-----


[COLOR="#DAA520"][SIZE=5]2016 Women’s NCAA Championships[/SIZE][/COLOR]

• Wednesday, March 16 – Saturday, March 19
• McAuley Aquatic Center, Georgia Tech – Atlanta, GA
• Prelims 10 AM / Finals 6 PM (Eastern Time)

• [U]Live Webcast[/U]: http://atlantaswimming.com/Webcast
[INDENT][COLOR="#696969"](Both Prelims & Finals, except for [U]Fri[/U] & [U]Sat[/U] Finals which will be shown only on ESPN3)[/INDENT]• [U]2015 results[/U]: http://www.swmeets.com/Realtime/NCAA/2015/
[/COLOR]• [U]2016 Live results[/U]: http://www.atlswim.net/LiveResults/2016NCAAW/index.htm
• [U]Psych Sheet[/U]: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/geot/sports/c-swim/auto_pdf/2015-16/misc_non_event/16ncaa-womens-sd-psych-sheet.pdf
[INDENT]http://www.collegeswimming.com/news/2016/mar/01/ncaa-division-i-womens-psyche-sheet/[/INDENT]
• [U]NCAA Championship Central[/U]: http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/c-swim/spec-rel/ncaa-champ.html

_______________


[COLOR="#008080"][SIZE=4]SCHEDULE[/SIZE][/COLOR] (Eastern Time)
[COLOR="#696969"]
_______________

[COLOR="#800080"][U]WEDNESDAY[/U][/COLOR]

Swimming [U]Finals[/U] (6 pm):
[INDENT]800 Freestyle Relay[/INDENT]

_______________

[COLOR="#800080"][U]THURSDAY[/U][/COLOR]

Swimming [U]Prelims[/U] (10 am):
[INDENT]200 Freestyle Relay
500 Freestyle
200 IM
50 Freestyle
400 Medley Relay[/INDENT]

Diving [U]Prelims[/U] (12:30 pm):
[INDENT]1-Meter Springboard[/INDENT]

Swimming & Diving [U]Finals[/U] (6 pm):
[INDENT]200 Freestyle Relay
500 Freestyle
200 IM
50 Freestyle
1-Meter Springboard
400 Medley Relay[/INDENT]

_______________

[COLOR="#800080"][U]FRIDAY[/U][/COLOR]

Swimming [U]Prelims[/U] (10 am):
[INDENT]400 IM
100 Butterfly
200 freestyle
100 Breaststroke
100 Backstroke
200 Medley Relay[/INDENT]

Diving [U]Prelims[/U] (12:15 pm):
[INDENT]3-Meter Springboard[/INDENT]

Swimming & Diving[U] Finals[/U] (6 pm):
[INDENT]400 IM
100 Butterfly
200 freestyle
100 Breaststroke
100 Backstroke
3-Meter Springboard
200 Medley Relay[/INDENT]

_______________

[COLOR="#800080"][U]SATURDAY[/U][/COLOR]

Swimming [U]Prelims[/U] (10 am):
[INDENT]200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
400 Freestyle Relay[/INDENT]

Diving [U]Prelims[/U] (12:15 pm):
[INDENT]3-Meter Springboard[/INDENT]

Swimming Timed [U]Finals[/U]:
[INDENT]1650 Freestyle ([U]Early Heats[/U]: 3:45 pm | [U]Final Heat[/U]: 4:50 p.m.)[/INDENT]

Swimming & Diving [U]Finals[/U] (6 pm):
[INDENT]200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
Platform Diving
400 Freestyle Relay[/INDENT]

[/COLOR]
-----


[COLOR="#8B4513"][SIZE=5]All The Links You Need For The 2016 Women’s DI NCAA Championships[/SIZE][/COLOR]



We’ve listed our predicted winners below.

• 50 free: Farida Osman, Cal
• 100 free: Lia Neal, Stanford
• 200 free: Lia Neal, Stanford
• 500 free: Leah Smith, Virginia
• 1650 free: Leah Smith, Virginia
• 100 back: Rachel Bootsma, Cal
• 200 back: Courtney Bartholomew, Virginia
• 100 breast: Lilly King, Indiana
• 200 breast: Lilly King, Indiana
• 100 fly: Kelsi Worrell, Louisville
• 200 fly: Kelsi Worrell, Louisville
• 200 IM: Ella Eastin, Stanford
• 400 IM: Ella Eastin, Stanford
• 200 free relay: Cal
• 400 free relay: Stanford
• 800 free relay: Cal
• 200 medley relay: Stanford
• 400 medley relay: Stanford


https://swimswam.com/links-need-2016-womens-di-ncaa-championships/


-----

[COLOR="#ff00cc"]Pre/Post-meet + additional NCAA-related discussions + social media starting from around here[/COLOR]:

http://bearinsider.com/forums/showthread.php?93889-2015-2016-Season-Women-s-Swimming/page23

-----

Can't wait! I think we have a chance here. Let's gooo.

