Particularly happy for Katie getting an A-final spot in both of her events, successfully nailing that double! Cheers to our persevering Bears.

HBear said:

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Particularly happy for Katie getting an A-final spot in both of her events, successfully nailing that double! Cheers to our persevering Bears.

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I'm sure Katie's just glad she doesn't have to swim the 500 Free. Hahaha! But yes, very impressive double A finals. I just hope she has enough gas for the evening session. Amy just misses the A final in the 100 Back (9th), ugh. Not that long ago, a sub minute 100 Breast got you into the A final, but today that time wouldn't make the B final.

What was going on during that medley relay? Tennessee messed up pretty badly, and why did VT get a re-swim?

swimmer19 said:

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What was going on during that medley relay? Tennessee messed up pretty badly, and why did VT get a re-swim?

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I read that the official neglected to take the backstroke start platform out, which might have affected the other swimmers' touches.

swimmer19 said:

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What was going on during that medley relay? Tennessee messed up pretty badly, and why did VT get a re-swim?

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Running around this morning so missed the live stream.

Quite bizarre series of events apparently involving Erika Brown having taken out the anchor leg on fly then switching back to free after the wall?! Not to mention something about the back wedge not being removed in VT's lane thus requiring a re-swim on their part (they ended up 9th, just missing the championship final).

Whether this should have merited a DQ for Tenn, the time penalty certainly cost their relay squad an A final slot, and in fact they won't be scoring any points in the 200 MR tonight!

TENNESSEE'S ERIKA BROWN SWIMS WRONG STROKE IN 200 MEDLEY RELAY PRELIMS; VOLS OUT OF FINAL
Will catch up later on, but looks like there were some ballsy swims by our Bears to squeak into the A final (Sarah in the 400 IM, Katie in the 200 Free) as well as a near-miss (Amy -> 9th, i.e. B final), and Robin matching her Pac-12 PB (done leading off the 800 FR) in the 200 Free to make the A final... Madds, Ali & Keeks didn't quite make tonight's finals.

UrsusArctosCalifornicus said:

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swimmer19 said:

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What was going on during that medley relay? Tennessee messed up pretty badly, and why did VT get a re-swim?

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Running around this morning so missed the live stream.

Quite bizarre series of events apparently involving Erika Brown having taken out the anchor leg on fly then switching back to free after the wall?! Not to mention something about the back wedge not being removed in VT's lane thus requiring a re-swim on their part (they ended up 9th, just missing the championship final).

Whether this should have merited a DQ for Tenn, the time penalty certainly cost their relay squad an A final slot, and in fact they won't be scoring any points in the 200 MR tonight!

TENNESSEE'S ERIKA BROWN SWIMS WRONG STROKE IN 200 MEDLEY RELAY PRELIMS; VOLS OUT OF FINAL
Will catch up later on, but looks like there were some ballsy swims by our Bears to squeak into the A final (Sarah in the 400 IM, Katie in the 200 Free) as well as a near-miss (Amy -> 9th, i.e. B final), and Robin matching her Pac-12 PB (done leading off the 800 FR) in the 200 Free to make the A final... Madds, Ali & Keeks didn't quite make tonight's finals.

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With the exception of Madds hoping she had gotten a B, think Cal overall swim well. Think Abbey not in the 200fr was a good decision. Go Bears!

For 200 MR finals tonight, are we subbing in Ali for Abbey and Abbey for Amy? On Swimswam it said that Ali will most likely take over Abbey's spot:

2018 W. NCAAS FINALS PREVIEW: TOP FOUR 100 BACK PERFORMERS IN HISTORY TO THROW DOWN

Quick recap:

400 IM --> Darcel squeaks into the A final with a 4:05.09, good for 8th! Hoping our Canadian froski can drop down to her PB of 4:03 from Pac-12's to perhaps make top 5!

100 fly --> Noemie pops a quick 50.76 to qualify second for the A final, Katie just off her PB with a 51.24, good for 6th! Maddie, unfortunately, was just off her season best to finish 20th with a 52.31.

200 free --> Robin qualifies 4th with a 1:43.78, same time as her 800 free relay lead-offs at Pac-12's. She's seeded behind only Comerford, Haughey, and Manuel. McLaughlin finishes off her tough double strong, qualifying eighth with a 1:43.71.

100 breast --> Ali off her PB of 59.5 to place 24th with a 1:00.22. Perhaps not the result that she was expecting, but we are all commending this exceptional frosh eluded the hype, but certainly was a very great get!

100 back --> Thleen drops a 50.77 to get the job done and qualify 4th. Amy just barely missing the A final with a 51.36. Keaton placed 19th, a bit off her PB done at Pac-12's with a 52.36.

200 free relay --> Cal qualifies second behind Indiana, using Thleen, Abbey, Noemie, and Amy to go a 1:35.55.

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2018 WOMEN'S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: DAY 3 UP/DOWNS
NCAA Women's Swimming Championships: Day 3 Prelims Photo Gallery


Katie McLaughlin


Noemie Thomas




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2018 W. NCAAS FINALS PREVIEW: TOP FOUR 100 BACK PERFORMERS IN HISTORY TO THROW DOWN
Heat sheets --> https://cdn.swimswam.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Friday-Finals-Heat-Sheet.pdf
Live results --> http://www.sidearmstats.com/ncaa/swimming/index.htm
Live stream --> http://www.espn.com/ncaa/feature/video/_/id/5810542/ncaa-championships

100 fly This morning, USC's Louise Hansson became the third woman ever under :50 (49.90), while no one else was under 50.76. However, the 3-seed in finals is Tennessee's Erika Brown who is fresh off of going 49.85 at the 2018 SEC Championships the #2 performance of all-time behind Kelsi Worrell's 49.43 American/NCAA/U.S. Open record. Cal's Noemie Thomas is the 2-seed heading into finals, and is also a strong candidate to go sub-:50. She went 50.76 in prelims, and her PR is 50.44.

