Feb. 3, 2007
Berkeley, Calif. - No. 1 Stanford (10-0, 6-0 Pac-10) finished off an unbeaten regular season dual meet campaign with an exciting 153-147 win over No. 3 California (10-1, 5-1 Pac-10) at the Spieker Aquatics Complex. Stanford's unbeaten regular season was its first since 2001-02 and 13th in school history. Freshmen Julia Smit (200 free, 200 back, 200 IM) and Elaine Breeden (100 fly, 200 fly) continued their outstanding rookie seasons by combining to win five individual events. Brooke Bishop (50 free, 100 back) and Cassidy Krug (1-meter, 3-meter) were also double individual event winners.
"We were so composed as a team today," said Stanford head coach Lea Maurer. "I couldn't be more proud of how we handled ourselves and represented Stanford. It was really important for the team to finish an unbeaten regular season. The great thing is that we were able to reach a happy medium and able to accomplish this feat without going to the emotional well too much. We were able to do it without peaking and comprising our goals for the NCAA Championships."
Breeden set personal-bests and nearly broke school records in both of her fly victories, finishing just three-hundredths of a second shy of Shelly Ripple's record in the 200 with her time of 1:53.23 and .36 seconds short of Misty Hyman's 100 record with a mark of 51.70. Breeden is now Stanford's No. 2 all-time performer in the 200 and No. 3 in the 100.
"This was the most exciting dual meet I've ever swam in," said Breeden, who out swam 2004 Olympic gold medalist Dana Vollmer in both of her victories. "To have all of your teammates around you cheering for the common goal of the team winning was amazing."
"It was huge for the team to go unbeaten," added Breeden. "It was a goal at beginning of year. We still want to focus on the upcoming championships meets, but nobody can take this away from us."
Smit's 200 free win in 1:45.91 was also a personal-best and made her the No. 4 all-time performer in the event at Stanford. She clocked a 1:56.20 in the 200 back and a 1:58.12 in the 200 IM.
Bishop checked in with a 22.41 to capture the 50 free and a 53.88 to win the 100 back.
Krug scored 301.57 points in her 1-meter victory and 298.05 to take the 3-meter.
Elizabeth Durot (1000 free, 9:45.16) and Caroline Bruce (200 breast, 2:11.53) also captured one event each for the Cardinal.
All of Stanford's winning times met the NCAA 'A' qualifying standard other than Durot's win in the 1000 free, which is not an official NCAA event.
Stanford had five additional NCAA 'A' times in non-winning performances. Bruce (200 IM, 1:59.76) and Bishop (100 free, 49.54) both hit the standard in second place finishes, as did Bruce in a third place effort (100 breast, 1:01.18). Stanford's top relay teams in both the 200 medley and 400 free also reached the mark during second place outings. Fiona O'Donnell-McCarthy, Bruce, Breeden and Madeline Rovira clocked in with a time of 1:39.20 in the 200 medley. Breeden, Bishop, Rovira and Smit went 3:18.51 in the 400 free.
Jessica Hardy (100 breast, 59.80), Emily Silver (100 free, 48.96) and Lauren Boyle (500 free, 4:43.24) captured three individual events for the Golden Bears all in NCAA 'A' times.
California set new Spieker Aquatics Complex pool records to win both relay events in NCAA `A' times with. A team of Sherry Tsai, Hardy, Vollmer and Silver recorded a time of 1:38.36 in the 200 medley while a quartet of Lauren Boyle, Lauren Andrews, Annie Babicz and Vollmer took the 400 free in 3:18.33.
Stanford also broke six pool records in the meet with Breeden (100 fly, 200 fly) and Smit (200 free, 200 back) picking up two each, while Bishop (50 free) and Durot (1000 free) added one apiece.
"This was a meet of great performances and momentum swings," summed up Maurer. "We handled those momentum swings well and had a phenomenal all-around team effort. It was great to come away with the win."
The Cardinal victory snapped California's dual meet win streak at 21 with the Golden Bears' last loss also coming to the Cardinal in Berkeley on February 12, 2005.
Stanford will next compete in the Pac-10 Women's Swimming and Diving Championships. The diving portion of the event will be held at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center (Federal Way, Washington) next Friday-Sunday, February 9-11. The swimmers will compete the following Wednesday-Saturday, February 14-17, at the Belmont Plaza (Long Beach, California) and then if necessary individuals will have one final opportunity to qualify for the 2007 NCAA Championships the following day at the Pac-10 Invite.