STANFORD, Calif. — In front of the largest ticketed crowd college swimming has seen in a decade, Stanford opened its season with a dramatic victory at Avery Aquatic Center in the third meet of the College Swimming League (CSL).
A crowd of 2,071 watched the Cardinal score 550 points, edging runner-up California with 543.5 points. Auburn placed third with 371.5 points, followed by Ohio State with 255. CSL meets are dual-gender competitions, with results from the men's and women's events combined into a single team score for each institution.
Stanford's comeback was sealed by two dramatic finishes in the 4x50 medley super skins, the final event of the night.
On the women's side, Alana Berlin, Lucy Thomas, Ella Jablonski and Annam Olasewere combined to win the super skins with a 1:38.50 in the final, while also earning second-place points due to an Ohio State disqualification.
The Stanford men advanced through the first three rounds to face California head-to-head in the final. However, the Cardinal entered the race trailing by nearly 30 points, leaving a disqualification as the only path to victory.
That's exactly what happened.Â
California left early on the second leg of the relay, resulting in a disqualification. The ruling gave Stanford the points it needed to erase the deficit and secure a 6.5-point victory over the Golden Bears.
Caroline Bricker was named the SwimSwam Women's MVP of the meet, leading the way with three event titles. Bricker opened the night with a dominant showing in the 200 fly, clocking a 1:52.42 to finish over three seconds ahead of the field.
Bricker added another victory in the 200 IM with a 1:54.09, which was faster than all of her marks in the event last season, before capping off her evening sweep with a 1:44.26 to touch first in the 200 free.
In addition to her super skins victory, Berlin claimed the individual skins title in the 50 backstroke. Berlin won all four rounds, including a 24.58 in the opening race, swimming a 25.11 in the final to best teammate Levenia Sim (26.49). Berlin also finished fourth in the 100 backstroke with a 52.89.
Annam Olasewere rounded out the Cardinal victors with a win in the 50 freestyle, claiming the splash and dash crown with a time of 22.38. Olasewere added a runner-up finish in the 100 freestyle at 48.65.
Sylvia Roy opened up the meet with a second-place finish, posting a 1:55.55 in her first appearance for the Cardinal after spending her first collegiate season at Virginia. Sim, Charlotte Hook, Lucy Thomas, and Emily Thompson all earned individual third-place efforts, while the quartet of Olasewere, Skye Carter, Thomas and Roy finished third in the 4x50 free relay.
Following the victory, Stanford sits third in the CSL standings, matching Virginia and Indiana with four league points. The Cardinal will compete against California, Indiana, and NC State in its second CSL match on Oct. 16.
At the end of the regular season, the top three teams automatically qualify for the CSL Championship. Teams seeded No. 4-7 qualify for the Wild Card match, competing for a spot in the CSL Championship.