100 back This race will feature the top four performers in history: Ally Howe, Beata Nelson, Kathleen Baker, and Janet Hu. Wisconsin's Nelson (a sophomore, the youngest of the four) led off the 400 medley relay last night in 49.83, the fastest split in the field by half a second. She put down a 50.61 in prelims to take the top spot heading into finals tonight, but right behind her was Stanford's American record holder Howe in 50.64. NC State's Elise Haan nabbed 3rd in prelims by matching her best time (50.75) from the 2018 ACC Championships. Baker took 4th with a 50.77, but went 50.66 last night in her relay; she was also 50.13 at Pac-12s. Hu was 5th in 50.82, but went 49.93 at Pac-12s last month.

200 medley relay Though Indiana was able to nab the top spot this morning in 1:35.12, they did it against Cal and Stanford teams that will substitute their top swimmers in tonight. Cal took second this morning with the team of Kathleen Baker, Abbey Weitzeil, Noemie Thomas, and Amy Bilquist, but will likely sub Ali Harrison in on breast tonight and move Wetizeil to free. Stanford sent out Ally Howe, Grace Zhao, Janet Hu, and Lauren Pitzer, but will likely sub Kim Williams for Zhao and Simone Manuel for Pitzer. While Indiana has the clear breaststroke advantage in Lilly King's sub-26 potential, they don't have a freestyler who will definitely go under 22. Weitzeil and Manuel, conversely, have been 21.01 and 20.89 in relays already this meet

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https://instagr.am/p/BgZQBz7A4Qf

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

Swimmers are gearing up for the second prelims session of the 2018 Women's NCAA Championships in Columbus, Ohio. Tonight's races include the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, and 200 medley relay. We'll also see finals of the women's 3-meter diving.

The 400 IM will feature a showdown between Stanford teammates Katie Ledecky, the American Record holder, and Ella Eastin, the defending NCAA Champion. We'll see 4 of the fastest 100 backstrokers in history compete for the title: Cal's Kathleen Baker, Wisconsin's Beata Nelson, and Stanford teammates Ally Howe and Janet Hu. The 100 fly will pit 2 sub-50 swimmers, USC's Louise Hansson and Tennessee's Erika Brown, against each other. Louisville's Mallory Comerford will go up against Stanford's Simone Manuel and Michigan's Siobhan Haughey in the 200 free. Indiana's American Record holder Lilly King will look to earn her 3rd straight 100 breast title.

WOMEN'S 400 IM:
1. GOLD: Ella Eastin, Stanford, 3:54.60
2. SILVER: Katie Ledecky, Stanford, 3:58.29
3. BRONZE: Sydney Pickrem, Texas A&M, 3:59.05
8. Sarah Darcel, Cal, 4:04.44

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WOMEN'S 100 FLY:
1. GOLD: Louise Hansson, USC, 49.80
2. SILVER: Erika Brown, Tennessee, 50.33
3. BRONZE: Janet Hu, Stanford, 50.56
4. Noemie Thomas, Cal, 50.92
6. Katie McLaughlin, Cal, 51.20

USC's Louise Hansson was out quick in 23.36, just a hundredth ahead of Stanford's Janet Hu. On the back-half, Hansson continued to pull ahead of the field, winning by half a second in 49.80. Behind her, Tennessee's Erika Brown reached in to touch ahead of Hu. The only other swimmer to break 51 tonight were Cal's Noemie Thomas and Ohio State's Liz Li, who rounded out the top 5 in 50.92 and 50.94 respectively.

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WOMEN'S 200 FREE:
1. GOLD: Mallory Comerford, Louisville, 1:39.80
2. SILVER: Siobhan Haughey, Michigan, 1:40.69
3. BRONZE: Simone Manuel, Stanford, 1:41.48
5. Robin Neumann, Cal, 1:43.54
8. Katie McLaughlin, Cal, 1:44.32

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WOMEN'S 100 BACK:
1. GOLD: Ally Howe, Stanford, 49.70
2. SILVER: Beata Nelson, Wisconsin, 49.92
3. BRONZE: Kathleen Baker, Cal, 50.18
10. Amy Bilquist, Cal, 51.51

Cal's Kathleen Baker led a tight field halfway in 24.02, under record post. It was still 3 women neck-and-neck into the final turn, as Wisconsin's Beata Nelson and Stanford's Ally Howe trailed by hundredths. Howe shot off the final wall, followed closely by Nelson, as Baker faded to 3rd. Howe got her hand to the wall first just a hundredth shy of her own record, with Nelson just a couple of tenths back.

Baker ended up 3rd, just hundredths shy of her season best. NC State's Elise Haan took a few tenths off her best to finish 4th in 50.42, making her the 10th fastest performer ever in this event. Stanford's Janet Hu racked up another top 5 finish, narrowly behind in 50.63.

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WOMEN'S 200 MEDLEY RELAY:

1. GOLD: Stanford, 1:33.11
2. SILVER: Cal, 1:33.85
3. BRONZE: Indiana, 1:33.89

Stanford and Indiana were tied at 23.54 after the back leg with Ally Howe and Ally Rockettrespectively. IU's Lilly King came through with a 25.38 breast split, the fastest ever, to give Indiana the lead. The Hoosiers held onto their lead with Christie Jensen's 23.18 fly split, but the Cardinal was closing in on them thanks to Janet Hu's 22.62. Indiana's Grace Haskett put up her fastest split yet with a 21.79 on the anchor, but it wasn't enough to hold on as Simone Manuel scorched the fastest free split in history at 20.45. Cal ran down Indiana to out-touch them for 2nd with a 21.95 anchor from Amy Bilquist.

