2017 WOMEN’S PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, February 22 – Saturday, February 25
- Federal Way, WA (Pacific Time Zone)
- Defending Champion: USC (results)
- Psych sheets
- Live results
- Live Video (if available)
- Championship Central
Last season at the Pac-12 Championships, we saw the USC Trojans win their first ever conference championship title. They return this year with a highly talented group that now includes freshman standouts Louise Hansson, Becca Mann, and Tatum Wade. They’ll be hard pressed to defend their title, however, as Stanford and Cal are huge threats this season.
Stanford already had a team good enough to contend for championships titles, but with the addition of their freshman class, they’re ridiculously good. Headlining that class is star distance swimmer Katie Ledecky, who, to no one’s surprise,has been untouchable in the distance races so far. Also returning for the Cardinal is sprint ace Simone Manuel, who redshirted last season to focus on the Rio Olympics.
Cal has also brought in some big guns with American Record holder Abbey Weitzeil now on their roster. Weitzeil is not only their top prospect to outswim Manuel in the sprints, but she may also be the key to the Bears’ medley relay. In recent years, Cal has been lacking breaststroke depth, but Weitzeil has been putting up consistent 27s on the 200 medley relay at dual meets, and threw down a 1:00.83 in the 100 breast at the UGA Fall Invite.
SCHEDULE
Wednesday:
- Women’s 1-meter
- 200 medley relay
- Men’s 3-meter diving
- 800 free relay
Thursday:
- Men’s 1-meter
- 500 free
- 200 IM
- 50 free
- Women’s 3-meter diving
- 200 free relay
Friday:
- 400 IM
- 100 fly
- 200 free
- 100 breast
- 100 back
- Men’s platform diving
- 400 medley relay
Saturday:
- 1650 free
- 200 back
- 100 free
- 200 breast
- 200 fly
- Women’s platform diving
- 400 free relay
STARS
Arizona – Annie Ochitwa (sophomore fly/back/freestyler), Hannah Cox (freshman free/IMer), Tjasa Oder (redshirt junior freestyler), Katrina Konopka (sophomore free/backstroker), Mackenzie Rumrill (sophomore fly/freestyler) — A young Arizona squad should benefit from the return of All-American miler Oder and a loaded sophomore class of sprinters.
Arizona State – Marlies Ross (sophomore IMer/breaststroker), Kat Simonovic (senior freestyler), Ingibjorg Jonsdottir (senior back/freestyler), Anna Olasz (senior freestyler), Alysha Bush (senior freestyler) — ASU’s Ross returns after being the Sun Devil’s highest conference scorer and a championship finalist last season.
Cal – Abbey Weitzeil (freshman freestyler), Farida Osman (senior fly/freestyler), Noemie Thomas (junior butterflier), Kathleen Baker (sophomore IM/backstroker), Amy Bilquist (sophomore free/backstroker), Katie McLaughlin (sophomore fly/freestyler) — Freshman Weitzeil will be chasing her own American Record in her first Pac-12 conference meet appearance.
Oregon State – Czsarina Isleta (senior breaststroker), Andrea Young (senior breaststroker), Taylor Frank (senior freestyler), Emma Osowski (junior freestyler) — Though Sammy Harrison has now graduated, Oregon State still has returning mile scorers Frank and Osowski.
UCLA – Linnea Mack (senior back/freestyler), Caroline McTaggart (sophomore fly/freestyler), Sandra Soe (sophomore distance freestyler), Katie Grover (junior butterflyer/freestyler), Kenisha Liu (freshman IM/breaststroker) — Mack will look to take down her own School Records and earn a podium spot in her final conference meet.
USC – Anika Apostalon (senior free/backstroker), Kirsten Vose (sophomore breast/freestyler), Chelsea Chenault (senior fly/freestyler), Riley Scott (sophomore breaststroker), Louise Hansson (freshman IM/fly/freestyler) — Hansson has been a huge asset for USC in her first season, putting up some of the nation’s top times in several events.
Stanford – Katie Ledecky (freshman freestyler), Simone Manuel (redshirt sophomore freestyler), Ella Eastin (sophomore IMer/breaststroke), Janet Hu (junior fly/back/freestyler), Lia Neal (senior sprint freestyler), Ally Howe (junior backstroker) — Ledecky will take the Pac-12 stage for the first time, while Manuel returns after a year away from the NCAA.
Utah – Stina Colleou (senior breaststroker), Jordan Anderson (sophomore free/fly/IMer), Genevieve Robertson (sophomore breaststroker), Kat Wickham (junior freestyler) — Anderson will look for another spot in thet championship final after placing 7th in the 400 IM as a freshman last season.
Washington State – Kendra Griffin (senior freestyler/butterflyer), Addisynn Bursch (senior IM/breast/freestyler), Hannah Bruggman (junior free/backstroker), Jasmine Margetts (sophomore fly/back/IMer) — Griffin was a top 8 miler for the Cougars last season, and should bring plenty of freestyle points to the team.
SHOWDOWNS
200 FREE: It’ll be interesting to see how the 200 free shakes out between Cardinal teammates Simone Manuel and Katie Ledecky. The event is right in the middle ground of their specialties, as Ledecky rules the long distance races and Manuel is one of the best sprinters out there. Their best times are just a tenth apart, with Ledecky boasting a career best of 1:41.04 and Manuel owning a 1:41.15. Manuel certainly has the speed, but Ledecky will be ready to come home like a train in what could be one of the best races of the meet. There’s plenty of star power in the race aside from those 2 swimmers, with the likes of Lia Neal (Stanford), Katie McLaughlin (Cal), Chelsea Chenault (USC), and Kirsten Vose (USC), and Hannah Cox (Arizona) all potentially swimming the event.
