith's NCAA record of 9:20.15 in the women's 1000-yard free today with a 9:10.49 during a dual meet against Texas in Stanford.
To kick off the 2016 ACC Women’s Championships in February, Smith set the previous NCAA record in the 1000-yard free and 1650-yard freestyle.
Smith first went out in 9:20.15 to break the 1000-yard freestyle NCAA record of 9:23.78 set by Brittany MacLean for Georgia at the 2014 NCAA Championships.
Event 2 Women 1000 Yard Freestyle
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Name Year School Seed Finals
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1 Ledecky, Katie G FR Stanford-PC NT 9:10.49
25.52 52.80 (27.28)
1:20.55 (27.75) 1:48.38 (27.83)
2:15.88 (27.50) 2:43.50 (27.62)
3:11.20 (27.70) 3:38.69 (27.49)
4:06.46 (27.77) 4:34.35 (27.89)
5:02.18 (27.83) 5:30.05 (27.87)
5:57.90 (27.85) 6:25.82 (27.92)
6:53.50 (27.68) 7:20.88 (27.38)
7:48.42 (27.54) 8:16.03 (27.61)
8:43.80 (27.77) 9:10.49 (26.69)
1 Leah Smith JR UVA 15:39.56 15:25.30!A 32
r:+0.76 25.92 53.43 (27.51)
1:21.17 (27.74) 1:49.11 (27.94)
2:17.19 (28.08) 2:45.33 (28.14)
3:13.47 (28.14) 3:41.48 (28.01)
4:09.59 (28.11) 4:37.73 (28.14)
5:06.02 (28.29) 5:34.22 (28.20)
6:02.44 (28.22) 6:30.76 (28.32)
6:59.05 (28.29) 7:27.31 (28.26)
7:55.50 (28.19) 8:23.77 (28.27)
8:51.90 (28.13) 9:20.15 (28.25)
9:48.44 (28.29) 10:16.80 (28.36)
10:45.18 (28.38) 11:13.40 (28.22)
11:41.57 (28.17) 12:09.60 (28.03)
12:37.72 (28.12) 13:05.87 (28.15)
13:33.94 (28.07) 14:02.15 (28.21)
14:30.30 (28.15) 14:58.39 (28.09) 15:25.30 (26.91)
Notably, Ledecky also crushed a Janet Evans pool record by 20 seconds. Ledecky also broke another pool record in the 500-yard free with a 4:33.94 after taking third in the 200-yard fly with a 1:57.53.
Stanford Press Release
STANFORD, Calif. - A large and loud crowd at Avery Aquatics Center boosted the Stanford women's swimming team to six pool records and a 161-137 victory over Texas on Saturday.
An estimated 1,800 fans packed the stands, and about 500 stayed for an autograph session with the Stanford swimmers, who signed for about 90 minutes following the meet.
"Our crowd was incredible today," said head coach Greg Meehan. "The local club teams came out in droves to sit in the stands and chant names as the races were going on. The team certainly feels that energy on the deck as they're getting ready to swim their races.
"We really appreciate that support, and we were grateful for the opportunity to connect with our fans at the autograph session. I'd like to thank everyone who attended and waited in line patiently to meet our student-athletes."
The swimmers put on quite a show. The two teams combined for seven pool records -- six from Stanford and another by the Longhorns. Freshman Katie Ledecky had two, juniors Simone Manuel and Janet Hu each had one. Stanford bookended the meet with facility records in the 400-yard medley relay and 200 freestyle relay.
"It was a really fun day," said head coach Greg Meehan. "The pool records are nice, but that's more a byproduct of the strength of our team. We got pushed by a really good and well-coached Texas team. It's the first time we've beaten them here in the last three meets, and it was really great to be in a very competitive environment."
Each of the last three meetings between these programs came down to the final race. This time, the Cardinal held off the Longhorns and avenged a close loss during Texas' last visit to Avery in 2014. Since that defeat, Stanford has won nine straight dual meets at home.
"Janet Hu was one that really stood out to me today," Meehan said. "She's really been progressing nicely and had some great swims today. We also had some really good swims from Hannah Boyd, Allie Szekely and Megan Byrnes out of our freshmen class. Everybody took care of business."
Texas Press Release
STANFORD, Calif. – No. 4 Texas (7-1) gave No. 1 Stanford all it wanted in a tightly-contested dual meet, but the Cardinal, behind Olympic gold medalists Simone Manuel and Katie Ledecky, dealt the Longhorns a 161-137 defeat Saturday afternoon at Stanford’s Avery Aquatics Center.
Stanford opened the meet with a win in the 400-yard medley relay, as Manuel, the Rio Olympics co-gold medalist in the 100m freestyle, anchored the Cardinal to victory in 3:33.24. Texas yielded a couple of points with the disqualification of its “A” relay, though the Horns’ “B” relay managed to take second overall at 3:38.47.
Ledecky, a gold medalist at both the London and Rio Olympic Games, won the 1,000 freestyle in 9:10.49. Manuel returned to win the 200 freestyle at 1:44.25 while UT All-America senior Madisyn Cox settled for second at 1:45.05, ahead of Stanford Olympian Lia Neal.
Stanford went one-two in the 100 backstroke before the Horns collected their first individual win from All-America sophomore Olivia Anderson. The Minnesotan put away the 100 breaststroke in 1:01.46.
Texas sophomore Remedy Rule defeated the 2016 NCAA runner-up on her way to victory in the 200 butterfly. Rule put away the victory in 1:55.52 while Stanford sophomore Ella Eastin, the reigning NCAA runner-up, took second at 1:56.91. Ledecky competed in the same event and placed third at 1:57.23.
Stanford’s Manuel and Neal took first and second, respectively, in the 50 freestyle before Texas returned the favor in the one-meter diving event. UT sophomore Meghan O’Brien claimed the event with 301.35 points while freshman Alison Gibson took second with 297.38 points.
Stanford’s Neal returned to win the 100 freestyle before Texas posted consecutive wins in the 200 backstroke and 200 breaststroke. UT senior Tasija Karosas edged teammate Claire Adams for the win at 1:55.02 while Adams posted a strong mid-season time of 1:55.19 for second.
Cox notched her first win of the afternoon in the 200 breaststroke at 2:10.39 while Anderson added a second-place mark of 2:14.39. Ledecky claimed the 500 freestyle with an exceptional mark of 4:33.94 while UT’s Joanna Evans, a Rio Olympian herself, took second at 4:47.17.
Gibson delivered Texas a sweep of the diving events with her winning three-meter mark of 325.88 points. O’Brien added a second-place total of 321.08 points.
Cox finished off her second individual win of the day and defeated Eastin, the reigning NCAA champion in the 200 IM. Cox took the victory at 1:55.87 while Stanford’s Allie Szekely took second at 1:58.69.
Stanford, who clinched the team win by way of its second, third and fourth-place showings in the 200 IM, finished the meet with a victory in the 200 freestyle relay at 1:29.83.
The Texas divers resume fall competition next week at the UT Diving Invitational (Nov. 17-19) while the swimmers conclude the fall at the annual Texas Invitational that kicks off on Nov. 30.