Think Amy's anchor was a 20.95 on her leg.
Score after 3rd day
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 14

1. Stanford 414 2. California 268
3. Texas A&M 186 4. Texas 171
5. Louisville 168 6. Michigan 150
7. Tennessee 137.5 8. Minnesota 134
9. Indiana 124 10. Virginia 106
11. Southern Cal 83 12. Georgia 82
13. Ohio St 81 14. Missouri 72
15. Wisconsin 62 16. Auburn 51.5
17. Arizona 45 18. South Carolina 44
19. Kentucky 41 20. NC State 37
21. University of Nevada 33 22. Arkansas 30
23. Purdue 29 24. Arizona St 27
25. UNC 25 26. Northwestern 20
26. Denver 20 28. UCLA 15
28. Alabama 15 28. Eastern Mich 15
31. Miami University 14 32. Hawaii 12
33. Virginia Tech 11 33. Florida 11
35. Penn St 9 36. Louisiana State University 8
37. Rutgers 6 38. Florida St 3
39. Duke 2 39. University of Miami 2

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BEARS INCREASE HOLD ON SECOND AT NCAA MEET


Cal's 200 medley relay finished in 1:33.85 to break the old school record by .25 seconds.


COLUMBUS, Ohio California capped off another strong night at the NCAA Championships Friday with the Golden Bears setting their third school record in the meet in the last event, this time in the 200-yard medley relay.

The foursome of Kathleen Baker, Abbey Weitzeil, Noemie Thomas and Amy Bilquist raced to a time of 1:33.85, a quarter second under the previous mark, which won the event last year. This time, Stanford touched first in 1:33.11, while Bilquist swam a 20.95 freestyle anchor to chase down Indiana, as the Bears nipped the Hoosiers by 0.04 seconds at the finish. The top three relays posted the three fastest times in history.

Through 14 events, Cal stands firmly in second place with 268 points, putting the Bears in prime position to secure their 10th consecutive top 3 finish the longest current streak in the country. Stanford leads with 414 points, while Texas A&M is third with 186 and Texas fourth with 171.

"We had a great team meeting last night and just talked about perspective," head coach Teri McKeever said. "I was really proud of how the women came in this morning (in qualifying). They came back tonight and had really an epic race (in the medley relay) with Amy getting her hand to the wall and all of them doing a great job.

"We've got to come around tomorrow," McKeever added. "We always talk about Saturday morning being tough. So we're going to have to come in and do what we did this morning and finish strong and see where it takes us."

Freshman Sarah Darcel was the first Golden Bear in the water in the 400 individual medley, and she touched eighth in 4:04.44. No Cal swimmer has placed higher or been faster in the event final since Caitlin Leverenz was third in 2013.

The Bears then picked up key points in the 100 butterfly. Thomas, a three-time finalist in the event, had the best finish of her career by placing fourth in 50.92. She was sixth as a sophomore and fifth last season. Junior Katie McLaughlin was close behind Thomas and took sixth in 51.20.

McLaughlin then had about 10 minutes to rest before having to get back up on the blocks for the 200 free final. She came through in 1:44.32 for eighth place, one spot higher than last year when she was ninth. In addition, Robin Neumann, the only freshman to qualify for the final, finished fifth in 1:43.54.

"Katie's double was really impressive, not only for us, but other people noticed, as well," McKeever said.

The Bears also had a pair of swimmers in the 100 back in Baker and Bilquist. In the consolation final, Bilquist went 51.51 to take second place, and then Baker put up a time of 50.18 to touch third in the championship race.

The NCAA meet concludes Saturday with finals in seven events. Prelims begin at 7 a.m. PT, with the final session starting at 3 p.m. PT.

• RESULTS => http://calbears.com/documents/2018/3/16//friday_finals_results.pdf

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UPDATE => (thx, bearz)




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UrsusArctosCalifornicus said:

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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...

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Yet another stellar achievement by our Bears this evening...granted, a mite overshadowed by that pesky Furdette behemoth this year...but nevertheless, applause all around for swimming their hearts out in the face of what would be massively discouraging adversity to most others!

• 200 MR - new school record ... 2nd fastest time in NCAA history ... faster than @ 2018 Pac-12s!

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FASTEST 200 MEDLEY RELAYS ALL-TIME

• 1. Stanford (Ally Howe, Kim Williams, Janet Hu, Simone Manuel), 2018 NCAAs: 1:33.11

• 2. Cal (Kathleen Baker, Abbey Weitzeil, Noemie Thomas, Amy Bilquist), 2018 NCAAs: 1:33.85

• 3. Indiana (Ali Rockett, Lilly King, Christine Jensen, Grace Haskett), 2018 NCAAs: 1:33.89

• 4. Cal (Kathleen Baker, Abbey Weitzeil, Noemie Thomas, Farida Osman), 2017 NCAAs: 1:34.10

• 5. Stanford (Ally Howe, Sarah Haase, Janet Hu, Lia Neal), 2016 NCAAs: 1:34.15

• 6. Indiana (Ali Rockett, Lilly King, Christine Jensen, Grace Haskett), 2017 Purdue Invite: 1:34.16

https://swimswam.com/stanford-takes-american-ncaa-records-in-200-medley-relay-with-133-11/


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The last session tomorrow is projected to be Cal's weakest in terms of scoring by the psych sheet (and the Furd's strongest, not to mention potential last-minute surges by several teams such as the Aggies in the 200 Breast), so everyone needs to hang beary tough and put in their invaluable contribution for the team as Bears make their final push to cement that runner-up spot!

btw, kudos to Amy for laying down the 2nd fastest anchor in the entire field (surpassing even Farida's impressive 21.11 from last year's NCAA record squad), the only leg other than Manuel's to break 21 sec.

Gotta love her cheekiness in checking out IU's Haskett during her underwater from the last wall, and fighting to the very end to get her hand to the wall before Indiana, who was 0.80 sec ahead of Cal when Billy dove in...

Great interview with Katie! Thanks for finding and sharing, UAC. I absolutely love the perseverance of Katie over coming her neck injury and basically having her best overall NCAAs to this point of the meet. Her signature event has always been the 200 Fly (2nd to Eastin last year). So although she hasn't really swam it well this year, she can add to her successful meet tomorrow. Her performance really makes me optimistic for next year, because she can be just as fast as Noemie, who is our only big loss from the team this year, in both fly events. If Cassidy can come in and fill in some of Noemie's points too, we don't lose a thing in the fly. The furd is going to lose three major pieces of their medley, and it will be great just to see that Manuel is not on their team anymore.