-----


[COLOR="#006699"][SIZE=5]Heating Up 'Hot'lanta - [U]Day 1 & 2[/U] NCAA Women's DI Preview[/SIZE][/COLOR]


[INDENT]How will the Cal relays handle the loss of Missy Franklin?[/INDENT]

By Chris Harrell

http://www.collegeswimming.com/news/2016/mar/13/heating-up-hotlanta-day-1-2-ncaa-womens-di-preview/


----


[COLOR="#6699cc"][SIZE=5]Heating Up 'Hot'lanta - [U]Day 3[/U] NCAA Women's DI Preview[/SIZE][/COLOR]

http://www.collegeswimming.com/news/2016/mar/14/heating-up-hotlanta-day-3-ncaa-womens-di-preview/


-----


[COLOR="#008080"][SIZE=5]Heating Up 'Hot'lanta - [U]Day 4[/U] NCAA Women's DI Preview[/SIZE][/COLOR]

http://www.collegeswimming.com/news/2016/mar/15/heating-up-hotlanta-day-4-ncaa-womens-di-preview/


-----

[COLOR="#006699"][SIZE=5]Women's NCAA Championships Predictions[/SIZE][/COLOR]

https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/womens-ncaa-championships-predictions/

-----

[COLOR="#333366"][SIZE=5]6 Obviously-Wrong Predictions for Day Three at Women's NCAA Championships[/SIZE][/COLOR]

https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/6-obviously-wrong-predictions-day-three-womens-ncaa/

-----

[COLOR="#0000CD"][SIZE=5]6 Races that Will Decide the Women's NCAA Championship Saturday Night[/SIZE][/COLOR]

https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/6-races-that-will-decide-womens-ncaa-championship-saturday-night/

-----


[COLOR="#006699"][SIZE=5]5 Women's Teams That Really Hit Their Tapers at NCAAs[/SIZE][/COLOR]

https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/5-womens-teams-that-really-hit-their-tapers-at-ncaas/


-----


[SIZE=4][COLOR="#800000"]Women's NCAA [U]preview[/U] show with @David_Rieder, Swimming World[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[SIZE=3][COLOR="#800080"]VIDEO[/SIZE] (13 min) => [/COLOR] https://www.periscope.tv/w/1eaJbZOBbZrJX


-----


[COLOR="#DAA520"][SIZE=5]No. 6 Bears Look For NCAA Repeat[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[SIZE=4][COLOR="#696969"]Cal Has Won Four Of Past Seven National Championships [/COLOR][/SIZE]



http://www.calbears.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30100&ATCLID=210808087


-----

Interesting article on tapers (psych sheet vs. actual swims). Thanks for sharing. Hopefully the Bears revert to their longer term average. This is going to be a real tight/exciting meet.

GO BEARS!

icecream12345;842663618 said:

---

Can't wait! I think we have a chance here. Let's gooo.

---

PalyBear;842664194 said:

---

Interesting article on tapers (psych sheet vs. actual swims). Thanks for sharing. Hopefully the Bears revert to their longer term average. This is going to be a real tight/exciting meet.

GO BEARS!

---

Cautious optimism at my end :p Here are my ad hoc take & feelings, FWIW:

In spite of our massive losses from last year (Missy & a great group of seniors + Cierra's defection :facepalm + Katie's injury :bawl: & Jaz's issues :cry + smaller squad @ NC2As, looks to be a really tight and ferociously fought-out slugfest this season, with the national title possibly not being sealed in stone until the final race (400 free relay).

The sad reality of course being the Bears' well-documented holes in distance, breast & diving, where single-digit to zero aggregate points across these 3 areas are expected.

Not even a single qualifier in either the [U]500[/U] or [U]1650 free[/U] in Cierra's absence - in fact, Marina will be contesting the [U]200 IM[/U] as a low #79 seed instead of the [U]500[/U] on Day 2.

Kudos to Anne & frosh Phoebe for their achievements in qualifying for the [U]1 & 3m diving[/U], but their chances of scoring are deemed pretty slim (hopefully they will provide a pleasant surprise by proving conventional wisdom wrong tho!)

On the bright side, we can field our Dream Team freshie duo Amy & Kathleen who are favoured to advance to the A final in their respective events, with a great shot for a Top 3 finish in most of them! The pressure & atmosphere that's unique to NCAAs will be a challenge to any freshman, but luckily the pair has had a lot of experience at the national & international levels in elite competitive swimming.

