STANFORD, Calif. - Fall competition wraps up in Columbus, Ohio, for the Stanford women's swimming and diving team this weekend. The Cardinal will take part in the Ohio State Invitational at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion, Nov. 18-20.
MEET INFO: There are 10 schools competing at the invitational. Joining the Cardinal is Iowa, Kentucky, Kenyon, Pittsburgh, Penn State, Utah, Washington State, Yale and the host Buckeyes. For the meet homepage, click here, and for a detailed schedule of events, click here.
LAST TIME OUT: A large and loud crowd at Avery Aquatics Center boosted Stanford to six pool records and a 161-137 victory over Texas on Saturday. Freshman Katie Ledecky had two, juniors Simone Manuel and Janet Hu each had one, and Stanford bookended the meet with facility records in the 400-yard medley relay and 200 freestyle relay. Full recap. Photos »
Pool Party by Stanford Athletics on Exposure
AUTOGRAPHS: An estimated 1,800 fans packed the stands for the meet against Texas, and about 500 stayed for an autograph session with the Stanford swimmers, who signed for about 90 minutes following the meet.
STREAKS: Stanford won its 10th straight dual meet with its victory over Texas on Nov. 12 (last defeat was 158-142 to No. 3 Cal on Feb. 14, 2015). The Cardinal has also won nine straight dual meets at home dating back to Oct. 30, 2014 against Texas (156-144).
CARDINAL IN THE COMMUNITY: Since the last home meet, the Cardinal have been active in the community. Many members of the team were part of the Stanford SAAC event on the Sunday prior to Halloween. The student-athletes -- in full costume -- joined groups of young children to #TrickorTREEt in Palo Alto. Also this Fall, the team hosted a group of young local swimmers from San Jose to talk water safety and spend some time in the pool as part of a PSA with USA Swimming.
Really fun time in the pool and talking water safety with some young swimmers. Maybe some future Cardinal and Olympians! #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/LiHWZtY81t
— Stanford W Swim/Dive (@stanfordwswim) November 4, 2016
CAPTAINS: Head Coach Greg Meehan announced three senior captains for the 2016-17 campaign. Lia Neal, Lindsey Engel and Nicole Stafford were selected to lead the Cardinal for the upcoming season. The trio has helped guide Stanford to top-three NCAA finishes in their first three seasons.
MEEHAN BY THE NUMBERS: Now in his fifth season on The Farm, head coach Greg Meehanhas led Stanford to a 33-4 (.892) record in dual meets, the 2013 Pac-12 conference championship and four top-eight finishes at the NCAA Championships, including three consecutive top-three finishes. Most recently, Meehan mentored three Olympians and one Paralympian, and served as an assistant coach for Team USA at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. Meehan worked extensively with Lia Neal, Simone Manueland Maya DiRado, who combined to win nine medals (four gold). In addition, Stanford freshman Brickelle Bro qualified for the Paralympic Games in four events. Meehan has coached 19 Stanford All-Americans to a combined 131 All-America honors.
A LOOK BACK: The Cardinal was 7-0 in dual meets last season and ranked as high as No. 1 in the nation. Stanford finished second at the Pac-12 Championships with 13 total Pac-12 titles (three relays and 10 individual wins) and boasted the Pac-12 Coach of the Year (Greg Meehan), Pac-12 Diving Coach of the Year (Patrick Jeffrey), Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year (Ella Eastin) and Pac-12 Diver of the Year (Gracia Leydon Mahoney). Stanford then finished second at the NCAA Championships -- a meet that came down to the final event. The Cardinal totaled 35 All-America honors and five national titles (three individuals and two relays).
OLYMPIC RETURN: Stanford returns seven of its 10 All-Americans from last season, including five of six national champions. In addition, Olympians Simone Manuel and Kassidy Cook return to the team after redshirting the 2015-16 campaign. Manuel was a seven-time All-America honoree as a freshman for the Cardinal in 2014-15. She won four medals (two gold, two silver) at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio, and became the first African-American woman to medal in an Olympic event. Cook garnered All-America accolades in the 1-and-3-meter in 2015, and finished 13th at the Olympics.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: If you want to attend a Stanford home meet, there is free admission at Avery Aquatic Center. Two more home meets remain on Jan. 27 against UCLA and Jan. 28 vs. USC. For those that can't make it to The Farm, the UCLA matchup will be live streamed on GoStanford.com, and the USC meet will be televised on the Pac-12 Network. In addition, Stanford's trip to Cal can also be seen on the Pac-12 Networks.
SWIMMING ON SOCIAL (@StanfordWswim): Stanford women's swimming and diving can be found on instagram, twitter and snapchat (@StanfordWswim).
WHAT'S AHEAD: Sophomore Ella Eastin and freshman Katie Drabot are scheduled to compete in the short course FINA World Swimming Championships in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Dec. 6-11. The rest of the Cardinal will wait to return to competition at Arizona State and Arizona on Jan. 20 and Jan. 21, respectively.
#GoStanford