Heats sheets for tomorrow morning (thanks to UAC for heads up):

200 back:
Keaton Blovad (Heat 4, Lane 7 - Horns' Q. Carrozza, UVA frosh Seiberlich & Earley, Zona's C. McHugh)
Kathleen Baker (Heat 7, Lane 4 - UK's Seidt & Galyer, UVA's Moroney & Madden, IU's Goss)

100 free:
Maddie Murphy (Heat 3, Lane 6 - UGA's Fa'amausili, Vols' Grinter, UNC's Fields, AU's Ellzey)
Robin Neumann (Heat 7, Lane 7 - Lville's Visscher & Comerford, Mich's Haughey & G. Deloof, Ochitwa, Burchill)
Amy Bilquist (Heat 8, Lane 2 - UVA seniors Cooper & Reed, Horns' Adams & Millard, Brown, Weitzeil, Malone)
Abbey Weitzeil (Heat 8, Lane 4 - UVA seniors Cooper & Reed, Horns' Adams & Millard, Brown, Bilquist)

200 breast:
Ali Harrison (Heat 3, Lane 1 - Lville's Lauren James, OSU Hanna Gresser)

200 fly:
Sarah Darcel (Heat 3, Lane 4 - $C's Tycz & Sanchez, LSJU's Green, OSU's Meg Bailey, A&M's Taylor Pike)
Katie McLaughlin (Heat 4, Lane 1 - Noemie, Drabot, $C's Wright, Mizzou's Brady, Rule, UCLA's Grover)
Noemie Thomas (Heat 4, Lane 3 - McL, Drabot, $C's Wright, Mizzou's Brady, Rule, UCLA's Grover)

2018 W. NCAA PICKS: STANFORD BATTLES TO REPEAT IN 400 FREE RELAY

Cal comes in with the top seed, returning three quarters of its relay from a year ago. Amy Bilquist, Kathleen Baker and Abbey Weitzeil should be staples, and Katie McLaughlin was 47.4 at Pac-12s. Weitzeil is Cal's best bet to match Manuel's split, but even that is a stretch. For Cal to win the event, they'll have to count on Baker beating Stanford's slowest swimmer by a wider margin than Manuel beats Weitzeil, with the other two legs probably fairly even. Of course, it could come down, too, to gamesmanship if either team uses their star as the leadoff swimmer, they may get enough clean water to swim away with the lead and cause rough splits for their opponents middle swimmers. That said, this still feels like Stanford's event, with Cal as the top challenger.

TOP 8 PICKS
PLACE | TEAM | SEED TIME | 2017 FINISH
1 | Stanford | 3:09.76 | 1st
2 | California | 3:09.04 | 3rd
3 | Louisville | 3:10.73 | 6th
4 | Virginia | 3:09.45 | 12th
5 | Texas | 3:11.72 | 9th
6 | Michigan | 3:10.96 | 10th
7 | Auburn | 3:12.64 | 14th
8 | Tennessee | 3:12.76 | 13th

2020 Tokyo is coming, and the bears' performances are very promising as they are even better at LC than SCY.

Katie McLaughlin is a baller (Even Tom Shields couldn't do the 100 fly & 200 free double). These SCY results hint that she should have a really great LC season this summer.

Amy Bilquist keeps getting better and better.

Maddie Murphy didn't make 100 fly final and generally didn't swim as well as she did freshmen year. Hopefully, she'll bounce back the way Bootsma did.

Just throwing up a quick recap + up/downs from Day 4 morning heats here: (courtesy of Swimming World & CalWSwim&Dive)


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https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/stanford-sets-itself-up-for-historic-night-prelims-recap-with-ups-and-downs/


Ups, Downs

Texas A&M had the most A-finalists with seven total as they put four in the top heat in the 200 breast.

Stanford, Cal and Michigan both had five A-finalists.

The race for fourth place will heat up after Texas only had Claire Adams make it back individually.

Michigan and Louisville will be nipping at their heels tonight as the heats of the 1650 and platform diving will take place later today.

• Stanford, 5, 4
• Cal, 5, 2
• Texas A&M, 7, 1
• Texas, 1, 1
• Louisville, 3, 1
• Michigan, 5, 1
• Tennessee, 2, 3
• Minnesota, 1, 0
• Indiana, 1, 0
• Virginia, 1, 4
• USC, 2, 2
• Georgia, 2, 2

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2018 WOMEN'S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: DAY 4 UP/DOWNS


DAY 4 POINTS

Despite Texas A&M's 6 up, Stanford still lead the morning points scored out as seeded. This doesn't contain diving (not done yet) or the mile (no prelims). Louisville had the best morning against the psych sheet, picking up 18.5 points. USC dropped the most, losing 22


TEAM | DAY 4 POINTS | DAY 4 PSYCH POINTS | DIFFERENCE | DAY 4 PRELIM POINTS + DAYS 1,2,3 REAL POINTS

Stanford | 122 | 132 | -10 | 536
California | 96.5 | 88 | 8.5 | 364.5
Texas A&M | 103 | 112 | -9 | 289
Louisville | 71.5 | 53 | 18.5 | 239.5
Michigan | 87.5 | 82.5 | 5 | 237.5
Texas | 33 | 40 | -7 | 204
Tennessee | 46 | 42 | 4 | 183.5
Virginia | 44.5 | 49 | -4.5 | 150.5
Minnesota | 14 | 12 | 2 | 148
Indiana | 20 | 24 | -4 | 144
Georgia | 53 | 39 | 14 | 135
Southern Cali | 42 | 64 | -22 | 125


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https://instagr.am/p/Bgb_epkgDH2

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UrsusArctosCalifornicus said:

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Just throwing up a quick recap + up/downs from Day 4 morning heats here: (courtesy of Swimming World & CalWSwim&Dive)


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https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/stanford-sets-itself-up-for-historic-night-prelims-recap-with-ups-and-downs/


Ups, Downs

Texas A&M had the most A-finalists with seven total as they put four in the top heat in the 200 breast.