Farida really tore it up @ Pac-12s, and will surely do Cal proud in the 50 & 100 free + 100 fly, where she is ranked in the Top 2 across the board :beer:

Bootsie is looking great in the 100 back, looks to outperform her 100 fly seeding, and may surprise a few in the 100 free now that she won't have to contest the grueling 200 fly - as usual, her most valuable assets to Bears may be delivered in the relays, and out of the pool.

Kelly will be graduating with a bang as she has been swimming the best ever in her career, already seeded Top 8 in the 400 IM & 200 Fly...hope she will succeed in grabbing an A slot in the 200 IM as well from her #13 position.

Lizzie had a rather mediocre outing @ conference (by her elevated standards), however I'm rooting hard for her to shine in her last NCAA championship. With the right amount of rest/taper and confidence, Pelton will be a difference maker esp if she can dig deep and return to her 2013 form (heck, even the 2015 one will do just fine lol). Her leadership & selfless example will be sorely missed after this year, that's for sure!

A sobering consideration - Furdettes will likely outperform at Nationals judging from their recent historical record. Bulldawgs also, esp if this season may represent a last gasp for them to be crowned for a while - both these frontrunners will, unfortunately for us, have diving points to call upon.

Think what it'd ultimately take for :bear:s to repeat will be the contribution of the whole team, not just the big name stars. Noemie & Rachael to improve their conference times (very important), Celina to build upon her performances. What will be really key to winning it all depends largely on whether Marina (100 breast-#27, 200 breast-#28), Rachael, Val & KV can all rise to the occasion and secure a scoring slot from prelims despite their non-scoring seeds!

We don't really need to win all that many individual events or even relays either - look at Georgia's model the past few years, and also the Trojans' success @ 2016 Pac-12s.

Furdies have been handpicked by the swimming experts to win a lot of the relays (even breaking a few records) as well as individuals (Eastin, Neal, Haase, with Hu & Howe ever threatening).

But that's alright too, as long as most of the team secures a scoring spot in the morning heats, and meet or better our relay seeds (top 4). Getting the taper & attitude right (amongst other things hehe), and performing at the very least a bit better than the pre-meet seeding should negate any advantages that Cal's biggest rivals may reap from their much greater strengths in diving/distance/breast or from outscoring their seeded points.

:gobears:

-----


[COLOR="#8B4513"][SIZE=5]2016 Women's NCAA Team Standings Predictions[/SIZE][/COLOR]



20. PURDUE BOILERMAKERS

19. MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS

18. UCLA BRUINS

UCLA has depth with 21 swimming entries at NCAAs, but their divers are locked-in this year. The Bruins are sending three as selected divers (Eloise Belanger, Annika Lenz, and Maria Polyakova). It would be no surprise if the three combined for 40 points at NCAAs, and it historically only takes 50-60 to make the top 20.

17. NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS

16. OHIO STATE BUCKEYES

15. MISSOURI TIGERS

14. ARIZONA WILDCATS

This Arizona team has been surprising this year with more scorers than expected coming out of Pac-12's; the talent their young swimmers bring to the table is paying off ahead of schedule. After two-straight disappointing NCAA Championships for senior Bonnie Brandon, she needs to step up in her last collegiate meet to lead the Wildcats.

13. FLORIDA GATORS

The Florida women have been thrashed by injury, retirement, and transfers, which leaves them in unfamiliar territory entering NCAAs. They do still have one huge weapon that can carry a team in March: sprinter Natalie Hinds, one of the best in the land. In the psych sheet scoring, there's a fairly-significant dropoff after the top 12 teams, so we're pretty confident that the top 12 will, in fact, be the top 12, but the one reason why Florida may be able to leap that gap is diver Kahlia Warner. She scored 13 points at NCAAs last year, but has been on-fire as a senior (double springboard SEC Champion) and will a big beneficiary of tons of Olympic redshirts in front of her.

12. MICHIGAN WOLVERINES

Mike Bottom and his staff continuing to do wonders at UofM; the Wolverines just won their first Big Ten Championship in over a decade. Of course, it helps to have a pair of freshmen with top-8 scoring potential (Siobhan Haughey, Rose Bi).

11. NC STATE WOLFPACK

10. INDIANA UNIVERSITY

It's a peculiar year for the Indiana Hoosiers, who have only 1 selected diver, Michal Bower, for NCAAs. Bower, an incoming transfer from Arizona who didn't score at NCAAs last year. Indiana has no Brooklynn Snodgrass this season (Olympic redshirt), but freshman Lilly King has taken over as an NCAA title threat for this team in a stroke where Indiana had a huge hole last season.

