AGH -- Furd for the win, just touching out Cal by 0.07 for new NCAA and American records.... 1:25.43 and 1:25.50 for Cal.

In taking a moment to catch my breath, though, still a great swim for our Bears!

1) r:+0.65 Maddie Murphy SO 2) r:0.19 Amy Bilquist JR
3) r:0.33 Katie McLaughlin JR 4) r:0.15 Abbey Weitzeil SO
10.59 21.94 (21.94)
31.92 (9.98) 43.02 (21.08)
53.33 (10.31) 1:04.49 (21.47)
1:14.43 (9.94) 1:25.50 (21.01)

Under the NCAA and American records though beat out by the Trees, but still an incredible time and great performances all-around!

HBear said:

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AGH -- Furd for the win, just touching out Cal by 0.07 for new NCAA and American records.... 1:25.43 and 1:25.50 for Cal!

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Brill effort tho by our Bears - broke the prev NCAA record set by Cal's 2017 NCAA squad that had Farida, and 1.6 sec swifter than 3rd place Tenn...it's just that the furdettes went just a mite faster on the night.

UrsusArctosCalifornicus said:

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Just for reference...

2017 NCAA - Abbey 21.59, Madds 21.83, Amy 21.26, Farida 20.91 => 1:25.59 ... (NCAA Record!)

2018 Pac-12 - Madds 21.96, Amy 21.24, Katie 21.67, Abbey 21.00 => 1:25.87 .... (Former American Record)

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2018 NCAA - Madds 21.94, Amy 21.08, Katie 21.47, Abbey 21.01

Goes without saying that 1:25.50 in the 200 FR is a new school record for Bears!

Stanford goes 1-2

Stanford picking up monstrous points in the 500 ... not only 1-2 (37 points between the duo of Katies) but with Forde/Pitzer in the B-final, the Furd has amassed a whopping 46 points in this event alone.

Current standings:
Furd - 124, Michigan - 78, Virginia - 69, Cal - 66.

1:56.15 for Sarah, last in the B-Final. Was leading through the backstroke before big breaststroke legs from Haughey and King.

1:51.25 for Baker -- incredible swim that would have again set the NCAA, U.S. Open, and American records tonight if not touched out by Eastin with a blazing 1:50.67.

Sigh, great swims from the Bears, but Furd is a machine tonight. Realizing that they could likely win every single event tonight.

2018 WOMEN'S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: DAY 2 FINALS LIVE RECAP

WOMEN'S 200 FREE RELAY:
1. GOLD: Stanford, 1:25.43
2. SILVER: Cal, 1:25.50
3. BRONZE: Tennessee, 1:27.10

It was a close battle between Cal and Stanford that came down to the last stroke, but the Stanford squad of Janet Hu (leadoff- 21.65), Simone Manuel (20.89), Lauren Pitzer (21.62), and Ally Howe(21.27) combined to take down the NCAA and American Records. That split by Manuel was the 6th fastest in history. She currently holds the fastest ever with a 20.78 from 2017 Pac-12s. Cal was also under the former records to take a narrow 2nd with Maddie Murphy (leadoff- 21.94), Amy Bilquist (21.08), Katie McLaughlin (21.47), and Abbey Weitzeil (21.01).

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WOMEN'S 200 IM:

1. GOLD: Ella Eastin (Stanford) 1:50.67
2. SILVER: Kathleen Baker (Cal), 1:51.25
3. BRONZE: Sydney Pickrem (Texas A&M), 1:52.35

Cal's Kathleen Baker rolled to the early lead in 51.56 at the halfway mark, while Eastin trailed by half a second. Baker continued to extend her lead through breaststroke, but Eastin made up a 7-tenths deficit and blew by her on the free leg. Eastin outsplit Baker 26.35 to 27.60 on the free leg. Baker was also under the former American and NCAA Record with a lifetime best for 2nd place.

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WOMEN'S 50 FREE:
1. GOLD: Simone Manuel (Stanford), 21.18
2. SILVER: Erika Brown (Tennessee), 21.51
3. BRONZE: Liz Li (Ohio State), 21.59
4. Abbey Weitzeil (Cal), 21.67
9. Amy Bilquist (Cal), 21.88
10. Maddie Murphy (Cal), 22.07

Cal's Abbey Weitzeil, the American Record holder, was 4th in 21.67, followed by Texas A&M's Bryl Gastaldello (21.74). Auburn's Aly Tetzloff was the only swimmer in the field to clock a best time, touching in 21.77 to tie Virginia's Caitlin Cooper for 6th.