Stanford, Cal and Michigan both had five A-finalists.

The race for fourth place will heat up after Texas only had Claire Adams make it back individually.

Michigan and Louisville will be nipping at their heels tonight as the heats of the 1650 and platform diving will take place later today.

• Stanford, 5, 4
• Cal, 5, 2
• Texas A&M, 7, 1
• Texas, 1, 1
• Louisville, 3, 1
• Michigan, 5, 1
• Tennessee, 2, 3
• Minnesota, 1, 0
• Indiana, 1, 0
• Virginia, 1, 4
• USC, 2, 2
• Georgia, 2, 2

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Kudos to the Bears! Love that Katie continue to shine! Looking forward to the 4x100 relay race tonight. Should be a barn burner!

OBear073akaSMFan said:

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Kudos to the Bears! Love that Katie continue to shine! Looking forward to the 4x100 relay race tonight. Should be a barn burner!

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Every swim by our Bears on this relay @ NCAAs & Pac-12s for the past 2 years are Top 10 times in school history, other than the Prelims relay @ last year's National Championship!

#1. Amy (47.79), Katie (47.43), Kathleen (47.47), Abbey (46.35) ......3:09.04 ......2018 Pac-12
#2. Amy (47.55), Kathleen (47.72), Abbey (46.93), Farida (46.88) ....3:09.08 ......2017 NCAA (Finals)
#5. KV (48.38), Amy (47.13), Kathleen (47.55), Farida (47.09) .........3:10.15 ......2017 Pac-12
#9. Robin (48.32), Abbey (47.35), Maddie (48.11), Amy (47.45) ........3:11.23 ......2018 NCAA (Prelims)
- . Maddie (48.41), Katie (47.84), KV (47.45), Abbey (48.05) ..............3:11.75 ......2017 NCAA (Prelims)

Teri will surely go with her Pac-12s lineup for tonight, i.e. the DT.

Would expect Greg to counter with Ledecky coming in to replace Drabot or Pitzer. Drabot possibly in cos she's the hot hand at these NCAAs (split a 47.62 this morning v. Pitzer's 48.15), although Pitzer did break her PB by 0.4 sec in the 100 Free prelims this morning.

NCAA record is an amazing 3:07.61 courtesy of LSJU from 2017 NCAAs.

But I think a low to mid 3:08 may be enough to win this year's edition, since with Neal's graduation the furdette juggernaut can no longer confidently boast 2 legs who can drop low 46s, tho Manuel's always a 45 sec threat. Expect Hu, Drabot/Pitzer & Ledecky to contribute 47 sec legs for them. Bears ideally need to answer with a low 46 from Abbey (well a 45 anchor split would be massively sweet, but too much to expect this year I'd reckon lol), and low 47s all around from the rest of the squad.

Bears as with everyone in the field will be emotionally & physically exhausted at this very last event of the 4-day session. Thleen & esp Katie will have contested punishing 200 distances of their strokes on top of this morning's excursions.

Would be a really impressive accomplishment in light of this, if the quartet can best their school record-breaking swim from Pac-12s, and notch up another top time in Cal's history books tonight!

Will be cheering on the whole team to give it their all for each other and for the school! Roll on you Bears!

2018 W. NCAA FINALS PREVIEW: CAN COMERFORD CHALLENGE MANUEL IN 100 FR?



#1: WISCONSIN'S BEATA NELSON VS. CAL'S KATHLEEN BAKER IN 200 BACK

Cal's Kathleen Baker is the defending NCAA champion in this event, but Wisconsin's Beata Nelson is a major threat. This morning, Nelson swam to a lifetime best 1:49.33, making her the 6th fastest performer in history. Baker wasn't far off that in 1:49.57. They aren't the only title contenders, as Stanford's Janet Hu and Kentucky's Asia Seidt have also been sub-1:50. Seidt was just a hundredth shy of her best this morning. All 4 are ranked among the 10 fastest performers in history.

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2018 WOMEN'S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: DAY 4 FINALS LIVE RECAP

2018 WOMEN'S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: DAY 4 FINALS LIVE RECAP

The 2018 Women's NCAA Championships will come to a close tonight with day 4 finals. Swimmers will compete individually in the 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, and 200 fly, with the 400 free relay coming at the end of the session.

Stanford's Katie Ledecky looks for a distance sweep as the defending champion in the 1650 free. After becoming the 6th fastest performer ever with her time from prelims, Wisconsin's Beata Nelson is the top seed for the 200 back, but she'll be up against Cal's defending NCAA champ Kathleen Baker. The 100 free will see a matchup between defending champ Simone Manuel of Stanford and Louisville's Mallory Comerford. Indiana's Lilly Kingwill chase her own record in the 200 breast. Stanford's Ella Eastin will race for potential back-to-back titles in the 200 fly. She could go 3-for-3 in event wins and American Records this week.

WOMEN'S 200 BACK:
1. GOLD: Kathleen Baker, Cal, 1:47.30
2. SILVER: Asia Seidt, Kentucky, 1:49.24
3. BRONZE: Beata Nelson, Wisconsin, 1:49.27

Cal's Kathleen Baker flipped well under record pace for the early lead in 25.17. She kept pulling ahead, still under record pace with a 52.31 halfway. She was still crushing it in 1:19.47 with 50 yards to go. She never let up, swimming to a new American and NCAA Record of 1:47.30 to win it. She was well ahead of the field, as Kentucky's Asia Seidt finished in 1:49.24 behind her. Seidt came through on the back half to run down Wisconsin's Beata Nelson (1:49.27) for 2nd.