9. TEXAS LONGHORNS

Swimming out of the very thin Big 12 Conference, there's never much buzz about Texas until NCAAs, but this is a young team that returned a lot of individual scoring. The biggest problem for the Longhorns at NCAAs will be lack of sprinters to fill in top-8 relays. If Carol Capitani's squad can get more than half of their relays into the top 8, they'll be in a good spot. It's no surprise that this team is taking on a very Georgia-like feel: their best relay is the 800, and they have lots of individual scorers in middle-distance events. Also of note, Texas improved 41 points from seeded scoring at NCAAs last year third-most behind only Georgia and Missouri.

8. TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS

The Tennessee Volunteers continue to manufacture some of the best medley relays in the country. This year, without an elite breaststroker, they still took the SEC title in the 200 medley relay by squeezing 50 yards out of freshman sprint freestyler/butterflier Maddy Banic. The addition of All-American transfer Kira Toussaint, who continues to perform very well in the backstroke races but has really improved her sprint freestyles this season, is enough to push Tennessee back into the top 10. Diver Rachel Rubadue, the Zone B platform champion, has been a revelation.

7. LOUISVILLE CARDINALS

While technically a backslide from their 6th-place finish last year at NCAAs, this Louisville team is every bit as good, led by the best butterflier in the land Kelsi Worrell. The story for the Cardinals will be if freshman Mallory Comerford, who had a great ACC Championship meet, can continue that momentum into NCAAs and help fill the 41-point (plus relays) gap left by Tanja Kylliainen's graduation.

6. USC TROJANS

Riding strong momentum coming off their first Pac-12 women's team title in history, but tough to say how much better they can swim? The depth that won them the conference meet won't play as well on the big stage, but led by Kendyl Stewart and Chelsea Chenault, this is still a very good team at any level.

5. TEXAS A&M AGGIES

The 2016 SEC Champions are built around a core of swimmers that you may have never heard of, but head coach Steve Bultman is as good as any coach in the country at taking unheralded and unheard of recruits and turning them into college stars. The Aggies will be shooting for a fourth-straight top 5 finish at NCAAs.

4. VIRGINIA CAVALIERS

Proof that you only need 6-8 swimmers to bring home a team trophy provided those 6-8 are really, really good. Courtney Bartholomew has gotten progressively better at hitting her stride at NCAAs. Will this be the year she finally gets an individual title?

[COLOR="#FF0000"]3. GEORGIA BULLDOGS

Georgia's 800 free relay is still very good, but overall this year's Bulldogs don't sprint as well as we've seen from them in the past few seasons. Individual scoring will have to make up for a lack of relay points. Nobody in the country was better versus seed at NCAAs last year than Georgia, though.[/COLOR]

[COLOR="#DAA520"]2. CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS

Certainly the team with the most talent. By the time this meet is over, they could have five swimmers with an individual NCAA title to their name (Rachel Bootsma, Elizabeth Pelton, Amy Bilquist, Katie Baker, Farida Osman). The challenge for Teri McKeever is having them all swim fast at the same time.[/COLOR]

[COLOR="#B22222"]1. STANFORD CARDINAL

The Cardinal have a great track record of lighting it up at NCAAs, outperforming their psych sheet scores by 50+ points each of the last two seasons. The problem? Individually, Ella Eastin and Lia Neal can't move up much more; they have a combined five top seeds individually, as well as another second place seed. Stanford does have 2 divers qualified for NCAAs though in a year where diving points can take a huge swing. All things equal with swimmers tapering for NCAA's (vs. holding over for Trials), Stanford is our pick in what looks like the tightest NCAA team race since 2010.[/COLOR]


https://swimswam.com/147192-2/


-----

How is USC, the conference champion picked to finish 6th after Furd and Cal?

PAC-12 Meet has three levels of finals and 24 scorers per individual event. NCAAs only has two finals and 16 scorers. B & C PAC scorers may not even qualify for NCAAs, let alone score. NCAAs rewards high end depth while PACs rewards overall depth.

I'm going to predict that Cal wins because I feel that they have more upside potential than the Furds in terms of earning points. So I'm hoping Liz Pelton swims better than her seeds and I think she definitely can.

icecream12345;842664741 said:

---

I'm going to predict that Cal wins because I feel that they have more upside potential than the Furds in terms of earning points. So I'm hoping Liz Pelton swims better than her seeds and I think she definitely can.

---

I hope you are right icecream, but I think Furd needs to stumble somewhere too.

