Results | Day One Recap | Day Two | Day Three
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – For the 20th time in program history, Stanford is the Pac-12 champion.
After three straight runner-up finishes, the Stanford women's swimming and diving team finished atop the conference for the first time since 2013 on Saturday night. The Cardinal garnered 1,587 points to top runner-up Cal's 1,392 points and USC, which finished third with 1,250 points.
It was a fitting ending. In the final event of the meet, Stanford added another American record – the fifth of the meet for the Cardinal. In all, Stanford won 15 of the 21 events, and freshman Katie Ledecky was named Swimmer of the Meet.
Simone Manuel, Ledecky, Janet Hu and Lia Neal are now the fastest combination in American history to complete the 400-yard freestyle relay. The foursome's finish of 3:08.51 was also an NCAA record. It completed a Stanford sweep of all five relays at the meet.
Manuel also claimed an individual title on Saturday. The Sugar Land, Texas, native completed the sweep of the freestyle sprints with a win in the 100. She finished 1-2 with senior teammate Lia Neal. Manuel touched the wall at 46.36 and Neal finished in 46.97. Earlier in the week, Manuel won Pac-12 titles in the 50 and 200 free.
.@simone_manuel wins #Pac12Swim title in the 100 free and goes 1-2 with @lianeal! #GoStanford https://t.co/wLp9l9uCyD
— Stanford WSwim/Dive (@stanfordwswim) February 26, 2017
Sophomore Ella Eastin won her second individual Pac-12 championship of the week with a victory in the 200 butterfly. Her finish of 1:51.85 clinched her fifth career individual Pac-12 title.
Freshman Megan Byrnes began the night in winning style for the Cardinal. She claimed the Pac-12 title in the 1,650 free with a finish of 15:47.62 – third-fastest in school history. Only Ledecky and Janet Evans have been faster. Sophomore Leah Stevens was second with the fourth-fastest finish all-time at Stanford (15:57.87).
Hu set a school record as the runner-up in the 200 backstroke. She bested her own Stanford mark as the first Cardinal to break 1:50 in the event. She stopped the clock at 1:49.36, while teammate Ally Howe was third at 1:51.16, Allie Szekely was fifth (1:51.76) and Erin Voss (1:53.25) was sixth.
WHAT'S AHEAD
Stanford prepares for the NCAA Championships, March 15-18, in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Cardinal hold the NCAA record with eight national championships, but have not won since 1998.
SOCIAL SCENE
For the latest updates, you can follow Cardinal women's swimming and diving all year long on instagram, twitter and snapchat (@StanfordwSwim).
????????#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/eikRm3Tkai
— Stanford WSwim/Dive (@stanfordwswim) February 26, 2017