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WOMEN'S 100 FREE:
1. GOLD: Simone Manuel, Stanford, 45.65
2. SILVER: Mallory Comerford, Louisville, 46.20
3. BRONZE: Abbey Weitzeil, Cal, 46.74
8. Amy Bilquist, Cal, 47.82
15. Robin Neumann, Cal, 48.40

Stanford's Simone Manuel was just a tenth shy of her lifetime best as she dominated to win another sprint title in 45.65. Manuel, in her last year of collegiate swimming, was teary-eyed in her final NCAA post-race interview as she expressed her gratitiude for her teammates. Louisville's Mallory Comerford clipped her lifetime best to take 2nd in 46.20. Cal's Abbey Weitzeil threw down a 46.74 for 3rd, just a tenth off her season best.

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WOMEN'S 200 FLY:
1. GOLD: Ella Eastin, Stanford, 1:50.01
2. SILVER: Katie Drabot, Stanford, 1:51.74
3. BRONZE: Louise Hansson, USC, 1:52.25
4. Katie McLaughlin, Cal, 1:52.64
10. Noemie Thomas, Cal, 1:54.17

USC's Louise Hansson, the 100 fly champ, pushed the early lead in 24.52. Hansson flipped in 52.54 at the 100, nearly a second under record pace. Hansson lead through the 125-yard mark, but Stanford's Ella Eastin pulled ahead with 50 yards to go. Eastin surged ahead to take the win by nearly 2 seconds in 1:50.01. Teammate Katie Drabot swam a lifetime best 1:51.73 to make it a Cardinal 1-2. Hansson held on for 3rd in 1:52.25, followed by Cal's Katie McLaughlin (1:52.64) and Georgia's Megan Kingsley (1:52.66).

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WOMEN'S 400 FREE RELAY:
1. GOLD: Stanford, 3:07.94
2. SILVER: Cal, 3:08.05
3. BRONZE: Virginia, 3:10.53

Mallory Comerford took the early lead for Louisville in 46.67, followed by Texas A&M's Beryl Gastaldello in a lifetime best 47.11. Cal had taken over the lead by the 2nd leg with Abbey Weitzeil's 46.37 split, and Kathleen Baker kept bringing the Bears up on the 3rd leg in 47.21. They were under record pace going into the final leg. Katie McLaughlin anchored for Cal in a speedy 46.88, but Stanford's Simone Manuel roared through the anchor split to win it for Stanford. Manuel's 45.47 was just .02 shy of the fastest relay split ever.

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FINAL TEAM SCORES:

1. Stanford 593 2. California 373
3. Texas A&M 299 4. Michigan 267
5. Louisville 232 6. Texas 221.5
7. Tennessee 180.5 8. Indiana 169
9. Virginia 161 10. Minnesota 157

Thleen 52.31 at 100!

Kathleen 1:47.30!

Sooo bloooody happy for Thleen...pretty sure Lizzie's equally as ecstatic at handing over her NCAA & American record to another Bear!!!!

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2018 W. NCAAS: BAKER GOES 1:47.30 200 BACK TO BREAK OLDEST AMERICAN RECORD


Kathleen Baker won the 200 back by over a body length Saturday night, becoming the 3rd woman ever under 1:48, breaking the American record in 1:47.30.


Elizabeth Pelton's 1:47.84 in the 200 back was the oldest NCAA, American, and U.S. Open record remaining before Cal's Kathleen Baker took it down Saturday night.

Baker went 1.47.30, joining Missy Franklin (1:47.91) and Pelton as the only women ever under 1:48. She split 25.17/27.14/27.16/27.83, pulling well over a body length ahead of Kentucky's 2nd-place finisher Asia Seidt.

Seidt split 25.90/27.78/27.88/27.68 for a final time of 1:49.24, becoming the #6 performer of all-time. Wisconsin's Beata Nelson, the #7 performer of all-time, took 3rd in 1:49.27 (25.56/27.64/27.93/28.14).


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McLaughlin split a 46.88, but still was outtouched by 0.11

Aaaargh...out-touched by those furdettes once again (0.11 sec), in spite of an incredible 46.88 anchor from Katie who almost upset Manuel at the very end!!!

But everything to be so beary proud of, all our Bears fighting tough and not giving up at all right to the very last milliseconds.

Once again, a new school record by almost a FULL sec - 3:08.05!! Well done team!!

Wow, Katie seems to be everyone's favorite. Lots of SwimSwam comments and even Rowdy stopped talking about Stanford for a second to talk about Katie

And even a great & positive comment about Teri by Rowdy!

Rowdy (about Teri): "I have a feeling she'll be on top soon."

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AN AMERICAN RECORD FOR KATHLEEN BAKER


With its runner-up finish, Cal has placed among the top 3 at the NCAA meet 10 years in a row.


COLUMBUS, Ohio Kathleen Baker had long set her sights set on breaking the American record in the 200-yard backstroke. She came within half a second last year when she won the NCAA title in the event and she lowered her personal best by a few hundredths of a second when she captured the Pac-12 crown just last month.

On Saturday night in the final session of the NCAA Championships, Baker at last hit her mark. The Cal junior led from the start and touched the wall first in 1:47.30 to defend her crown and break the record of 1:47.84 set by former Golden Bear Elizabeth Pelton in 2013.

Baker's victory gives Cal eight wins in the 200 back in NCAA history and continues a Golden Bear hold on the American record dating back to Natalie Coughlin in 2001. The victory also meant the fourth individual national title of Baker's career after she won the 100 and 200 back and 200 individual medley as a sophomore in 2017.

"I really wanted to put one in the books and I'm pretty confident in the 200 backstroke because it gives me a little more opportunity to swim," Baker said. "I think that is what I was really going for. I had a good race strategy and I think that really worked out the best for me. (The record) has been my goal for a while. It means a lot to keep it in the family."

"Kathleen's had her eye on that," head coach Teri McKeever said. "I thought Kathleen did a wonderful job of just executing her race and concentrating on her strengths. She continues to shine when it's important. It's a thrill to see her get that record and the national title."

