NCAA's Up Next

NCAA's Up Next

Stanford aims for third straight national title
03/18/2019 | Women's Swimming & Diving

No. 1 Stanford (7-0, 7-0 Pac-12)
 NCAA Championships | March 20-23
Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center | Austin, Texas
Stanford Notes | Live Results  | Psyche Sheet | Championships Home

Live Streams: All Prelims/Wed Finals 
Watch: Wed/Thu Evening Finals: ESPN3 | Fri/Sat Evening Finals: ESPNU

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STANFORD, Calif. - Two-time defending national champion Stanford will send 16 swimmers and four divers to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, March 20-23, in Austin, Texas. The Cardinal has won more national championships than any other program (10 NCAA and one AIWA), and is looking for its first three-peat since winning five straight from 1992-96.

NCAA NOTES
» Stanford's swimmer-by-swimmer breakdown, a full day-by-day schedule, school records and season notables can be found here.

SCHEDULE
» See Stanford's full day-by-day schedule below.

WATCH
» You can find a live stream for all preliminary events here. Finals on Wednesday and Thursday will be on ESPN3 and the Watch ESPN app, while ESPNU will provide coverage of Friday and Saturday night finals.

LOTS OF TREES
» Stanford's 22 NCAA qualifiers (18 swimmers, four divers) was the most in the nation, and over the NCAA roster limit of 18 (divers count as half) so the Cardinal will send 16 swimmers and four divers. Stanford's other two qualifiers were sophomores Katie Glavinovich and Hannah Kukurugya, who each qualified in three events.
» The Cardinal sent the maximum roster last year and finished with the most points at the NCAA meet in more than a decade. The year prior, Stanford had 16 at the NCAA meet when they took home the title in Indianapolis. Prior to that, 13 traveled to Atlanta in 2016 (10 swimmers, three divers) when Stanford finished as the national runner-up. 
» Stanford has 53 individual events this week (swims and dives combined), the most in the nation. 

YOUNG TREES
» For the second straight year more than half of Stanford's NCAA roster will be underclassmen. Of the 20 Cardinal student-athletes, nine are freshmen, four are sophomores, five are juniors and two are seniors. 
» But it will also be an experienced group as 10 returnees have been to the NCAA's before -- all 10 have won a national title and seven others have been part of the last two national title teams. In addition, the returning Cardinal have combined for 41 All-America honors.

TOP TREES
» Stanford has the top seed in just two events entering the meet. Lauren Pitzer has the best seed time in the 500 free (4:34.30), while Ella Eastin had the only sub-four time in the 400 individual medley this year (3:57.75), and Brooke Forde owns the nation's second-best time in the event at 4:00.27.
» Freshman Taylor Ruck as the second-best time of the year in the 200 back (1:48.67).
» In the 200 fly, junior Katie Drabot is the No. 2 seed with a season-best time of 1:51.42, followed by Eastin's 1:52.07 which ranks third in the NCAA. 

NCAA TEAM HISTORY
» Stanford has won the NCAA title 10 times, the most of any team in the nation, and won an AIAW title in 1980.
» The Cardinal has registered 38 straight top-eight finishes (every year the NCAA has sponsored a championship meet), and 14 top-five showings in the last 15 years.
» Under head coach Greg Meehan, Stanford finished eighth (2013), second (2014), third (2015) and second (2016) before snapping the program's 19-year title drought with back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018.
» Stanford last won three straight NCAA titles during a five-year run from 1992-96. In all, only four schools have won three straight national titles -- Texas (1984-88), Stanford (1992-96), Georgia (1999-2001) and Auburn (2002-04). Only three coaches have won three straight national titles -- David Marsh (Auburn), Jack Bauerle (Georgia) and Richard Quick (Texas and Stanford). 

LAST YEAR
» Last year's NCAA meet ended with a victory leap into the diving well at Ohio State's McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. Stanford celebrated its second straight NCAA team title. 
» The Cardinal had 16 different All-Americans combine for 56 All-America honors, five American records, eight individual national championships and five relay titles.
» Stanford's 13 event victories tied the all-time record set several times, last by Stanford in 1993.
» Stanford was just the third school to sweep all five relays at the NCAA Championships, joining Georgia in 2005 and Arizona in 2008.
» Stanford's 593 points were the most since Georgia had 609.5 in 2005 and the most for the program since the Cardinal totaled 649.5 in 1993. Cal was second with 373 points – the 220-point difference was the third-largest margin of victory at the NCAA Championships and the largest since 1993 (Stanford over Florida, 649.5 - 421).
» Then-junior Ella Eastin was named the NCAA Championships Swimmer of the Meet. She set two American records en route two relay titles and a meet-best three individual national titles. 
» For more on the historic season, click here.