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WOMEN'S 400 MEDLEY RELAY:
1. GOLD: Stanford, 3:25.09
2. SILVER: Indiana, 3:26.09
3. BRONZE: Cal, 3:26.86

Wow another fantastic & gutsy swim from our valiant Bears - Thleen going under Eastin's 200 IM NCAA record from 2016. Ooooh so clooooose just as in the 200 FR as both of them were truly outstanding record-busting performances... ~sigh~

Little Bean's such a fighter, absolutely fearless in taking it out so bloody fast (1 sec under record pace at one point), and then trying to hang on knowing that Eastin was coming for her fast in the last lap with her punishing underwaters & finishing pace.

21.88 and 22.07 for Amy and Maddie, 1-2 in the B-Final! Go Bears.

Abbey 4th in the A final, behind Manuel, Brown, and Li. She went a 21.67

Scored 32 points in 50 free. Pulls us up to 2nd in team scores

HBear said:

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Sigh, great swims from the Bears, but Furd is a machine tonight. Realizing that they could likely win every single event tonight.

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Not every event; Kassidy Cook won't be on springboard finals tonight

Aww - Abbey looked heartbroken during the awards ceremony. Hoping for title next year, when Manuel is gone.

NCAA schedule is really tough on pure sprinter like Weitzeil. That was her 4th sprints within 10 hours.

Is there any chance that Anthony Ervin would become Coach M's assistant? Different from Manaudou and the likes who splash water everywhere, Ervin's perfectly smooth and efficient swimming style seems to match really well with Weitzeil and other bears. Who knows? His experience might help the lady bears to go for Olympic golds.

Negative commenting projected towards us:

"Certain training methods and environments just don't work for some people. Abbey Weitzel was on a rise until she arrived at Cal. Since, she hasn't been near her best. Not saying Cal isn't training their athletes well (Kathleen Baker just smashed the NCAA record in 2nd place and swims @ Cal) I'm just saying that certain training methods don't work well for certain people. I really feel horrible for Abbey and I hope she can bounce back but it might not happen if she continues to swim at Cal."

I'm sure that somewhere in this thread that someone has forecast the results of nationals? Every school is really
swimming for 2nd place. The Bears have nine consecutive years where they have finished in the top three. Do
the majority of swimming insiders here believe that streak will continue? Is Cal good enough for the runner-up spot? Stanford is in another league this season...GO BEARS!

Ally Howe 50.3, Thleen 50.66 on the back leg of 4 medley relay
Lilly King brings Indiana to first after the back leg, Stanford 2nd, Minnesota 3rd

final 400 medley results: Stanford 1st, Indiana 2nd, Cal 3rd

Splits: Thleen (50.66), Ali (58.89), Noemie (50.25), Abbey (47.06)

Great split from Ali, about a tenth faster than her Pac-12's split. A bit concerned for Abbey, who only managed a 47.09...compared to LSJU's Manuel & L'ville's Comerford, who split 45.80 and 45.74, respectively.

Tennessee DQ for Lochte rule *rolls eyes*

That below-record-pace 200 IM final no doubt took something out of Thleen's legs but she hung in tough.

Ali with a PB breast split of 58.89, breaking the 59 sec barrier there for the 1st time, woohoo!

Nono just about matched her Pac-12s speed, faster than Hu's split tonight. (Update -> Should have given Noemie more credit than that lol - Thomas actually laid down the FASTEST fly leg in the A final...only faster split was 'SC's Louise Hansson's studly 49.24 in the B final).

Felt crushed for Abbey, reckon she was still gutted after her 50 Free results...over a sec from her commanding Pac-12s anchor, otherwise Bears would have gone ahead of the Hoosiers, 56.02 br split from Lilly or not (but props to IU for their performance!).

Abbey did struggle in the 50m free as compared to her time in Pac 12 meet when she swam 21.4 for second.

Cal also swam much faster in the 400m medley relay in the conference final when the Bears clocked 3.25.50. Once again, if they had matched their previous effort they would have placed 2nd place.

Stanford is swimming faster or the same in nationals so far whereas Cal is swimming slower or the same. The
Bears have jumped into a solid second place position, however. GO BEARS!

Despite of tough losses, Cal is doing fine.

1. Stanford 211
2. California 147
3. Texas 109
4. Tennessee 108.5
5. Michigan 101
6. Louisville 99
7. Texas A&M 89
8. Virginia 86
9. Minnesota 70
10. Indiana 46

+1

Schroeder71 said:

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Stanford is swimming faster or the same in nationals so far whereas Cal is swimming slower or the same.

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Well consider this:

800 FR - 2nd fastest time in Cal history ... almost 2 sec faster than @ 2018 Pac-12s!

200 FR - new school record ... 2nd fastest time in NCAA history ... under old American record ... faster than @ 2018 Pac-12s!