As a team, the Bears placed second at the national meet for the second consecutive year and ranked among the top 3 for the 10th year in a row the longest current streak in the country. Stanford won the meet with 593 points, while Cal had 373 points seven more than the Bears scored last year. Texas A&M was third with 299 point and Michigan fourth with 267.

A few minutes after Baker's heroics, three Bears picked up key points in the 100 freestyle. Sophomore Abbey Weitzeil led the way for Cal, finishing third in 46.74, with junior Amy Bilquist going 47.82 for eighth place. In addition, freshman Robin Neumann was seventh in the B final in 48.40

Cal also had two swimmers in the 200 butterfly. Junior Katie McLaughlin came through in a season-best 1:52.64 more than two seconds lower than her season best entering the meet and captured fourth place. Senior Noemie Thomas, in the B final, got her hand in for second place in 1:54.17.

The Bears closed out the competition by breaking their fifth school record of the meet, lowering their mark by almost a full second in the 400 free relay by finishing second to Stanford in 3:08.05. Bilquist led off and was followed by Weitzeil, Baker and McLaughlin.

"The stat of being in the top 3 that last 10 years is something personally I'm incredibly proud of," McKeever said. "I'm really proud of our national titles, obviously, but the consistency of a program for a decade staying in the top 3 any team or individual athlete that can do that really says a lot. It's about a group of women that have come in and bought into the program and bought into a philosophy and can continue to elevate and challenge and support each other day in and day out. It's a streak we intend to keep going."

• RESULTS => http://calbears.com/documents/2018/3/17//saturday_finals_results.pdf

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https://instagr.am/p/BgcyAD3A__n

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2018 WOMEN'S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: FINAL SCORING SUMMARY


" Cal and Stanford are also set to dominate the meet again next year.

Stanford have the most individual non senior points with 234. Cal have 185 eligible to return.

Next is Michigan with 112 and Texas with 94.5.

Stanford return the most points despite graduating 159 individual points, more than all but one team's total returning points.

The next highest scoring classes were Stanford's sophomore's with 130, Cal's Juniors with 119, and Texas A&M's seniors with 112. "


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Interesting to note from the above article that our froskis scored more individual points than any other schools, including the much-talked-about saplings where Brooke Forde did much of the heavy-lifting for them (28 v. 27 pts advantage to Bears).

However, LSJU's sophomores actually out-scored our Jr class (aka the DT) 130 to 119, thanks in large part to Ledecky + Drabot's breakout swims! Though that doesn't take into account how critical the Furd seniors (esp Manuel, Hu & Howe) were to their relay successes, which will take a toll (hopefully lol) on their scoring potential next year, in spite of a heavyweight incoming freshman class to the Farm.

Then there's always the possibility (pretty slim unfortunately, IMHO) of Ledecky going pro early, judging by these SwimSwam comments:

KATIE LEDECKY ON HER FUTURE PLANS: "I'M TRYING TO STAY IN THE PRESENT"

Lest we get too complacent at our end, our Juniors contributed a whopping 119 individual pts to the team score, so Bears need to really crush it in the 2019 recruiting to limit the inevitable bleeding then ...

Brill early start with Izzy's verbal + Chloe's ... but hope Teri & Sarah can take the recruiting up to another level by reeling in "must-haves" such as Kat B, Zoie H & the likes! (think tedbear's still pining for MSH as a late surprise international announcement for the class of 2018 hehe...you never know!)

• UPDATES => further thoughts...

1) Aggies could take a bit of a hit next year as A&M's scoring is very upperclassmen-skewed - Sr=112, Jr=61, Fr=5 ! Their incoming freshies will be led by #7 distance specialist Gabrielle Kopenski & fly/back Jr National Teamer Emma Carlton.

2) TAMU's arch rival Horns may take advantage of this, as UT will only lose 5 Sr pts, whilst bringing in a top-rated backstroke-focussed group for their 2018 freshie class (#10 Julia Cook, #17 Grace Ariola, Kendall Shields, Holly Jansen)...

3) "DeSorbo Effect" could be severely tested next season - Hoos will graduate 47 pts (out of their 161 total tally - which may include diving pts, haven't checked)! Think the Cavaliers had signed just 3 swimmers for their next class - backstroker Julia Menkhaus, Sophie Skinner & breaststroker Kaki Christensen.

OTOH, UVa could get back on track the following year when #2 Kate Douglass & their cadre of much-hyped "game over" commits come in...their Juniors didn't get on the scoreboard this week, so their graduations the following year won't likely have a significant negative impact.

3) Dawgs will need all the help that #1 Eva, #11 Dakota, #12 Olivia, Madison, Callie & co. can bring to the table (which is admittedly a lot!), as they graduate 42 pts, with UGA having already plummeted to #11 with 135 pts @ this NCAAs! This after having won 7 NCAA national championships since 1999, and finishing in the Top 2 a staggering 15 times in that same period...

4) Michigan will lose a significant amount too (Sr 53, Jr 53, including Siobhan) the next couple of years. Former Cal fly prospect & #15 2017 recruit Alexis Margett didn't qualify for 2018 NCAAs. Their freshman class next year will be headed by former breast prodigy Alexis Wenger.

5) Louisville looks in good shape with 0 pts gone, but similar to our situation w/the DT, the Cardinals will take quite a hit @ 2020 NCAAs when their superstud Comerford is gone. They will have a fairly large class coming in this autumn, led by Jr Nat Teamer Diana Dunn.

6) Indiana too with WR holder Lilly (their Jr class = 74 pts), esp when it comes to IU's medley relays (tho they will have a 58 sec breaststroker coming to their rescue when King's gone, in the guise of Jr Nat Teamer Emily Weiss). Very large 2018 class (Im'er Christin Rockway, freestyler Julia Wolf etc).

7) Tenn should improve on their standing with a trivial 8 pts deficit next year (well as long as Erika doesn't regress, oh and also remembers to swim free not fly on the anchor of a medley relay haha). Hannah Foster (of the Foster bros fame), Carmel's Trude Rothrock & some others...

