2022 PAC 12 WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, February 23-Saturday, February 26, 2022
- Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center, Federal Way, Washington
- Defending champions: Cal (1x)
- Start Times: 10:30am prelims / 6:00 pm finals (PT)
- Event Schedule
- 2021 Scoring Breakdown
- How to Watch
- Championship Central
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Day 4 Prelims Heat Sheet
The final preliminary session from the 2022 Women’s Pac-12 Championships in Federal Way, Wash., will feature heats in the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast and 200 fly, with all four defending champions in action along with some talented freshmen.
With all of the diving events wrapped up, the Cal women can now make a clear run at USC in the race for second, with Stanford sitting comfortably up by 275 points on the defending champion Golden Bears heading into the final day.
TEAM SCORES – THRU DAY 3
- Stanford, 1221.5
- USC, 993.5
- Cal, 946.5
- UCLA, 657.0
- Arizona, 611.5
- Arizona State, 439.0
- Utah, 432.0
- Washington State, 262.0
Cardinal first-year Regan Smith will race the 200 fly over the 200 back today after a very impressive triple on Friday night. Smith was the runner-up in the 100 fly to teammate Torri Huske, both dipping below 50 seconds with Huske becoming the fastest freshman of all-time in 49.43, and then Smith broke (49.50) and then re-broke (49.23) the Pac-12 Record in the 100 back, first winning the individual event and then leading off Stanford’s winning 400 medley relay.
In Smith’s absence, Cal sophomore Isabelle Stadden becomes the top seed and favorite in the 200 back, while Huske will contend with Cal’s Izzy Ivey and USC’s Laticia Transom in the 100 free. Ivey, the defending champ, is coming off a 46.53 split on last night’s 400 medley relay, while Transom, the 2020 winner, was a close second to Ivey earlier in the meet in the 200 free.
USC’s Kaitlyn Dobler has been on fire this week and is a big favorite to repeat her title in the 200 breast after winning the 100 on Friday by more than two seconds in a Conference Record of 57.31. The field will also include a pair of elite 200 breaststroke swimmers who are primarily IMers in Brooke Forde, who won in 2020, and Calypso Sheridan. Forde has shown better form between the two of them this week, highlighted by her 4:00.76 win on Friday in the 400 IM.
In the 200 fly, Cal’s Rachel Klinker is the defending champion, but Smith holds a best time more than three seconds faster, 1:49.78 to 1:52.82. This season, Smith has been as fast as 1:52.48, while Klinker was 1:54.01 at the Minnesota Invitational in early December.
Women’s 200 Back – Prelims
- Pac-12 Record: 1:47.30, Kathleen Baker (CAL), 2018
- Pac-12 Championship Record: 1:48.27, Kathleen Baker (CAL), 2018
- NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:50.50
- NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 1:57.11
- 2021 NCAA Invite Time: 1:55.05
- Isabelle Stadden (CAL), 1:51.17
- Taylor Ruck (STAN), 1:52.01
- Lucie Nordmann (STAN), 1:52.37
- Samantha Pearson (STAN), 1:54.21
- Felicity Passon (ZONA), 1:54.30
- Alex Crisera (STAN), 1:54.41
- Aria Bernal (ZONA), 1:54.43
- Jade Hannah (USC), 1:54.98
Defending champion Isabelle Stadden claims the top seed heading into tonight in the 200 back, easily winning the sixth and final heat in a time of 1:51.17.
Stadden, who ranks third in the NCAA this season with her 1:50.02 from the Minnesota Invite, was just over three-tenths slower than she was in last year’s final (1:50.83), indicating we could see a sub-1:50 swim tonight. Prior to winning that final last season, Stadden was 1:52.66 in the prelims.
Stanford juniors Taylor Ruck (1:52.01) and Lucie Nordmann (1:52.37) won the other two circle-seeded heats comfortably to qualify second and third for the final, with Ruck’s time sliding under her season-best of 1:52.09 from the NC State Invite.
The Cardinal ended up putting four women through to the ‘A’ final, with freshman Samantha Pearson establishing a lifetime best of 1:54.21 to qualify fourth and junior Alex Crisera advancing sixth with a season-best of 1:54.41.
Arizona senior Felicity Passon had a huge swim to nab fifth in 1:54.30, nearly two seconds under her best time of 1:56.26 set in December. Fellow Wildcat senior Aria Bernal qualified seventh in 1:54.43, dipping under her PB of 1:54.52 set during mid-season invites. This comes after Bernal notably finished 17th out of the ‘C’ final last season.