-----


Lizzie: NCAAs kickin off tomorrow here in the ATL! #UAW #gobears #ncaaswim

Bootsie: NCAAs start in one day and the Cal Bears came to play #allin #UAW #gobears ��: @lovewick


[COLOR="#808080"]
Back row: Amy, Val
3rd row: Kelly, Rachael, Liz
2nd row: KV, Boots, Celina, Noemie
Front row: Marina, Kathleen, Farida
[/COLOR]
https://instagr.am/p/BC_qtnOyFBh
https://instagr.am/p/BC_pj86SPTf


-----


[U]Amy[/U]: Capes on. Game on. #UAW

[U]Kathleen[/U]: Flyin into NCAA's

[COLOR="#808080"]Starring Billy, Thleen Bean & Lizzie[/COLOR]


https://instagr.am/p/BC9GHlwsD1F


-----


collegeswimming - 16 Mar

@cal_swimming primed for a big week #ncaaswimdive



https://instagr.am/p/BDBEq8uFTUf


-----

PalyBear;842664194 said:

---

Interesting article on tapers (psych sheet vs. actual swims). Hopefully the Bears revert to their longer term average.

---

-----


[COLOR="#800000"][SIZE=5]What Does History Tell Us About Psych Sheet Scoring at NCAAs[/SIZE][/COLOR]




[U]TEAM Diff2015 Diff2014 Diff2013 Diff2012 Diff2011 Diff2010[/U]

Arizona 37.5 0 94 29 88 183.5
California 8 72 47 74.5 98 95
Florida -65 -32 -41 -16 17 98
Georgia 83 16 73 -12 71.5 -33.5
Indiana 3 -6 -8 11 -35.5 17
Louisville 37 -10 7 -1 1 5
Michigan -49 18 2 13 -18 37
North Carolina State 16 12 2 12
Southern California 2 -6 9 68.5 45 53
Stanford 53 83.5 8 52 29 -43.5
Texas A&M 11 -12 -47.5 98 -21 85
Tennessee -5 49 57.5 2 -55 -23.5
Texas 65 40 50 43 -18 -104.5
UCLA 11 28 38 0 10 19.5
Virginia -65 -73 -17 -2 -10 -67


1. Virginia has a history of underperforming


2. Cal does not

It's interesting to see how the narrative of a meet differs from what actually happened. While 2014 can be seen as a year in which Georgia "knocked off" Cal, both teams performed well in regards to their seed at the meet.

However, Cal actually performed much better in 2014 versus seed than they did in 2015. The Bears were just 8 points better than seed in 2015, after 72 (!) points in 2014. In the past five years, Cal has never not improved against seed at the NCAA championships.

The primary reason for this is that Teri McKeever has consistently recruited a roster packed with swimmers that should qualify. Therefore, they don't need to be at their absolute peak to qualify, and can focus solely on peaking at the meet.


3. Stanford could be the team of destiny

Stanford's results at the NCAA championships have often grabbed headlines over the last few years, but never resulted in a championship. The Cardinal have lacked the whole team depth to overcome Cal and Georgia.

While Greg Meehan has downplayed expectations in the lead-up, the data suggests that Stanford has a strong chance to win this year. Their relays are as strong as ever, and they qualified three divers for the meet. Those divers could prove crucial in providing the individual depth for Stanford to take the title.

Meehan's teams have performed really well versus seed at the last two championships. They are also the one team that could likely overcome Cal even if the Bears hold on to their seeds as they did a year ago.

A Stanford win would also keep up a 25 year streak of a Pac-12 or SEC team winning the NCAA Championship. The Mark Schubert coached Texas squad from 1991 was the last women's team to top the podium outside of those two conferences. Texas, with seven titles, remains the only team from outside those two conference to have ever won a women's NCAA championship.


https://swimswam.com/history-tell-us-psych-sheet-scoring-ncaas/


-----


[COLOR="#0099cc"][SIZE=5]Projecting the Points - One Point Could Separate the Championship and a Trophy[/SIZE][/COLOR]


After crunching the numbers, here are our projections for this year's NCAA Division I Women's Swimming & Diving Championships. We've run an analysis of the meet and its shaping up to be the closest since Long Island. Can Cal overcome their lack of breaststrokers and divers.

[U]Team Free Back Breast Fly IM Diving Relays Total [/U]
1 Georgia 151 37 11 38 38 23 158 456
2 California 59 89 66 67 0 174 455
3 Stanford 55 55 31 41 42 17 182 423
4 Texas A&M 40 14 31 37 73 14 90 299
5 Virginia 63 31 30 11 23 0 134 292
6 Louisville 54 0 32 51 5 3 146 291
7 USC 79 0 14 17 1 4 128 243
8 Tennessee 26 13 0 9 7 22 106 183
9 Indiana 24 4 63 6 0 0 50 147
10 Texas 6 20 3 0 29 14 66 138

http://www.collegeswimming.com/news/2016/mar/16/projecting-the-points-one-point-could-separate-the-championship-and-a-trophy/


-----

-----

Going to be offline for a while, but in a nutshell, Bears scored true to their psych sheet seeding by taking 3rd in the [U]800 free relay[/U].

Kathleen, Lizzie, Bootsie & Amy put in a nice race altogether with some very solid splits!

