STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford women's swimming and diving put together one of the most dominant seasons in the history of the sport en route to a second straight conference and national championship.
Back-to-Back National Champions» Stanford won its second straight women's swimming and diving NCAA team title. This was Stanford's 10th NCAA women's swimming and diving title and 11th overall, the most in the nation, and marks the program's first back-to-back NCAA championships since winning five straight from 1992-96.
» The Cardinal had 16 different All-Americans combine for 52 All-America honors, five American records, eight individual national championships and five relay titles during the four-day NCAA championship meet inside McCorkle Aquatic Center.
» Stanford's 13 event victories tied the all-time record set several times, last by Stanford in 1993.
» Stanford is just the third school to sweep all five relays at the NCAA Championships, joining Georgia in 2005 and Arizona in 2008.
» Stanford's 593 points were the most since Georgia had 609.5 in 2005 and the most for the program since the Cardinal totaled 649.5 in 1993. Cal was second with 373 points – the 220-point difference was the third-largest margin of victory at the NCAA Championships and the largest since 1993 (Stanford over Florida, 649.5 - 421).
» The Cardinal also earned its 38th straight top-eight finish (every year the NCAA has sponsored a championship meet).
» Junior Ella Eastin was named the NCAA Championships Swimmer of the Meet. She set two American records en route two relay titles and a meet-best three individual national titles. In addition to Saturday's victory in the 200-yard butterfly, Eastin swept the individual medleys with a pair of American records. On Thursday, the Irvine, California, native set the NCAA and American standards in the 200 individual medley at 1:50.67, and on Friday, she shattered the American record in the 400 IM by nearly two seconds (3:54.60). She was also a member of the winning 800 free relay on Wednesday, and the 400 free relay that capped the record-setting meet.
Pac-12 Champions» Stanford claimed back-to-back Pac-12 titles for the first time since 2010-11 and won the conference meet for the 21st time overall, a record.
» The top-ranked Cardinal's 1,776.5 points were the second-most ever scored at the Pac-12 Championships – only eclipsed by the 1,804 points scored by Stanford's 1992 national championship team that famously featured several Olympians, including Summer Sanders and Jenny Thompson.
» No. 2 Cal finished as the runner-up with 1,487 points. It is the largest margin of victory at this meet since Stanford outscored runner-up USC, 1,533-1,177, in 1999.
» Over the four-day meet, the top-ranked Cardinal won nine of 21 events, including three American records. Ella Eastin broke the oldest standing American and NCAA record (Elaine Breeden, 2009) with her swim of 1:49.51 in the 200 butterfly. Ally Howe, Kim Williams, Janet Hu and Simone Manuel broke Stanford's two-year-old American/NCAA record in the 400-medley relay (3:25.15).
» Sophomore Katie Ledecky, who won three individual Pac-12 titles and set the NCAA and American records in the 400-yard individual medley, was named the Swimmer of the Meet for the second straight year.
A post shared by Stanford W. Swimming (@stanfordwswim) on Feb 25, 2018 at 9:10am PST
Unbeaten Again
» Stanford finished the regular season unbeaten and atop the polls for the third straight season. Stanford had notable dual meet wins over N.C. State, USC and Cal.
» Seniors left their mark with a trio of pool records on Senior Day at Avery Aquatic Center as No. 1 Stanford women's swimming and diving topped No. 4 Cal, 186-110, on Feb. 10 to cap the undefeated season.
» Stanford extended its dual meet winning streak to 23. The Cardinal's last defeat in a dual was to No. 3 Cal on Feb. 14, 2015—which also marks a string of 21 straight Pac-12 dual meet victories since that loss. The Cardinal has also won 16 straight dual meets at home dating back to Oct. 30, 2014 against Texas (156-144).
» Outside of the pool, Stanford raised more than $1,800 for Stanford University's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, thanks to donations from the 2,018 energized fans in attendance, and several online donations.
Award Winners
» Simone Manuel won the Honda Sport Award.
» Paul A. Violich Director of Women's Swimming Greg Meehan won the NCAA Coach of the Year award for the second consecutive season and the third time overall. He is the fifth coach to win the award at least three times and the second Stanford coach to do so, joining five-time winner Richard Quick (1984-86, 1989, 1992).
» Stanford swept the Pac-12 Swimming awards with Ella Eastin as the Swimmer of the Year, Brooke Forde as Newcomer of the Year and Meehan as the Coach of the Year.
» In October, sophomore swimmer Katie Ledecky was named the 2017 Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press, the USOC's Female Olympic Athlete of the Year, and the Women's Sports Foundation's Sportswoman of the Year.