200 IM - Thleen achieved a new school record ... 2nd fastest time in NCAA history ... under old American record ... faster than @ 2018 Pac-12s!

400 MR - 2nd fastest time in school history!

...a bunch of PB splits...


Not too shabby, I must say!

Yes, it's just bleeding tough coming on the heels of a well-greased Furdette monster machine that grinds away relentlessly at all these old records, out-touching Bears in a couple of close races.

But what another team does is basically something that's beyond our courageous Bears' control...

I reckon the women have acquitted themselves remarkably well under these challenging conditions at this stage, and I for one applaud the whole team for just "fighting on" with true grit (sorry if I had upset you BD by inadvertently slipping in a Trojan slogan lol) - very proud of their beary impressive efforts & plucky mindset!

solobear said:

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Despite of tough losses, Cal is doing fine.

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Schroeder71 said:

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The Bears have jumped into a solid second place position, however. GO BEARS!

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+1!

Kathleen Baker set a school record in the 200 IM Thursday, finishing in 1:51.25.

BEARS SET 2 SCHOOL RECORDS AT NCAA MEET
COLUMBUS, Ohio On the first full night of the NCAA Championships Thursday, Cal set a pair of school records and stands in second place in the team standings through the first seven events of the national meet.

Cal opened the session by setting a school mark in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:25.50. The Bears swam the second-fastest time in history, one that was under the American record, but Stanford got to the wall first in 1:25.43.Maddie Murphy led off, followed by Amy Bilquist, Katie McLaughlin and Abbey Weitzeil, who closed with a 21.01 anchor leg split. Cal and Stanford were both more than a second-and-a-half ahead of the rest of the field.

Junior Kathleen Baker also came through with a school record, breaking her own mark in the 200 individual medley by finishing in 1:51.25. However, Stanford's Ella Eastin was a tad faster and won in 1:50.67. Both times were under the previous American record. In addition, freshman Sarah Darcel claimed 16th with a B final time of 1:56.15.

The Bears scored 31 points in the 50 free with three swimmers contributing to the effort. Weitzeil was fourth in 21.67, while Bilquist captured the B final in 21.88 (9th overall) and Murphy was next in line with a time of 22.07.

Junior Phoebe LaMay placed 42nd on the 1-meter springboard with a 6-dive score of 251.10.

Cal closed out the evening with a third-place showing in the 400 medley relay with the foursome of Baker, Ali Harrison, Noemie Thomas and Weitzeil touching in 3:26.86, which stands as the No. 2 time ever at Cal, topped only by the Bears' 3:25.50 at the Pac-12 Championships last month.

"The school record in the 200 free relay, the second-best time in history, but we're obviously a little bummed that Stanford got their hand to the wall first," head coach Teri McKeever said. "I'm still really, really proud of all of those girls. Amy, Maddie, Katie and Abbey did a really nice job. Kathleen in the 200 IM that was an exceptional swim. Ella and her just continue to battle it out. We did a good job in the 50s picking up some points with three women in the top 10. The 400 medley relay wow, what an amazing field. It's weird. You get third place and you're kind of bummed, and then you realize that was the second-best time in Cal history. That was a particularly great job from Ali Harrison as a freshman her fastest split ever and Noemie Thomas continues to be a solid rock for us."

Among teams, Stanford leads with 211 points, with Cal second with 147 and Texas third with 109.

Racing resumes Friday morning at 6 a.m. PT (9 a.m. local time) an hour earlier than Thursday with qualifying in the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 free, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke and 200 medley relay.

"It's going to be really important tonight to let this go and move on for tomorrow starting an hour earlier," McKeever said. "I think it's going to be really interesting how each team responds to that. We need to make sure we're ready. We need to focus on what we're doing and we're putting as many points on the board as we can."

Bearents?? Cute lol

https://instagr.am/p/BgXOt6-lMRX

...Abbey focussing on the 200 MR tomorrow? Not entered in the 200 Free (or any other individual event on Friday) it would appear from a quick scan of the morning heat sheets:

https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/results/pdf/2018-ncaa-division-i-womens-friday-prelims-heat-sheet-day-3-ncaa-college-2018-03-16.pdf

UrsusArctosCalifornicus said:

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That below-record-pace 200 IM final no doubt took something out of Thleen's legs but she hung in tough.

Ali with a PB breast split of 58.89, breaking the 59 sec barrier there for the 1st time, woohoo!

Nono just about matched her Pac-12s speed, faster than Hu's split tonight. (Update -> Should have given Noemie more credit than that lol - Thomas actually laid down the FASTEST fly leg in the A final...only faster split was 'SC's Louise Hansson's studly 49.24 in the B final).

