TOKYO - Future, current and past Stanford women's swimmers combined for 15 medals at the 2018 Pan Pac Championships in Tokyo last week.
Four Stanford affiliated swimmers accounted for the 15 medals, including four golds, six silver and five bronze.
Psychology major Katie Ledecky finished with three golds, a silver and a bronze. She stood atop the podium for the 400-meter freestyle, 800 free and 1,500 free, and was third in the 200 free. The nine-time collegiate All-American was also a member of the silver medal 800 free relay.
Ledecky ranks third overall in Pan Pacific competition with seven career individual gold medals, behind Stanford graduate Jenny Thompson (12) and former Stanford standout Janet Evans (9).
Communication major Simone Manuel earned the silver in four events, including the 50 free and the 100 free. She was also a member of the second-place 400 free relay and 400 medley relay teams.
Rising junior Katie Drabot earned her first Pan Pacs medal with a bronze in the 200 butterfly (2:08.40), while rising sophomore Brooke Forde just missed the podium in the 400 individual medley -- she was three seconds behind the bronze with a finish of 4:39.22.
Meanwhile, incoming freshman Taylor Ruck set a Canadian record with five Pan Pac medals. The Kenlowna, Canada, native won gold in the 200 free, took silver in the 200 backstroke and bronze in the 100 free. In addition, she finished third with her Canadian teammates in the 400 and 800 free relays.
Along with Ruck, Stanford adds eight other freshmen to the two-time defending national champions in 2018-19. Last season, Stanford became the first school to reach 10 NCAA swimming and diving titles and claimed back-to-back championships for the first time since 1992-96. In a record-setting NCAA meet in March, the Cardinal became just the third school to sweep all five relays at the NCAA meet, and tied an all-time record with 13 event titles overall, last set 25 years ago by Stanford. The Cardinal had 16 different All-Americans combine for 56 All-America honors and five American records.
