2022 Women’s Ivy League Swimming & Diving Championships
- Wednesday, February 16 – Saturday, February 19, 2022
- Prelims 11:00 AM / Finals 6:00 PM
- Blodgett Pool, Harvard University, Boston MA
- Defending Champions: Princeton University (results)
- Live Results
- Streaming (ESPN+): Day 4 Finals
- Championship Central
- Pre-scratch Psych Sheets
- Day 4 Finals Heat Sheets
Women’s 1650 Freestyle – Timed Final
- Ivy League Record: 15:57.34 – Alicia Aemisegger, Princeton (2009)
- Ivy Championships Record: 15:57.34 – Alicia Aemisegger, Princeton (2009)
- NCAA A Standard: 15:52.41
- NCAA B Standard: 16:30.59
Podium:
- Catherine Buroker, Penn – 16:21.17
- Ellie Marquardt, Princeton – 16:28.22
- Anna Sofia Kalandadze, Penn – 16:28.85
- Ashley Loomis, Yale – 16:36.57
- Grace Giddings, Penn – 16:37.79
- Amelia Girotto, Penn – 16:41.17
- Sara Barrett, Brown – 16:47.86
- Sarah Minnigh, Dartmouth – 16:48.35
Penn’s Catherine Buroker won her second distance freestyle event of the meet, going 16:21.17 to add the mile to her 1000 free victory. Buroker was also runner-up in the 500 free behind teammate Lia Thomas on Thursday. Defending champion Ellie Marquardt of Princeton finished in second place with 16:28.22. She was running in third behind Buroker and Anna Sofia Kalandadze, also from Penn, until about the 600 mark when she passed Kalandadze. Buroker picked up her pace at that point and separated herself from the other two. The trio were half a pool length ahead of the rest of the field throughout most of the race.
Yale’s Ashley Loomis put up the fastest time of the earlier heats and wound up placing fourth with 16:36.57.
Women’s 200 Backstroke – Finals
- Ivy League Record: 1:52.56 – Felicia Pasadyn, Harvard (2020)
- Ivy Championships Record: 1:52.56 – Felicia Pasadyn, Harvard (2020)
- NCAA A Standard: 1:50.50
- NCAA B Standard: 1:57.11
Podium:
- Felicia Pasadyn, Harvard – 1:53.58
- Alexandra Massey, Yale – 1:57.38
- Quinn Murphy, Yale – 1:57.42
- Liza Whitmire, Princeton – 1:57.44
- Hannah Kannan, Penn – 1:57.54
- Isabella Korbly, Princeton – 1:57.71
- Aziza Ganihanova, Columbia – 1:59.13
- Mary Pruden, Columbia – 1:59.27
Defending champion and Ivy League record-holder Felicia Pasadyn of Harvard jumped out to an early lead and swam in clear water for eight laps, winning her signature event by nearly four seconds. Although she did not match her Ivy record from 2020, she downed the Blodgett Pool record of 1:54.64, set by Penn’s Quinn Scannell in 2018.
The next five swimmers all touched within .33 of each other. Alexandra Massey (1:57.38) and Quinn Murphy (1:57.42) of Yale led the charge, followed by Princeton’s Liza Whitmore (1:57.44) and Isabella Korbly (1:57.71) and Penn’s Hannah Kannan (1:57.54).
Women’s 100 Freestyle – Finals
- Ivy League Record: 47.80 – Iszac Henig, Yale (2022)
- Ivy Championships Record: 47.80 – Iszac Henig, Yale (2022)
- NCAA A Standard: 47.18
- NCAA B Standard: 49.51
Podium:
- Lia Thomas, Penn – 47.63
- Iszac Henig, Yale – 47.82
- Nikki Venema, Princeton – 48.81
- Molly Hamlin, Yale – 49.38
- Ophelia Pilkinton, Yale – 49.67
- Margot Kaczorowski, Penn – 49.86
- Lindsey Wagner, Yale – 49.89
- Ashley Post, Dartmouth – 50.42
In arguably the most anticipated event of the night, Lia Thomas of Penn won her third Ivy League title and broke the Ivy, meet, pool, and Penn program records in the process. The A final pitted Thomas against Yale’s Iszac Henig, who had broken the Ivy, meet, pool, and Yale program records in morning heats with 47.80. Challenging the two favorites was defending champion Nikki Venema of Princeton, who had been runner-up to Henig in the 50 free and out-touched him in the 100 fly to win that event.