May have to watch out for UGA - Brittany had a wicked 1:41 anchor, Hali not too shabby either with her 1:42 leadoff...

-----

1 Georgia 6:55.56 6:51.80P 40
1) Flickinger, Hali SR 2) r:0.26 Stewart, Kylie SO
3) r:0.29 Raab, Meaghan SO 4) r:0.27 MacLean, Brittany SR
r:+0.73 24.13 49.83 (49.83)
1:16.35 (1:16.35) 1:42.80 (1:42.80)
2:06.90 (24.10) 2:33.63 (50.83)
3:00.45 (1:17.65) 3:26.75 (1:43.95)
3:50.64 (23.89) 4:16.77 (50.02)
4:43.53 (1:16.78) 5:10.34 (1:43.59)
5:34.19 (23.85) 5:59.83 (49.49)
6:25.91 (1:15.57) 6:51.80 (1:41.46)

2 Southern Cal 6:55.17 6:53.84P 34
1) Vose, Kirsten FR 2) r:0.37 Apostalon, Anika JR
3) r:0.24 Chenault, Chelsea JR 4) r:0.20 Wilk, Kasia FR
r:+0.79 24.10 50.14 (50.14)
1:16.60 (1:16.60) 1:43.08 (1:43.08)
2:06.93 (23.85) 2:33.68 (50.60)
3:00.96 (1:17.88) 3:27.42 (1:44.34)
3:50.86 (23.44) 4:16.80 (49.38)
4:43.13 (1:15.71) 5:10.11 (1:42.69)
5:33.59 (23.48) 5:59.80 (49.69)
6:26.53 (1:16.42) 6:53.84 (1:43.73)

3 California 6:57.64 6:55.18P 32
1) Baker, Kathleen FR 2) r:0.40 Pelton, Elizabeth SR
3) r:0.49 Bootsma, Rachel SR 4) r:0.25 Bilquist, Amy FR
r:+0.72 23.85 50.02 (50.02)
1:16.71 (1:16.71) 1:43.99 (1:43.99)
2:07.69 (23.70) 2:33.85 (49.86)
3:00.77 (1:16.78) 3:28.06 (1:44.07)
3:51.14 (23.08) 4:17.03 (48.97)
4:44.16 (1:16.10) 5:12.29 (1:44.23)
5:35.73 (23.44) 6:01.75 (49.46)
6:28.41 (1:16.12) 6:55.18 (1:42.89)

4 Virginia 6:59.69 6:55.25P 30
1) Smith, Leah JR 2) r:0.21 Moroney, Megan FR
3) r:0.32 Jones, Kaitlyn JR 4) r:0.25 Marrkand, Jen SO
r:+0.61 24.40 50.24 (50.24)
1:16.28 (1:16.28) 1:42.87 (1:42.87)
2:07.06 (24.19) 2:33.57 (50.70)
3:00.03 (1:17.16) 3:26.70 (1:43.83)
3:50.88 (24.18) 4:17.18 (50.48)
4:43.60 (1:16.90) 5:11.52 (1:44.82)
5:35.58 (24.06) 6:01.86 (50.34)
6:28.27 (1:16.75) 6:55.25 (1:43.73)

5 TXAM 7:01.00 6:58.83P 28
1) Gibson, Sarah JR 2) r:0.33 Pickrem, Sydney FR
3) r:0.27 Malone, Kristin SO 4) r:0.33 Rasmus, Claire FR
r:+0.76 24.15 50.83 (50.83)
1:17.58 (1:17.58) 1:43.41 (1:43.41)
2:08.14 (24.73) 2:35.29 (51.88)
3:02.42 (1:19.01) 3:29.01 (1:45.60)
3:53.45 (24.44) 4:20.29 (51.28)
4:47.43 (1:18.42) 5:14.72 (1:45.71)
5:39.16 (24.44) 6:05.72 (51.00)
6:32.46 (1:17.74) 6:58.83 (1:44.11)

6 Stanford 7:00.53 6:59.19P 26
1) Stafford, Nicole JR 2) r:0.14 Eastin, Ella FR
3) r:0.26 Ama, Julia SR 4) r:0.14 Engel, Lindsey SO
r:+0.71 24.98 51.49 (51.49)
1:18.01 (1:18.01) 1:45.05 (1:45.05)
2:08.85 (23.80) 2:34.81 (49.76)
3:01.03 (1:15.98) 3:27.23 (1:42.18)
3:51.51 (24.28) 4:18.47 (51.24)
4:45.85 (1:18.62) 5:13.74 (1:46.51)
5:37.67 (23.93) 6:04.19 (50.45)
6:31.58 (1:17.84) 6:59.19 (1:45.45)

-----

Cal W Swim/Dive: Team points after one event: 1. Georgia 40; 2. USC 34; 3. Cal 32. #GoBears

-----

Boots instead of Acker?!? Boots is such a stud. Would have been nice to have beaten Georgia, but LSJU is the bigger threat.

