Fifteen Medals at WorldsFifteen Medals at Worlds
Women's Swimming & Diving

Fifteen Medals at Worlds

GWANGJU, South Korea - Led by Simone Manuel's record-setting seven medals, Stanford women's swimmers of past and present accumulated 15 medals at the FINA World Championships last week. 

Manuel became the first woman to win seven medals at a single World Championships. In total, Manuel won four golds and three silvers. In addition to the sprint titles, the Sugar Land, Texas, native was the anchor for the world record-setting 4x100 medley relay and was a member of the winning 4x200 free relay. She took home the silver in the 4x100 free, 4x200 free and mixed 4x100 free relays.

Manuel shared the previous record of six medals (she did it in 2017) with seven other women, including former Stanford teammate and current Team USA teammate Katie Ledecky, who also did so in 2017. 

Ledecky was hospitalized due to an illness and was forced to withdraw from several races, but still managed to win gold in the 800 free and a pair of silver medals. It was the fourth-straight world title for Ledecky in the 800. Ledecky upped her all-time record medal count at the World Championships to 18. Manuel is second all-time with 16. 

Rising senior Katie Drabot earned her first career World Championships medal with a bronze medal in the 200-meter butterfly. The Cedarburg, Wisconsin, native finished in 2:07.04 to earn her place on the podium. American teammate Hali Flickinger took the silver to mark the first time since 1978 that the US had two swimmers podium in the event.

Canadian Taylor Ruck won three medals for her home country. She helped Team Canada to the bronze in the 4x100 medley, 4x100 free and 4x200 free relays. It sparked Team Canada to a national record eight medals at the World Championships.

Rising junior Brooke Forde was less than a second from the final of the 400 individual medley. In her first World Championship race, she finished ninth overall with a time of 4:39.74. 

Former Cardinal Lia Neal also left Gwangju with a medal. She was a member of Team USA's silver finish in the 4x100 free relay. 

Stanford is hosting the U.S. Nationals at Avery Aquatic Center this week and several Cardinal will be racing. Tickets can be purchased at http://bit.ly/USASTickets.