Records Shattered

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - Junior Ella Eastin shattered the American record in the 400-yard individual medley, senior Ally Howe won her first individual national title and Stanford's 200 medley relay set an American record on Day Three of the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at McCorkle Aquatic Center on Friday.

Defending champion Stanford has won nine of 12 swimming events and has set five American records. Heading into the last day, the Cardinal leads with 414 points. Cal is in second with 268 and Texas A&M is third with 186.

"There have been some really cool moments this week," Paul A. Violich Director of Women's Swimming Greg Meehan said. "We knew we had a strong team on paper and we wanted to make this meaningful. This is a special team. They don't approach races trying to break records. They just want to win. And the records just come along with that. We were able to set the tone with the 800 free relay on Wednesday and we have just kept the momentum rolling from there."
 

400 Individual Medley

Arguably the most anticipated race of the week was the 400 individual medley. Eastin matched up with sophomore Katie Ledecky. The pair has traded the American record over the last year.

Ledecky and Eastin matched stroke-for-stroke the first two legs, but Eastin posted the best breaststroke split of her career and opened up a sizeable lead over the field. She kept Ledecky at bay in the freestyle and stopped the clock at 3:54.60 – nearly two full seconds faster than the American record she set at the Pac-12 Championships in February.

Eastin is just the fourth woman to three-peat in the event and the second Cardinal to do so, joining Julia Smit (2008-10).

Ledecky, who will celebrate her 21st birthday on Saturday, completed a 1-2 finish for the Cardinal with a time of 3:58.29, and freshman Brooke Forde also broke four minutes with a fourth-place finish of 3:59.34. Sophomore Allie Szekely garnered All-America status in the event for the second straight year with a 14th-place finish of 4:06.73.

"It was amazing," Meehan said of Eastin's swim. "She can do some amazing things. Her work ethic is on poing and she pays attention to the details. She is part of an incredible training group and they should all feel a part of it. They make each other better."
 

100 Back

Howe claimed Stanford's first title in the 100 backstroke since Catherine Fox won in back-to-back years in 1997-98 – also the last time a Cardinal won any NCAA title in the backstroke (Misty Hyman won the 200 back in 1998). Howe is just the fourth Cardinal to win the event, with a combined seven titles among them.  

In the final 100 back race of her career, Howe, an 18-time All-American, earned her first individual NCAA title with a time of 49.70 – just one-hundreth of a second off her American record. It was her fourth first-team All-America honor in the event as she finished seventh in the event as a freshman, third as a sophomore and fourth as a junior.

"I get goosebumps thinking about it," Meehan said. "She has had an unbelievable meet. When she puts her mind to a goal, she is pretty tough to stop."
 

200 Medley Relay

Howe (23.54), Kim Williams (26.50), Janet Hu (22.62) and Simone Manuel (20.45) combined for an American record of 1:33.11 in the 200 medley relay.

Manuel had the fastest freestyle split in history with her 20.45 anchor leg.

Stanford, which has won all four relays at the meet, trailed heading into the final leg for the second straight relay. Manuel brought the Cardinal back once again and Stanford claimed the NCAA title in this event for the third time in the last five years.

It was the fastest 200 medley relay of all-time as the top three schools finished under American record time.
 

All-Americans

In her final collegiate event, senior Kassidy Cook earned All-America status on the 3-meter. She finished fourth with 359.85 points. It was her third All-America honor in the event and the fifth of her career.

Hu completed the double in the 100 fly and 100 back. This is the third straight year that Hu has earned first-team All-America accolades in both the 100 fly and the 100 back. She took bronze in the fly with a finish of 50.56 – her highest NCAA finish in the event – and she was fifth in the back at 50.63. In addition to the 200 medley relay, Hu took home three All-America awards on Friday, and now has five for the meet and 23 for her career.

Senior Lindsey Engel capped an impressive career in the 100 fly. She dropped her career-best time to 51.74 and took home her third All-America award in the event. She finished fourth in the B final and 12th overall.

Manuel took home bronze in the 200 free. It marked her third All-America honor in the event as she finished second in 2015 and third the last two years. The Sugar Land, Texas, native stopped the clock at 1:41.18.

Sophomore Katie Drabot continued an impressive week at NCAA's with a fourth-place finish in the 200 free. She moved into fifth-place all-time at Stanford with a career-best time of 1:43.20.

Williams and freshman Grace Zhao earned the last two spots in the B Final of the 100 breaststroke and collected All-America honors. Williams, who was in the finals of the event for the first time in her career, finished 14th with a time of 59.80 – identical to her preliminary time. Zhao was 16th in the prelims, but finished 13th overall with a career-best finish of 59.73. Willams and Zhao are two of just seven swimmers in school history to break 60 seconds in the 100 breast.
 

Up Next

The final day of the NCAA Championships begins with preliminary races at 7 a.m. PT on Saturday. Finals will begin at 6 p.m. PT and will air live on ESPNU or on the WatchESPN app. Events will include the 1,650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly and 400 free relay.

Several different Cardinal will take over the team's instagram account during the NCAA Championships. You can follow Cardinal women's swimming and diving all year long on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook (@StanfordwSwim) | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.
 

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