BearDevil;842665409 said:

---

Boots instead of Acker?!? Boots is such a stud. .

---

+1 re Boots!!! Great seeing Rachel given the nod at a distance that she's typically not known for, her very respectable split there does hold out hope that some strong races are in the cards for her in the next few days. Also sweet to see the pair of over-achieving freshies getting to team up with their mentors (Lizzie & Bootsie). Only nagging concern is which relay Bootsie will now drop out of and how her replacement might impact the scoring...

BearDevil;842665409 said:

---

Would have been nice to have beaten Georgia, but LSJU is the bigger threat.

---

With that monster split of MacLean's backed up by Flickinger (their less-heralded teammates did alright too I reckon with their 1:53s), we'd need to have Missy back to make that a reality lol. Agree that the Furd will be the ones to beat ultimately, but those Dawgs historically have upped their performances more than most from conference to nationals, and a tenacious habit of piling on qualifiers in the B finals as well as A even if they might not often take the Top 3 spots...realise that only a single event has taken place so far, but based on just these impressive swims from Georgia's studly seniors, we should be wary of Bauerle's group as well, they seem to be on a bit of a mission to prove to everyone that they aren't the underdogs...heck this even applies to those women of Troy, even if they may not sport as much top-end depth quite yet (their 2016 recruits will change that in a hurry).


-----


[COLOR="#808080"][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#A9A9A9"]CollegeSwimming.com: Benefits of having [U]800 free relay[/U] moved to Wednesday? 16th in 2015...7:07. 16th in 2016...7:04. In addition, the top 10 teams all dropped from their seeds in that relay. Last year, 4 teams dropped from their seed time. NINE teams were under 7 minutes tonight. The most teams under 7 in an NCAA meet? 4 in 2012 and 2013. [/COLOR]


Looks like a lot of the competition's swimming faster than ever (esp this being an Olympic year).. So I'd feel a bit more comfortable/less stressed out if the Bears can strive to reach for an even higher gear (without prematurely burning out of course hehe), as IMO a complacent matching of our seeded scoring won't be anywhere adequate to hang onto the mantle of National Champions in this particular year... Swim on you Bears!!


-----


[COLOR="#006699"][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]Fierce Freshies![/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]


[COLOR="#808080"]Kathleen Baker, Cal, at 2016 NCAA D1 Women's Championships. Photo courtesy of Tim Binning/TheSwimPictures.com[/COLOR]



[COLOR="#808080"]Amy Bilquist swimming on Cal's [U]800 free relay[/U] at 2016 NCAA D1 Women's Championships. Photo courtesy of Tim Binning/TheSwimPictures.com[/COLOR]



-----


[COLOR="#800000"][SIZE=5]2016 Women's D1 NCAA Championship Day 1 Finals Live Recap (800 Relays)[/SIZE][/COLOR]


https://swimswam.com/2016-womens-d1-ncaa-championships-day-1-finals-live-recap/


-----


[COLOR="#DAA520"][SIZE=5]Bears Take Third In 800 Free Relay[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[SIZE=4][COLOR="#696969"]Cal Opens NCAA Championships With Season-Best Time[/COLOR][/SIZE]



http://www.calbears.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30100&ATCLID=210809834


-----




[SIZE=3][COLOR="#006400"]RESULTS[/COLOR][/SIZE]: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/geot/sports/c-swim/auto_pdf/2015-16/box_score/stats_20160316aaa.pdf


-----

-----


[COLOR="#800080"][SIZE=4]Day 2 Prelims Heat Sheet[/SIZE]:[/COLOR] https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/results/2016-ncaa-division-i-womens-championships-day-2-heat-sheet/ncaa-college/2016/March/16


-----


[COLOR="#A9A9A9"]CollegeSwimming.com: 2/3 of the USO & American records in Thursday's individual events are held by fresh...oops, make that NEXT YEAR'S FRESHMEN. @USASwimStats [/COLOR]


i.e.
[COLOR="#DAA520"]Abbey[/COLOR] ([U]50 Free[/U])
[COLOR="#B22222"]Ledecky[/COLOR] ([U]500 Free[/U])

btw, American record for the other event tomorrow ([U]200 IM[/U]) = [COLOR="#DAA520"]Caitlin[/COLOR], so...
2 :bear:s >> 1 :tree haha :gobears:


-----

Boots' gutty 800 Free Relay leg raises a bunch of questions:

1) Does she bail on the individual 100 Free and swim all five relays?
2) Does she pass on the 200 Medley Relay?
3) Does she skip the 100 Fly to lighten her load on Friday?
4) Does she skip the 200 Free Relay?