Henig was out with a slight advantage at the 50, followed very closely by Thomas. Venema was about a half a body behind them, but the three were significantly ahead of the field. Thomas picked up the pace over the second half, out-splitting Henig by .3 to get the win by .2. Venema was a second behind Henig, more than half a second ahead of fourth-place Molly Hamlin from Yale.
- 23.17-24.46/47.63 – Thomas
- 23.06-24.76/47.82 – Henig
- 23.53-25.28/48.81 – Venema
That makes Thomas the only swimmer in the 2022 meet to win three individual events, making a strong case to be named Women’s Swimmer of the Meet.
Women’s 200 Breaststroke – Finals
- Ivy League Record: 2:08.47 – Jaycee Yegher, Harvard (2020)
- Ivy Championships Record: 2:08.47 – Jaycee Yegher, Harvard (2020)
- NCAA A Standard: 2:06.58
- NCAA B Standard: 2:13.97
- Aleksandra Denisenko, Harvard – 2:11.93
- Ava Franks, Yale – 2:12.79
- Margaux McDonald, Princeton – 2:14.88
- Isabella Pytel, Penn – 2:15.11
- Mikki Thompson, Harvard – 2:15.46
- Audrey Lukawski, Brown – 2:15.82
- Olivia Paoletti, Yale – 2:15.87
- Anna Boeckman, Penn – 2:16.12
Harvard’s Aleksandra Denisenko came from behind over the last 50 yards to touch out Yale’s Ava Franks, who had led for 3/4 of the race. Franks was out in 1:03.06, a full second ahead of Denisenko. Running right there with the leaders from lane 2 was Princeton’s Margaux McDonald with 1:03.84. Denisenko came home in 34.0-33.7 to get her second breaststroke win of the meet. Franks finished with 34.4-35.3, while McDonald went 35.0-35.9 over the second half to finish in third place.
Penn’s Isabella Pytel tried to chase down McDonald but fell short with 2:15.11 for fourth. Harvard’s Mikki Thompson, Brown’s Audrey Lukawski, Olivia Paoletti from Yale and Anna Boeckman rounded out the final.
Women’s 200 Butterfly – Finals
- Ivy League Record: 1:54.60 – Alex Forrester, Yale (2013)
- Ivy Championships Record: 1:54.60 – Alex Forrester, Yale (2013)
- NCAA A Standard: 1:53.20
- NCAA B Standard: 1:59.23
Podium:
- Abigail Carr, Harvard – 1:57.26
- Vanessa Chong, Penn – 2:58.17
- Alexandra Massey, Yale – 1:58.72
- Jess Yeager, Princeton – 1:58.75
- Nell Chidley, Brown – 1:59.63
- Mia Leko, Dartmouth – 1:59.70
- Junseo Kim, Yale – 1:59.92
- Grace Yoon, Harvard – 2:01.13
Harvard’s Abigail Carr overtook Mia Leko of Dartmouth, who won this event in 2019, over the second half of the race to claim the Ivy title in the 200 fly. Penn’s Vanessa Chong led for the first 50 yards and was running even with Leko at the halfway point. Like Carr, Princeton’s Jess Yeager made her move over the second 100 of the race, but unlike in prelims when she came back from 1 second down to pass Chong on the back half, she wound up getting just touched out by Yale’s Alexandra Massey.
Brown’s Nell Chidley ended up just getting by Leko. Junseo Kim of Yale and Harvard’s Grace Yoon finished seventh and eighth.
Women’s 3-Meter Diving
- Ivy League Record: 360.55 – Caitlin Chambers, Princeton (2015)
- Ivy Championships Record: 360.55 – Caitlin Chambers, Princeton (2015)
- NCAA A Standard: A 280.00
Podium:
- Elizabeth Miclau, Harvard – 315.20
- Georgi Milne, Harvard – 311.20
- Esther Lawrence, Harvard – 302.90
- Remi Edvalson, Harvard – 292.05
- Demetra Williams, Cornell – 281.30
- Elise Jendritz, Cornell – 276.10
- Katie Laverty, Harvard – 274.30
- Evelyn Geier, Harvard – 274.15
Harvard went 1-2-3-4-7-8 in the final of 3-meter diving. Cornell took spots 5 and 6. Elizabeth Miclau, who had been in sixth place until the fifth round, came up with two huge dives at the end to tally 315.20 points for the win. Georgi Milne had the last dive of the night, with an opportunity to pass Miclau, but her 58-point dive fell four points short of the 62 needed and she settled for second place. Esther Lawrence (302.90) and Remi Edvalson (292.05), who placed third and fourth on the 1-meter board, again finished in the same positions in this event.
