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2022 Pac-12 Women's Championships: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

  • ️@swimswamnews
  • ️Thu Feb 24 2022

2022 PAC 12 WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

As the 2022 conference season continues this week, the women’s Pac-12 Championships are set to begin in Federal Way, Washington tonight. The first two events of the meet are the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays, in which Cal and Stanford are the respective top seeds.

Last week we watch the ACC Championships begin with an electric performance by Virginia in the 200 medley when the Cavaliers threw down a 1:31.81 NCAA, American, and US record. In the 800 freestyle, however, no team has been faster than the Stanford women were back in 2017 when they swam a 6:45.91 to win the NCAA title.

Follow along below to see how the Pac-12 women fare as we get into the first few events of the meet.

Women’s 1-Meter

Top 3:

  1. Delaney Schnell (Arizona) – 332.55
  2. Daria Lenz (Stanford) – 309.10
  3. Hannah Butler (UCLA) – 299.55

The University of Arizona’s Delaney Schnell picked up the first Pac-12 title of the meet in the women’s 1-meter diving event. Schnell just about matched her score from prelims with a 332.55 for the win, compared to the 332.10 that she scored in prelims.

Schnell, a senior, is the reigning Pac-12 champion in both this event and the platform dive and will be an important part of the Wildcats’ conference campaign this year. Schnell had a successful summer in 2021, having collected her first-ever Olympic silver medal when she placed second in the 10-meter synchro dive at the Tokyo Games.

Stanford’s Daria Lenz was the second-highest scorer here and was the only other woman to crack 300 points, scoring 309.10 for silver. Next, Hannah Butler of UCLA took bronze with 299.55, while Nike Agunbiade for USC took 4th with 287.60.

Notably, neither Cal nor Arizona State had any divers in this event, meaning that they each missed the chance to score any points in the first event.

Women’s 200 Medley Relay

  • NCAA Record: 1:31.81 – Virginia (2021)
  • Pac-12 Record: 1:33.11 – Stanford (2018)
  • Pac-12 Championships Record: 1:34.13 – Cal (2018)
  • NCAA A Cut: 1:36.40
  • NCAA B Cut: 1:37.05

Top 3:

  1. Stanford – 1:34.68
  2. USC – 1:35.40
  3. Cal – 1:36.09

The Stanford women swam their way to victory in the medley relay, collecting their first Pac-12 title of the year in a 1:34.68. Olympic medalist, Regan Smith got things going for the team with an opening split of 23.18, which was more than half a second of Cal’s Isabelle Stadden who dipped under 24 as well with a 23.99 backstroke split.

Following Stanford and Cal, UCLA was 3rd in the final heat courtesy of Sophia Kosturos‘ 24.59 and USC trailed slightly as Calypso Sheridan put up a 24.95.

Stanford’s Allie Raab dove in after Smith to swim breaststroke, delivering a 27.13 on the breaststroke leg and Emma Wheal was next in a 22.71. That put the Stanford women at a 1:13.02 with just the freestyle to go, while USC’s Kaitlyn Dobler (25.95) and Anicka Delgado had slightly closed the gap and brought their team to the #2 position. At the 150 USC split a 1:13.79, while Cal had fallen into 3rd place with a 1:14.05, and UCLA was at a 1:15.28.

USC anchor Laticia-Leigh Transom put up a good fight on the final leg with a 21.61 freestyle split, but Stanford’s closer Anya Goeders was far enough ahead to hold the lead. Goeders put up a 21.66 freestyle split, which was a bit slower than Transom, but enough to give Stanford a winning time of 1:34.68.

After USC’s 1:35.40, Cal came into the wall with a 1:36.09, and UCLA rounded out the top 4 in the final heat with a 1:37.02. Having swum in the previous heats, the University of Arizona was 5th overall with their 1:37.10, and Arizona State placed 6th with a 1:38.22.

This swim from Stanford makes them the 6th-fastest NCAA team this season behind national record-breakers Virginia (1:31.81), NC State (1:33.25.63), Ohio State (1:33.64), Alabama (1:33.94), Texas (1:34.26), and Tennessee (1:34.63). Among those notably absent from Stanford’s relay were Olympians Torri Huske and Taylor Ruck.

Women’s 800 Freestyle Relay

  • NCAA Record: 6:45.91 – Stanford (2017)
  • Pac-12 Record: 6:45.91 – Stanford (2017)
  • Pac-12 Championships Record: 6:49.42-Stanford (2017)
  • NCAA A Cut: 7:00.86
  • NCAA B Cut: 7:05.88

Top 3:

  1. Stanford – 6:50.21
  2. Cal – 6:59.11
  3. Arizona State – 7:03.49

En route to a second Pac-12 title, the Stanford women powered their way to the top time in the nation this season with a 6:50.21 in the 800 freestyle relay. The all-Olympic squad of Torri Huske, Taylor Ruck, Regan Smith, and Brooke Forde have replaced the Virginia women as the fastest team in the nation, beating the 6:53.37 the Cavaliers swam at the 2022 ACC Championships.

Torri Huske posted a 1:42.51, establishing a new PB in the event, improving upon the 1:42.59 that she swam in November 2021. Huske got the team off to an early lead, beating out Cal’s Izzy Ivey (1:43.80), USC’s Laticia-Leigh Transom (1:43.96), and Arizona State’s Erica Laning (1:44.61) on the first leg.

Taylor Ruck, who has been as fast as a 1:40.37 from a flat start, followed for Stanford in a 1:42.07, and Regan Smith swam her second relay of the night as the third leg here, delivering a 1:43.19. Brooke Forde anchored with a 1:42.44 to give Stanford a time of 6:50.21 for the win.

This dominant performance by Stanford allowed them to win the event by just under 9 seconds as Cal came in with a 6:59.11 for the silver medal. Ivey actually had the fastest split out of the 4 Cal women with her 1:43.80 from a flat start, but freshman Leah Polonsky was solid in a 1:44.42 to anchor the team. In the second spot Ayla Spitz threw down a 1:45.03 and Alicia Wilson swam third for Cal with a 1:45.86.

Both Stanford and Cal got under the NCAA A Cut of 7:00.86, while bronze medal-winning ASU was just over the mark in a 7:03.49. Arizona followed with a 7:04.67 and USC placed 5th overall in a 7:06.61.

Team Scores After Day 1

  1. Stanford – 216 points
  2. USC – 211 points
  3. University of Arizona – 158 points
  4. University of Utah – 154 points
  5. UCLA – 145 points
  6. Cal – 110 points
  7. Arizona State – 102 points
  8. Washington State – 88 points

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