An obvious HOF Golden Bear, but being able to fill multiple roles isn't necessarily a good thing. Opportunity cost and all...

OMG, what's going on with Liz? She finished 30th in the 200IM prelims!

A number of MAJOR hiccups this morning from a quick glance...

[U]50 free[/U] - too many Bears swam slower than their seed times and therefore didn't make it to finals: Amy (#26), KV (#29), Val (#38)

[U]200 IM[/U] - Liz (#30)

No scorers/entrants in the [U]500 free[/U] as already known.

On the bright side, Kathleen (#3) & Farida (#4) will be poised to challenge for the title in their respective events, whilst Celina & Kelly are into the championship final tied @ #6. There was a DQ in the last heat of the [U]200 free relay[/U], but thankfully Cal wasn't the culprit, sitting @ #4 (with solid contributions from Val & KV, tho Amy looked a bit off in her anchor leg.

Ugh, Amy didn't qualify for either final in the 50 Free .

Shoot, going to be a massive uphill challenge as Bears dug themselves into more than a bit of a hole in this morning's prelims whilst our biggest rivals continue to shine.

[U]400 Medley Relay[/U] - only qualified for the B final @ #10! (was seeded #4, ended up swimming almost 2 sec slower). Noemie did have a decent split on her fly leg.

Bears didn't make the A Final (10th) in the 400 Medley Relay. Ugh!

We lost over 2 seconds on the breast leg and Farida had a bad anchor for her.

Ty's got a broken hand, Bears missed a relay, and Dukies are getting smoked by a commuter school from Michael Jordan's home town!?! Might be the worst St Paddy's Day ever. What's next-green beer causes cancer, McL and Cuonzo to the farm, or snakes invade Ireland again because they didn't build a wall?

Ugh, you're a Dukie fan BD? Can't stand those guys! They are up there with Norte Dame football as teams I hate the most. But yeah, there is bad karma going on around Cal sports right now.

Had to spend time there hiding out while in the witness protection program exile from the Golden State. Durham's a shithole, but it's Tiburon relative to South Bend.

Teri's every bit as hated on SwimSwam as K is in college hoops. HOF coaches at excellent schools, but lots of people really don't like them.

Hey though we had several hiccups this morning like UAC mentioned, I don't think it's the worst scenario. Kelly and Celina saved Cal's butts as they make the A finals. Georgia looks to be the somewhat unexpected front-runner. They'll be leading after day 1 i'm guessing. Stanford only got 2 ups but they are actually swimming as projected.

Pelton not withstanding, Bears were OK individually today. The relay miss was a killer. Need some luck relative to LSJU and Georgia.

BearDevil;842665937 said:

---

Pelton not withstanding, Bears were OK individually today. The relay miss was a killer. Need some luck relative to LSJU and Georgia.

---

seems like furd is going to have 1 a finalist in diving today but I assume no scorers in diving for georgia and cal.

icecream12345;842665947 said:

---

seems like furd is going to have 1 a finalist in diving today but I assume no scorers in diving for georgia and cal.

---

apparently both georgia and furd put 1 up in diving.

It doesn't look too good for the bears atm. But I'm still hoping!

BearDevil;842665937 said:

---

The relay miss was a killer. Need some luck relative to LSJU and Georgia.

---

+1 Really continues disappointment in our Breast leg. Wondering if our scheduling and training wound up putting to much emphasis on the Pac-12 'ship to get our A qualifying marks.

icecream12345;842665947 said:

---

seems like furd is going to have 1 a finalist in diving today but I assume no scorers in diving for georgia and cal.

---

icecream12345;842665981 said:

---

apparently both georgia and furd put 1 up in diving.

---

Phoebe ended up #22 out of 48 in the [U]1m springboard diving[/U] prelims - good first effort from the froskie :beer:

Day 2 finals underway in 5 mins...leggo Bears!

Ugh, no sound (again) on the web stream thus far...

Alright, I'll forgive the NCAA organisers this time round...sound is back (for now)...

[U]200 free relay[/U]: Bears fought hard for the 2nd spot, with a swift 1:26.89 (but just behind the Furdettes ~grrrrr~)

Lengthy & heartstopping wait for the race review tho...

*Newsflash* Furdies got the DQ!!!!! Wowwww!!!! We win!!!!!

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842666099 said:

---

[U]200 free relay[/U]: Bears fought hard for the 2nd spot, with a swift 1:26.89 (but just behind the Furdettes ~grrrrr~)

Lengthy & heartstopping wait for the race review tho...

*Newsflash* Furdies got the DQ!!!!! Wowwww!!!! We win!!!!!

---

I was listening without sound so I thought we got second but then Bears on the podium for first!!! I was so confused and then found out funds DQed. What a break for the Bears!!!