RIO de JANEIRO - Four Stanford swimmers earned silver medals on the first day of swimming at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. Former Cardinal standout Maya DiRado '14 earned her first Olympic medal in the 400-meter individual medley, while Simone Manuel, Lia Neal and future Cardinal Katie Ledecky were members of the United States 400-meter freestyle relay.
In both races, the Cardinal swimmers finished second to world-record performances. Manuel and Ledecky helped set an American record in the finals of the 400 free to reach the second spot on the podium (3:31.89). Neal, who earned bronze in the event in London four years ago, was the second leg of the preliminary race where the United States finished second in 3:33.59.
Congrats to @simone_manuel, @katieledecky, @LiaNeal & the #USA 400 free relay team! #GoStanford #TeamUSA pic.twitter.com/EhDbWDVGUg
— Stanford W. Swimming (@stanfordwswim) August 7, 2016
DiRado is the third Cardinal to earn a medal in the 400 IM as she joins Summer Sanders, who garnered bronze in Spain in 1992, and Janet Evans, who captured gold in Korea in 1988. The Santa Rosa, Calif., native finished second only to the world-record performance by Hungary's Katinka Hozzsu (4:28.58). DiRado, who was third in the preliminaries with a time of 4:33.50, was the next to touch the wall in 4:31.15. Spain's Mireia Belmonte was the bronze medalist with a time of 4:32.39.
You earned it, @mayadorito #gostanford?? #Rio2016 #usaswimming #TeamUSA
A photo posted by @stanfordwswim on Aug 6, 2016 at 7:18pm PDT
DiRado, who is a 21-time Stanford All-American, will also compete in the 200-meter backstroke and 200-meter individual medley. Ledecky is set to swim again on Sunday in the 400-meter freestyle as well as several other races throughout the week, while Manuel will swim in the 50 and 100-meter freestyle races. For a full schedule and complete Olympic coverage, see GoStanford.com/Rio.