Speaking of the Vols, whatever happened to Nikol Popov, the top breast recruit of the 2017 class???!! Had a lot of promise, however didn't qualify for NCAAs, hasn't achieved any best times as a Volunteer. From a 59.58 PB back in Dec 2016, Nikol's best time as a Vol was a 1:01.63 @ their mid-winter invite, and her most recent a 1:02.06 @ 2018 SE TN Last Chance Meet in Feb...

8) 'SC - whatever's going on with those once proud Trojanettes and their crew of big name stars???? #8 Erica Sullivan will be coming in...but then their distance specialists hadn't performed to expectations this year - Becca Mann, Isabella Rongione (didn't make NCAAs?).

Don't think Kirsten Vose even contested Pac-12s, did she? A really promising breaststroker who developed into a strong 200 Free swimmer, her top end versatility could have been a boon to Bears had she signed onto the programme after making an official visit here.


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Random notes: _ ...noticed sapling freshies Katie Glavinovich & Ashley Volpenhein in the furdette team's cheering section, and also on the podium posing, celebrating & jumping into the pool with their teammates at the end.

If that was indeed them, I would like to applaud Greg's generous gesture in inviting KG to the meet to soak in the atmosphere & experience, since she deserved to be there having originally qualified but presumably would have otherwise been left out due to LSJU bumping into the NCAA travel quota of 18...

• UPDATE => From the image below, looks like the entire Cardinal swim roster, all 22, were in Columbus @ these NCAAs, along with 2 divers, Cook + Farnsworth (latter got bumped up to the invite list after another diver scratched):

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btw it was quite noticeable on the broadcast how compact our Bears squad was in numbers (10 swimmers + 1 relay-only + 1 diver), compared to the hordes of Furdettes, Aggies & Wolverines when the team pictures were being taken - hey, small but mighty, I'd say...Go freakin Bears!!!

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The Bear is Golden: Kathleen Baker Back on Top



For a full year, Baker had been tracking the American and NCAA records in that event, a 1:47.84 set by former Cal Bear Elizabeth Pelton back in 2013. It had lasted five years--and Pelton had encouraged Baker to take her off the books.

"Liz has been so supportive of me, and every time before I swim, she's like, 'That 1:47 is going to feel so good when you do it,'" Baker said.

And Saturday night in Columbus, she was dominant. She pulled out to a big lead, and the record was toast. The final time was 1:47.30, a half-second faster than Pelton's best. In a meet full of signature moments for Baker's co-stars of the U.S. National team, that was hers.



That victory ended up being the only triumph for the Golden Bears all week, but it's worth noting just how much different Cal's performance would look if not for Stanford's dominance. Cal finished second in four of the five relays and third in the 4x200 free. The Bears broke existing American records in both the 4x50 free and 4x50 medley relays.

With Farida Osman graduated, Bears head coach Teri McKeever needed some of her stars to step up in more versatile roles. Baker took on a more significant role on sprint relays, as did her classmates Katie McLaughlin and Amy Bilquist.

"Even if we're coming in second, we really have to look at how we did the best we could," Baker said. "A lot of our freshmen stepped up, and a lot of people stepped up when they needed to. I think taking a step back and looking how we did, I think everyone's really proud of the effort."





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LSJU had a historically great team (nearly 600 points, swept relays, PAC champs, undefeated in duals), but do think they've peaked. Manuel and Ledecky are the two best female swimmers ever on the farm. Even if Ledecky returns. they still can't replace Manuel, Hu, and Howe. Never replaced Lia and Haase.

The historic point thresholds at NCAAs are:

450-First
400-Second
350-Third
300-Fourth
280-Fifth

Second through fifth were depressed by the 'Furdette juggernaut, but heir core group will be seriously depleted. Over/under for 2019 Cal relay titles should be three and a sweep's not out of the question if Ledecky bails.

Teri learned the hard way that even a lone transcendent talent like Natalie doesn't guarantee team titles. You have to build out around that talent.

Do think the top three streak is underappreciated. Leah Smith was UVa's all-time best swimmer and the 'Hoos never cracked the top three (two fifths) with her, so Blowhard DeSorbo looks ridiculous. Lilly King's IU's all-time best female swimmer and they've never cracked the top five with her. Even worse at Wisconsin with Beata Nelson (Thanks, Cierra).

On the other end of the recruiting spectrum, Texas and 'SC certainly don't lack for talent, facilities, and recruiting footprint and are still nowhere near Teri's consistency.

Georgia whiffed on two recruiting cycles and sunk almost as fast as the Condomettes. A&M, Lville, Tennessee, and IU have solid coaches, but can never accumulate enough talent.

A fair amount of stroke specific schools or strong academic schools, but only the Bay Area schools can credibly claim those plus shots at NCAA team titles and Olympic berths. Reading Maija's, Jaz's, and Val's farewell testimonies and their current and former teammates responses, it's abundantly clear how and why Teri's a HOF coach.

Cheers to all the above points and major kudos to Sarah, Teri, all of NCAA qualifiers, and all Bears as a whole for such a solid season! I'm personally curious as to why no major article/headline (SwimSwam, Swimming World, or otherwise) has commented on the decline of Georgia this year. Given such top-3/top-X performances recently and winning the title as recently as 2016 (give or take the Furd DQ), their decline has been astronomically quick in this past showing. They obviously are reeling talent back in, but funny that nobody has (publicly) taken a harder look beyond just all of the headlines about the Farm.

Comparing to last year, Weitzeil's endurance has greatly improved. Last year, she even had to stop midway at Pac12. Even swimmers with stellar endurance, such as Franklin and Ledecky, looked completely gassed out with the NCAA schedule.

After this, although (Taylor Ruck + Zoe Bartel) can match (Manuel + Kim Williams) time, the furds would need to develop their 52-sec flyers and backstrokers to compete with Cal's relay.

Let's hope Baker's class can get an ncaa title in their senior year. Of all recruiting classes, this class is beyond impressive.