ATLANTA, Ga. – Stanford women's swimming and diving opened with two top 10 finishes in the relays to open the 2022 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships – winning the 800 free relay and taking 10th in the 200 medley relay.
The Cardinal are fourth in the team standings with 54 points.
The quartet of Torri Huske, Taylor Ruck, Regan Smith and Brooke Forde closed the night with a five-second victory in the 800 free relay – its 12th national title in the event and fourth since 2017. Stanford's time of 6:48.30 was two seconds faster than the team's time at the Pac-12 Championships.
Huske led off the race and put the Cardinal half a second behind California at the first exchange – paving the way for Ruck to drop a 1:40.49 split to give Smith and Forde a sizable lead. Ruck's split was the fastest by any swimmer on the evening. A fifth-year senior, Forde has won three national titles in the event – her fifth overall. Ruck won her second national title of her career – also in the 800 free relay – while Smith and Huske won their first individual titles.
"It felt like a gut punch for the group (after the 200 medley relay) and to see them respond in the 800 free relay was awesome," said the Paul A. Violich Director of Women's Swimming Greg Meehan. "It was awesome to see them be two seconds faster and see four really great splits. I think they were buoyed by our team environment. Our team kept them excited, and it was easy to do their thing.
Stanford suffered a disappointing 10th-place finish in the 200 medley relay after falling behind on the first leg. The team of Smith, Allie Raab, Emma Wheal and Anya Goeders finished in a time of 1:34.97.
The national championships continues on Thursday with the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, 1-meter diving and the 200 free relay.