PAC-12 CHAMPIONS
» Stanford is the first school to win three consecutive Pac-12 Conference titles since Arizona from 2006-08. The Wildcats and Cardinal are the only programs to three-peat as Stanford also did so as champions of the first 13 conference meets (1987-99). 
» Stanford won six individual events by four individuals -- Ella Eastin (500 free, 200 back, 400 IM), Mia Paulsen (platform), Leah Stevens (1650 free) and Grace Zhao (200 breast). 
» Eastin finished her career with nine individual Pac-12 titles, which is tied for fourth-most in conference history.
» The top-ranked Cardinal's 1,775 points were the third-most ever scored at the Pac-12 Championships – just 1.5 points shy of last year's national title team and 29 points fewer than Stanford's 1992 national championship team that famously featured several Olympians, including Summer Sanders and Jenny Thompson.
» Cal finished as the runner-up with 1,352 points. The 423-point difference is the largest margin of victory at this meet since Stanford outscored runner-up UCLA by 599.5 points in 1996. 
» Stanford has won four titles under Meehan, and has never finished lower than second in his seven seasons. The Cardinal also extended its streak to 10 straight seasons in the top two at the conference meet (six titles, four runner-up finishes). Overall, this is Stanford's 22nd conference title, most all-time.

REGULAR SEASON RECAP:
» Stanford finished undefeated in dual meets for the fourth straight season. Seniors Ella EastinLeah Stevens and Kim Williams finished their careers with an unblemished record of 30-0.
» Stanford has won 29 straight dual meets. The Cardinal's last defeat in a dual was to No. 3 Cal on Feb. 14, 2015—which also marks a string of 27 straight Pac-12 dual meet victories since that loss. The Cardinal has also won 19 straight dual meets at home dating back to Oct. 30, 2014 against Texas (156-144).
» Stanford finished the regular season atop the polls for the fourth straight season.

SUSTAINING SUCCESS:
» A documentary features our journey to back-to-back national championships and the bright future ahead: https://youtu.be/OKLmG_8YU_E

SOCIAL SCENE
» 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). 
 
Stanford Schedule by Day Previous Titles
Wednesday
800 Free Relay Lineup TBD 10: Won last two
Thursday
200 Free Relay Lineup TBD 8: Last in 2018
500 Free Pitzer, Tankersley, Voss, Stevens, Forde, Byrnes, Drabot 9: Ledecky won last two
200 IM Eastin, Bartel 10: Eastin won in 2016, 2018
50 Free Goeders, Fackenthal, Nordmann 11: Manuel won last two
1-Meter Diving Sculti, Lenz, Farnsworth 1: Last in 2007 (Krug)
400 Medley Relay Lineup TBD 14: Won last five
Friday
400 IM Eastin, Forde, Szekely, Raab, Stevens 11: Eastin won last three
100 Fly Fackenthal 10: Last in 2014 (Lee)
200 Free Ruck, Pitzer, Tankersley, Drabot 3: Last in 2017 (Ledecky)
100 Breast Raab, Bartel, Zhao 7: Last in 2015 (Haase)
100 Back Ruck, Nordmann, Voss 7: Last in 2018 (Howe)
3-Meter Diving Sculti, Paulsen 3: Last in 2007 (Krug)
200 Medley Relay Lineup TBD 14: Won 2014, 2016, 2018
Saturday
1650 Free Byrnes, Tanksersley, Stevens 7: Ledecky won last two
200 Back Ruck, Nordmann, Voss, Szekely 2: Last in 1998 (Hyman)
100 Free Pitzer, Fackenthal, Goeders 10: Manuel won last two
200 Breast Raab, Bartel, Zhao, Szekely 7: Last in 2005 (Bruce)
200 Fly Drabot, Eastin, Forde 12: Eastin won last two
Platform Diving Sculti, Paulsen, Lenz 5: Last in 2016 (Leydon-Mahoney)
400 Free Relay Lineup TBD 13: Won last two (4 of last 5)
 
#GoStanford
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