COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Sophomore Katie Ledecky broke her own American record in the 1,650-yard freestyle to lead a bevy of fast finishes in the Fall finale for No. 1 Stanford swimming and diving at the Art Adamson Invitational over the weekend.
Ledecky won four individual events as she also took the top spot on the podium in the 400 individual medley, 200 free and 500 free, and she was a member of Stanford's 400 free relay victory. Janet Hu, also a part of that relay, won the 100 butterfly, while Ally Howe (100 backstroke) and Katie Drabot (200 fly) also posted victories for the Cardinal. Those swims were in addition to numerous others that now rank among Stanford's all-time top 10.
Texas A&M won its home meet with 1,273.50 points. Stanford finished second with 1,053 points, while Arizona State was third with 375 points.
ThursdayStanford's success started early in the late Fall meet. In the first event of the first day of competition, Stanford had six of the top eight finishers.
Ledecky won the 500 free with a blazing fast time of 4:27.84. It was 10 seconds faster than the rest of the field, which included the sixth-fastest swimmer in the event in school history – freshman Brooke Forde entered the record books with a third-place finish of 4:37.85. Junior Leah Stevens also broke 4:40 with a fourth-place finish (4:39.20), while Katie Drabot (4:40.63), Lauren Pitzer (4:40.84) and Katie Glavinovich (4:46.09) were close behind.
Forde pulled off an impressive double on the first day as she also entered the Stanford record books in the 200 individual medley. She was fourth overall with a time of 1:56.69 – which ranks her 10th in program history.
Janet Hu continued to be a model of consistency across several strokes. She hit 21.91 in the prelims and the finals of the 50 free which ranks her No. 5 in the school record book (second in the event).
FridayThe Cardinal was just as fast on Day Two. Ledecky broke four minutes in the 400 individual medley (3:59.69) to edge school record holder Ella Eastin (4:00.74) and Forde, who is now No. 7 all-time at Stanford, with a third-place finish of 4:02.83. In the event, Stanford finished 1-2-3-5-6-8 as Allie Szekely (4:09.80), Stevens (4:12.43) and Hannah Kukurugya (4:13.78) also made the A final.
Ledecky also won the 200 free with an impressive 1:42.48. That was a full two seconds faster than any other swimmer. Drabot was third with the fastest Fall time of her career at 1:44.76. Freshmen Pitzer (1:46.36) and Lauren Green (1:46.84) also made the A final and finished fifth and seventh, respectively.
Hu won the 100 fly with a time of 51.27 – just ahead of senior teammate Lindsey Engel (52.70) who finished third. Hu was also the runner-up in the 100 back (51.30) – which was won by fellow senior teammate Ally Howe, who hit the wall at 50.91.
At the diving well, sophomore Haley Farnsworth was third on the 1-meter with a score of 290.25.
Junior Kim Williams nearly cracked a minute in the 100 breast with a sixth-place finish of 1:00.57.
SaturdayOn the final day, Ledecky put the exclamation point on a stellar weekend with her American record-breaking swim. She was nearly a full minute faster than the next swimmer to finish. The Bethesda, Md., native held her old record of 15:03.92 from the same weekend a year ago. She set the new standard at 15:03.31.
Drabot and Eastin were well ahead of the field in the 200 fly. Drabot edged out the junior with a career-best finish of 1:51.74. Eastin stopped the clock at 1:52.03. The third-place finisher was three seconds behind.
Hu was second in the 200 back (1:50.66), followed by a pair of teammates in Howe (1:51.25) and Erin Voss (1:53.51), while Szekely was eighth at 1:55.61.
Pitzer was Stanford's top finisher in the 100 free with a third-place showing of 48.60, and Grace Zhao was eighth in the 200 breast (2:10.23).
Hu, Ledecky, Eastin and Pitzer wrapped up the meet with a victory in the 400 free relay. The foursome cruised to a three-second victory at 3:11.59.
Up NextThe Cardinal will resume competition with a pair of home meets against Arizona (Jan. 19) and Arizona State (Jan. 20). The team will host an autograph session after the meet against Arizona State.
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