» Manuel, Ledecky and Meehan won Golden Goggles at USA Swimming's annual award show in Los Angeles on Nov. 20.
Congrats to @CWSA_HondaCup winner, @simone_manuel ?? #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/wQjSrZdA36
— Stanford WSwim/Dive (@stanfordwswim) April 13, 2018
Academic Honorees
» Senior Janet Hu, a computer science major with a biocomputation focus and a 3.31 GPA, was named the Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year.
» Stanford owned the highest team GPA in the Pac-12 at 3.59.
» Stanford also led the nation with 16 scholar All-Americans in 2018. A full list of honorees here.
» Seventeen Cardinal were named Pac-12 All-Academic, including a league-best seven first-team honorees. A full list is here.
????? Best in the nation in the pool.
— Stanford WSwim/Dive (@stanfordwswim) April 8, 2018
?? Best in the nation in the classroom.
Do both @Stanford #NerdNation #GoStanford https://t.co/NEO6ai7cE4
Individual Champions and All-Americans
| Stanford's 2018 Pac-12 Champions | |
| Pac-12 Champion | Event(s) |
|---|---|
| Megan Byrnes | 1650 Free |
| Ella Eastin | 200 Fly |
| Ally Howe | 400 Medley Relay |
| Janet Hu | 100 Back 400 Medley Relay |
| Katie Ledecky | 200 Free 500 Free 400 IM |
| Simone Manuel | 50 Free 100 Free 400 Medley Relay |
| Kim Williams | 400 Medley Relay |
| Stanford's 2018 National Champions | |
| NCAA Champion | Event(s) |
|---|---|
| Katie Drabot (2) | 400 Free Relay 800 Free Relay |
| Ella Eastin (5) | 200 Fly 200 Individual Medley 400 Individual Medley 400 Free Relay 800 Free Relay |
| Brooke Forde | 800 Free Relay |
| Ally Howe (4) | 100 Back 200 Free Relay 200 Medley Relay 400 Medley Relay |
| Janet Hu (4) | 200 Free Relay 400 Free Relay 200 Medley Relay 400 Medley Relay |
| Katie Ledecky (3) | 500 Free 1650 Free 800 Free Relay |
| Simone Manuel (6) | 50 Free 100 Free 200 Free Relay 400 Free Relay 200 Medley Relay 400 Medley Relay |
| Lauren Pitzer | 200 Free Relay |
| Kim Williams (2) | 200 Medley Relay 400 Medley Relay |
| Stanford's 2018 All-Americans | |
| All-American | Event(s) |
|---|---|
| Megan Byrnes | 1650 Free |
| Kassidy Cook | 3-Meter Diving |
| Katie Drabot (5) | 200 Fly 200 Free 500 Free 400 Free Relay 800 Free Relay |
| Ella Eastin (5) | 200 Fly 200 Individual Medley 400 Individual Medley 400 Free Relay 800 Free Relay |
| Lindsey Engel (3) | 100 Fly 200 Fly 400 Medley Relay |
| Brooke Forde (3) | 400 Individual Medley 500 Free 800 Free Relay |
| Ally Howe (6) | 100 Back 200 Back 200 Individual Medley 200 Free Relay 200 Medley Relay 400 Medley Relay |
| Janet Hu (7) | 100 Back 200 Back 100 Fly 200 Free Relay 200 Medley Relay 400 Medley Relay 400 Free Relay |
| Katie Ledecky (4) | 400 Individual Medley 500 Free 1650 Free 800 Free Relay |
| Simone Manuel (7) | 50 Free 100 Free 200 Free 200 Free Relay 400 Free Relay 200 Medley Relay 400 Medley Relay |
| Lauren Pitzer (4) | 500 Free 200 Free Relay 200 Medley Relay 400 Free Relay |
| Leah Stevens | 1650 Free |
| Allie Szekely | 400 Individual Medley |
| Erin Voss | 200 Back |
| Kim Williams (3) | 100 Breast 200 Medley Relay 400 Medley Relay |
| Grace Zhao (4) | 100 Breast 200 Breast 200 Medley Relay 400 Medley Relay |
Future Cardinal
» Stanford has a bright future ahead as well. The Cardinal welcomed the Class of 2022 on Nov. 9.
» Nine future Cardinal -- Zoe Bartel, Amalie Fackenthal, Anya Goeders, Daria Lenz, Lucie Nordman, Allie Raab, Taylor Ruck, Carolina Sculti and Morgan Tankersly -- will join the program next season.
» The seven swimmers of the Class of 2022 hails from seven different states and all four time zones -- Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Tennessee and Texas.
#GoStanford