100/200 BACK: The backstroke races at last season’s Pac-12 meet were ridiculously fast, and we’ll likely see another big showdown this season. Both Cal’s Amy Bilquist (50.85) and Stanford’s defending champion Ally Howe (50.91) have already been sub-51 this season. The Cardinal’s Janet Hu (51.01) and Cal’s Kathleen Baker (51.25) have been just shy of that mark at 51-low, so we could see someone swimming in the 50-high range not even make the podium. The Cal duo of Baker and Bilquist currently hold the top 2 times in the 200 back this season, but Stanford’s Hu is not far behind. USC’s Hanni Leach looks to be the darkhorse for the podium in that race after putting up a quick 1:52-mid in their dual meet against UCLA.
50/100 FREE: The sprint freestyles will give us a first look at Cal’s Abbey Weitzeil, the 50 free American Record holder, against Stanford’s Simone Manuel, the 100 free American Record holder, in an NCAA championship format. Of course we can’t count out Cal’s Farida Osman, who was lightning fast at the 2016 conference meet. USC’s Anika Apostalon, Arizona’s Katrina Konopka, UCLA’s Linnea Mack, and Stanford’s Lia Neal are also among the podium threats in the sprints.
SELECTIONS
USC is bringing in a talent-heavy team to defend their Pac-12 title, but Stanford looks almost unbeatable at this point. We could see the Trojans give the Bears a run for their money, however, if it came down to a close battle between those 2 teams. Most of Arizona’s top performers from last season are returning, and they’ll likely hold on to their 4th place standing from last season ahead of UCLA. The Sun Devils have been looking good under Bob Bowman, and look like they’re in good position to improve from their 8th place finish last season.
- Stanford
- Cal
- USC
- Arizona
- UCLA
- Arizona State
- Washington State
- Utah
- Oregon State
Your diving schedule is wrong…..women compete thurs- sat men weds-friday
What time do the Wednesday Prelims start?
CraigH – in the 4 day conference format, there is no day 1 prelims – just timed finals of the 200 medley and 800 free relays.
Thanks! I just realized my mistake. I take it that it’s a 9-lane pool?
And the start times for trials and finals is?
Pumped for the 4×200 Dream Team tonight!
You know you have a pretty strong relay when the WEAKEST leg is either a 2x Olympian or an American record-holding IMer.
Other assorted thoughts:
McLaughlin has been experimenting with the 500 this season – interesting to see how she does. The NCAA schedule sucks for 100-200 free/stroke swimmers.
Weitzeil’s 3rd event? And which relays? I would leave her off the 400 MR, (relatively little upside compared to Garcia/Osman), but maybe they will save her legs and skip the 4×200.
Louise Hansson is dangerous because she is still mastering scy. She has the most speed in 2 IM – if she nails all the technical stuff, she could surprise Eastin.
Uh Weitzel is like a full second faster than Farida in the 100
Just thinking if…
1:42.0 = Weitzeil
1:44.0 = Cal’s 1st alternate for the 4×200
… And maybe a little bit of wishful thinking that Cal gives Stanford a fight in the 4×200 😉
Just saying, the women’s 4×200 FR could be a great athletic performance. Unprecedented, really, since 1998.
The psych sheet says Weitzel’s 3rd event is 200 free.
So many stars in that conference.
A good warm-up before NCAAs.
I don’t think they’re going to swim 1:40 just yet– they will at NC’s. 1:41 low to win the 200 free. PAC-12’s will reveal a whole lot, esp. for Cal. Baker and esp. Bilquist are going to be hungry– both were disappointed with NCAA’s last year. Baker comes with a lot more confidence. I’d like to see Weitzeil have a strong taper and get near to her best times. Above all, I’m hoping that Katie McLaughlin has a monster taper– we haven’t yet seen what she can do. Really wondering if they’ll have Kathleen Baker do the breaststroke leg on the 400 medley. They need someone that can split 58 or low 59 at the very, very slowest. Hoping Osman… Read more »
Kathleen will win the 100 back she’s the Olympic silver medalist, 200 free is too close to call, obviously Katie sweeps all distance events, Weitzel wins the 50 Simone the 100, Bilquist wins the 200 back, Eastin sweeps IM. Osmin wins 100 fly. Even though Katie will break an American record it shouldn’t distract you from the fact that in 1998 The Undertaker threw Mankind 16 feet off the ground in a Hell in the Cell match
Simone is the Olympic silver medalist in the 50 free.
Weitzel is the American record holder in the 50 free
Baker won an Olympic medal in the long course 100 meter backstroke, which is a very different race from a SCY 100 backstroke. Not saying she won’t win, but an Olympic medal doesn’t guarantee you a conference title in that race.
Does anyone know if this meet can be viewed in Florida? My cable company is DirectTV and is not a Pac12 provider? I think I’m just out of luck. I’m tempted to fly to the west coast and rent a room for the week just to watch. I’m just kidding. ?
Tune in on P12 Champs Live Stream at 12:00pm on February 22, 2017. Live Stream at Pac-12.com or on the Pac-12 Now app.
is the live stream on PAC-12.com free/accessible to anyone???
PAC 12 network online for prelims. I think free app. Finals on tv network. If cable co doesn’t carry then something like sling tv thru Apple TV for 20-25 dollars a month can get you PAC 12 network.
With KL, it’s always time for record watch. Can’t wait too see what races she swims here.