Felt crushed for Abbey, reckon she was still gutted after her 50 Free results...over a sec from her commanding Pac-12s anchor, otherwise Bears would have gone ahead of the Hoosiers, 56.02 br split from Lilly or not (but props to IU for their performance!).

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Ali's been a great get. Any early individual points she scores will be gravy.

49's the Norm: Gone is the Mystique of Natalie Coughlin's 100 Back Record

In 2002, Natalie Coughlin swam a 49.97 in the women's 100-yard backstroke. It took 15 years for anyone to swim under 50 seconds again.

Of course, it wasn't for a lack of trying. In 2013, Cal freshman Rachel Bootsma won the NCAA title in the event in 50.13, then the second-fastest time ever in the event. She needed to go 16 hundredths quicker to hit Coughlin's record, so of course she would get there eventuallyright?

For the next 20 months, no one swam quickeruntil December 5, 2014, at the Georgia Invite. Virginia junior Courtney Bartholomew touched the wall in 50.01, a mere four hundredths off Coughlin's markbut she never could improve on that time.



That season at the NCAA championships, Bartholomew's top time was 50.19, set leading off the Cavaliers' 400 medley relay. The next day, Bootsma won the individual title in 50.03, her lifetime best but still six hundredths short of the gold standard. Neither of those women would approach their top times as seniors the following season.

And then, finally, in late February 2017, the record went down. Olympic silver medalist Kathleen Baker was in the field for the 100 back at the women's Pac-12 championships, but Stanford junior Ally Howe took her down that day and finished in 49.69. That long-elusive record was crushed.

Suddenly, the floodgates opened. That season at the NCAA championships, Baker joined Howe and Coughlin in the sub-50 club, recording a best time of 49.80, and two more swimmers broke 50 during their conference championship meets in February: Wisconsin's Beata Nelson (49.78) and Howe's Stanford teammate Janet Hu (49.93).

Those four, along with perhaps Missouri senior Hannah Stevens, the U.S. National champion in the 50 back, will be in contention for an NCAA crown in that event. Nelson had the hot hand Thursday night on the 4100 medley relay, when she posted the only sub-50 leadoff split, at 49.83.

Howe's American record from the 2017 Pac-12 meet still stands, but it could be in danger in the 100 back NCAA final. On top of that, sudden, it's likely to take faster than Coughlin's former record to finish in the top three. After it took 15 years to catch up to one of the greatest short course swimmers ever in her best event, the country's best backstrokers have finally made the leap forward.

This morning's prelims:

400 IM --> Sarah Darcel (Heat 4, Lane 5 - Pickrem, Szekely, M. Small, H. Moore, Meg Bailey)
100 fly --> Maddie Murphy (Heat 5, Lane 8 - Engel, V. Burchill, Hu, Li, Oglseby, Leah Goldman)
Katie McLaughlin (Heat 6, Lane 3 - Hansson, Tetzloff, Quah, Ochitwa, Noemie)
Noemie Thomas (Heat 6, Lane 5 - Hansson, Tetzloff, Quah, Ochitwa, Katie McL)
200 free --> Robin Neumann (Heat 5, Lane 5 - Haughey, Moseley, Marrkand, Harnish, Carozza, Jacobsen)
Katie McLaughlin (Heat 7, Lane 1 - Goss, Moroney, G. Deloof, Manuel, Raab)
100 breast --> Ali Harrison (Heat 5, Lane 7 - Kansakoski, Kozelsky, Aroesty, Belousova, Astashiinka)
100 back --> Kathleen Baker (Heat 5, Lane 4 - Adams, Seidt, K. Stewart, Waddell, B. Alexander)
Amy Bilquist (Heat 6, Lane 6 - Bratton, Hu, Baldwin, Haan, Keaton, Moroney)
Keaton Blovad (Heat 6, Lane 7 - Bratton, Hu, Baldwin, Haan, Moroney, Amy)

2018 WOMEN'S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: DAY 3 PRELIMS LIVE RECAP

bearz012 said:

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This morning's prelims:

400 IM --> Sarah Darcel (Heat 4, Lane 5 - Pickrem, Szekely, M. Small, H. Moore, Meg Bailey)

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Sarah (4:05.09) - placed 3rd in her heat behind Pickrem (4:03.09) and Meg Bailey. Beat LSJU's Allie Szekely (who only mustered a 4:06) Might be on the edge for the A final.

Sarah- #8 into A finals!

Noemie & Katie McL into A- #2 and #6. Madds down at 20th (100 fly)

200 Free- Katie sneaks in at 8th, Robin 4th