Cornell’s Demetra Williams and Elise Jendritz outscored Harvard’s Katie Laverty, the 1-meter champion, and Evelyn Geier.
Women 400 Freestyle Relay
- Ivy League Record: 3:14.48 – Harvard (2020)
- Ivy Championships Record: 3:14.48 – Harvard (2020)
- NCAA A Standard: 3:14.50
- NCAA B Standard: 3:16.35
Podium:
- Penn – 3:17.80
- Harvard – 3:19.17
- Yale – 3:19.71
- Princeton – 3:21.66
- Columbia – 3:22.44
- Dartmouth – 3:24.03
- Cornell – 3:24.40
- Brown – 3:25.40
A 48.14 leadoff from Penn’s Lia Thomas led to the Quakers’ very first relay title in program history. Thomas handed off to Margot Kaczorowski with a lead of 1.4 seconds over Yale and 1.6 seconds over Harvard. Princeton was fully two seconds behind after the first leg.
Kaczorowski split 49.21, Hannah Kannan went 50.30, and Camryn Carter anchored with 50.15 to make for a combined 3:17.80 for first place and a new Blodgett Pool record.
Harvard (Felicia Pasadyn, Samantha Shelton, Aleksandra Denisenko, and Molly Hamlin) came in second with 3:19.17. Yale (Ophelia Pilkinton, Lindsey Wagner, Vivian Weng, and Ava Franks) placed third, which is exactly what they needed in order to finish in second place in the team race.
Final Team Standings
- Harvard – 1503.5
- Yale – 1258
- Penn – 1256
- Princeton – 1074
- Brown – 904
- Columbia – 706.5
- Dartmouth – 563
- Cornell – 508
Some recognition for Dartmouth would be nice – coming back after being cut for half a year and getting 7th
Back in 2007, Libby Lenton surpassed the world record leading off a mixed relay against Michael Phelps at Duel in the Pool in Sydney. As swim fans might recall, Lenton’s record did not count because of the possible advantages of swimming against, and drafting off of a male swimmer. It was against the rules.
So, now I wonder about the women swimming in races against Thomas. Would Thomas’ presence invalidate their times?
Rules are rules, and it seemed like that rule addressed the inequity between male and female competitors…
Interesting question. Lia is recognized as a woman, so I don’t think that would invalidate anyone else’s records, but then that raises the question of women swimming against Izsac Henig, who is recognized as a man. Personally, I don’t think either of their presences should invalidate anyone else’s performance, but then I think that about mixed relays as well.
As someone who has dealt with unfair playing fields in the Para Swim World for decades, welcome to the frustration of non-level playing fields. When someone in the para world is classed in a lower class, has a dismal prelims observation swim, and then sets a world record in finals eyebrows raise, and generally nothing can be done by anyone to change the situation.
Trans women who have completely gone through male puberty, and then have transitioned are like an elite able bodied swimmer racing against an S10 or S9 elite Para swimmer. Is the disabled swimmer fast, yeah, but are they as fast as the able bodied swimmer…no. Because they have a different physical makeup.
Para swimming is… Read more »
Educate yourself if you’re going to make such claims so you don’t look like a fool.
Educate yourself so you don’t look like one
.
Thomas is biologically male, Henig is biologically female.
Absolute BS that Thomas is allowed to compete in a competition for women. Being born male is obviously giving her a huge and unfair advantage. Who is responsible for allowing this? Are they scared of a lawsuit? Or scared of looking like they are not PC?
The NCAA has had a policy for transgender athletes for over a decade. Lia followed all the rules.
Just back from ACC Championships, sat with parents of women athletes. Generally liberal, progressive group, supportive of LGBTQ community and equal treatment and opportunity. No one questioning whether Lia follows rules. All question/challenge NCAA rules in place today. Puberty (per these parents) conveys advantages similar – or greater than – performance-enhancing drugs. There was also concern for how this situation could impact public support for, and perceptions of, LGBTQ rights and equality outside pool. No easy answer. A Men’s, Women’s and a separate Trans meet was the only “fair” approach, per these parents – as impractical as they knew that would be. As though NCAA has its back to the elephant on the starting block.
I read that Iszac Henig is a trans man, not taking hormone therapy in order to remain eligible for the women’s division. This seems like a totally different thing (in terms of competitive fairness and controversy).