Pac-12 Day Two Finals: Ledecky Scorches Record Books With 4:25.15 500 Free

Day two finals at the 2017 Pac-12 Swimming and Diving Championships featured a new NCAA and American record from Katie Ledecky of Stanford in 4:25.15. Other events contested were the 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle, and 200 freestyle relay.

Feb 24, 2017 by Tiffany Sudarma

Pac-12 Day Two Finals: Ledecky Scorches Record Books With 4:25.15 500 Free

500-YARD FREESTYLE

NCAA Record: ~~4:26.46 (Katie Ledecky - Stanford, 2016)~~ 4:25.15 (Katie Ledecky - Stanford, 2017)
American Record: ~~4:26.46 (Katie Ledecky - Stanford, 2016)~~ 4:25.15 (Katie Ledecky - Stanford, 2017)
Pac-12 Meet Record: ~~4:28.37 (Katie Ledecky - Stanford, 2017)~~ 4:25.15 (Katie Ledecky - Stanford, 2017)
NCAA 'A' cut: 4:36.30

At what point do we run out of superlatives for Katie Ledecky? The Stanford freshman broke her own NCAA and American records with a 4:25.15 at the Pac-12 Championships in Federal Way, Washington, on Thursday night. It is difficult to adequately summarize Ledecky's impact on the sport, but she has shattered every barrier imaginable and leaves us wondering what she has up her sleeve every time she dives in the water. Following in second place was Katie Drabot, another Stanford swimmer, with a 4:35.69. Finishing in third was Cal's Katie McLaughlin with a 4:36.04. Big points for Stanford in this race as the Cardinal widen the gap between them and Cal.

1.) Katie Ledecky (Stanford): 4:25.15 (NCAA, AMERICAN, PAC-12 RECORD)
2.) Katie Drabot (Stanford): 4:35.69 (NCAA 'A')
3.) Katie McLaughlin (Cal): 4:36.04 (NCAA 'A')
4.) Megan Byrnes (Stanford): 4:39.14
5.) Hannah Cox (Arizona): 4:39.66
6.) Kat Simonovic (ASU): 4:40.53
7.) Leah Stevens (Stanford): 4:40.79
8.) Tatum Wade (USC): 4:41.12

200 IM

NCAA Record: 1:51.65 (Ella Eastin - Stanford, 2016)
American Record: 1:51.65 (Ella Eastin - Stanford, 2016)
Pac-12 Meet Record: 1:52.31 (Julia Smit - Stanford, 2010)
NCAA 'A' cut: 1:55.35

It was a great performance for sophomore swimmer Ella Eastin, as she almost took down the meet record of Julia Smit from 2010. Eastin touched first with a 1:52.34, continuing Stanford's sweep of every event so far at this meet. Second place went to 2016 Olympian Kathleen Baker with a 1:52.74. What a great battle between the two of them. USC freshman Louise Hansson continues to impress, picking up third in this event with a 1:53.72.

1.) Ella Eastin (Stanford): 1:52.34 (NCAA 'A')
2.) Kathleen Baker (Cal): 1:52.74 (NCAA 'A')
3.) Louise Hansson (USC) :1:53.72 (NCAA 'A')
4.) Ally Howe (Stanford): 1:55.74
5.) Kirsten Vose (USC): 1:55.91
6.) Kim Williams (Stanford): 1:56.81
7.) Keaton Blovad (Cal): 1:58.50
8.) Celina Li (Cal): 1:59.01

50 FREESTYLE

NCAA Record: 21.21 (Olivia Smoliga - Georgia, 2016)
American Record: 21.12 (Abbey Weitzel, 2016)
Pac-12 Meet Record: ~~21.32 (Farida Osman - California, 2016)~~ 21.29 (Simone Manuel - Stanford, 2017)
NCAA 'A' cut: 21.80

The streak is still alive. Stanford continues to dominate, winning every event up to this point. The Cardinal's Simone Manuel dropped a 21.29 for the win and a new Pac-12 meet record. She was just short of Olivia Smoliga's NCAA record of 21.21 but will have more opportunities to claim that this season. Cal had a strong contingent in the A final, with Farida Osman finishing second with a 21.49 and Abbey Weitzeil touching third with a 21.50. Weitzel, a freshman at Cal, is actually the American record holder in this event. She deferred her enrollment at Cal to prepare for the 2016 Olympics and threw down a blazing-fast 21.12 during that time. Eight swimmers in total (including the B final) finished under 22 seconds, which shows some serious depth.

1.) Simone Manuel (Stanford): 21.29 (PAC-12 MEET RECORD)
2.) Farida Osman (Cal): 21.49 (NCAA 'A')
3.) Abbey Weitzeil (Cal): 21.50 (NCAA 'A')
4.) Linnea Mack (UCLA): 21.67 (NCAA 'A')
5.) Lia Neal (Stanford): 21.70 (NCAA 'A')
6.) Katrina Konopka (Arizona): 21.71 (NCAA 'A')
7.) Anika Apostalon (USC): 21.91
8.) Amy Bilquist (Cal): 22.13

200 FREESTYLE RELAY

NCAA Record: 1:26.20 (Arizona, 2009)
American Record: 1:26.20 (Arizona, 2009)
Pac-12 Meet Record: 1:26.77 (California, 2016)
NCAA 'A' cut: 1:28.98

Stanford continues to go unscathed. The Cardinal finished with a 1:26.44, good for a new Pac-12 meet record, behind four solid 21 splits, including Simone Manuel's 21.44 leadoff and Ally Howe's 21.49 anchor. Finishing second in 1:26.49 was the team from Cal with Abbey Weitzeil, Amy Bilquist, Maddie Murphy, and Farida Osman. Osman threw down a blazing anchor split of 21.21 but was still unable to catch the team from Stanford with only five-100ths of a second separating the two. Arizona took third with a 1:27.95.

1.) Stanford: 1:26.44 (PAC-12 MEET RECORD)
2.) Cal: 1:26.39 (NCAA 'A')
3.) Arizona: 1:27.95 (NCAA 'A')
4.) USC: 1:28.77 (NCAA 'A')
5.) UCLA: 1:29.17
6.) ASU: 1:29.41
7.) WSU: 1:31.63
8.) Utah: 1:31.66

TEAM SCORES

1.) Stanford: 546
2.) California: 490
3.) Arizona: 376
4.) USC: 351
5.) UCLA: 336
6.) Arizona St: 274
7.) Utah: 165
8.) Washington St: 148
9.) Oregon St: 130