The cut-off to make the ‘A’ final (1:54.98) was over a second and a half quicker than it was last season (1:56.54).
Women’s 100 Free – Prelims
- Pac-12 Record: 45.56, Simone Manuel (STAN), 2017
- Pac-12 Championship Record: 46.35, Abbey Weitzeil (CAL), 2019
- NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 47.18
- NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 49.51
- 2021 NCAA Invite Time: 48.76
- Torri Huske (STAN), 47.64
- Laticia Transom (USC), 47.92
- Izzy Ivey (CAL), 48.10
- Anna Shaw (STAN), 48.37
- Hanna Henderson (USC), 48.58
- Anya Goeders (STAN), 48.61
- Emma Davidson (CAL), 48.73
- Claire Grover (UCLA), 48.74
Coming into the day as the only swimmer with two individual victories, Torri Huske set herself up perfectly to make a run to go three-for-three in tonight’s 100 free final, qualifying first overall in a time of 47.64.
The Stanford freshman saw a sea of elite times go up in the heats prior to her, so she did what she had to do and put up an elite swim to ensure her spot in the top eight. Huske ended up being the only swimmer from the last heat to make the ‘A’ final, clocking a time that’s just a quarter of a second off her PB set a few months ago (47.39).
USC’s Laticia Transom and Cal’s Izzy Ivey, the last two winners of this event, won their circle-seeded heats to advance in second and third overall, with Transom joining Huske sub-48 in 47.92. Transom notably set a personal best time of 47.62 in a dual meet with UCLA two weeks ago.
Ivey, who owns a season-best of 47.57, clocked 48.10 to advance in third, and she’ll be joined in tonight’s final by teammate Emma Davidson, who hit a best time of 48.73 to qualify seventh.
Stanford freshman Anna Shaw swam her fastest time as a Cardinal to move through in fourth at 48.37, and co-50 free winner Anya Goeders (48.61) makes it three Stanford swimmers in the ‘A’ final.
USC sophomore Hanna Henderson (48.58) broke 49 seconds for the first time to advance through in fifth, while UCLA senior Claire Grover (48.74) returns to the championship final after placing sixth last season.
A total of 13 women cracked 49, leaving several prominent names outside of the top eight. That includes co-50 free winner Anicka Delgado (49.00) of USC, who was third in this event last year, along with 2021’s fourth and fifth-place finishers, Elise Garcia (49.03) and Eloise Riley (48.94) of Cal. Joined by sophomore Emily Gantriis (48.80) and freshman Ella Mazurek (48.92), half of the ‘B’ final tonight will be made up of Golden Bears,
Women’s 200 Breast – Prelims
- Pac-12 Record: 2:04.75, Rebecca Soni (USC), 2009
- Pac-12 Championship Record: 2:04.75, Rebecca Soni (USC), 2009
- NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 2:06.58
- NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 2:13.97
- 2021 NCAA Invite Time: 2:10.37
- Calypso Sheridan (USC), 2:08.79
- Allie Raab (STAN), 2:08.85
- Brooke Forde (STAN), 2:09.06
- Isabelle Odgers (USC), 2:09.20
- Kaitlyn Dobler (USC), 2:09.64
- Nicole Pavlopoulou (USC), 2:10.30
- Leah Polonsky (CAL), 2:10.98
- Nora Deleske (ASU), 2:12.54
USC fifth-year Calypso Sheridan dominated the penultimate heat of the 200 breaststroke, establishing the top time of the prelims at 2:08.79.
Sheridan, who set her best time of 2:06.85 while winning the 2020 Big Ten title during her time competing for Northwestern, had her fastest swim since then two weeks ago against UCLA in 2:07.18.
Stanford seniors Allie Raab (2:08.85) and Brooke Forde (2:09.06) picked up heat wins of their own to qualify second and third overall, with Raab notably doing so from Lane 1 of the final heat. Raab, who holds an identical best time to Sheridan at 2:06.85 (set at the 2019 NCAAs), blows by her season-best of 2:14.65 by nearly six seconds.
Forde, who won this event in 2020 (with a best of 2:07.35) but opted not to race it last season, was also well under her season-best of 2:12.98, set in a dual with UCLA on Jan. 28.
Top seed and defending champ Kaitlyn Dobler will find herself in Lane 2 tonight after recording the fifth-best time of the session in 2:09.64, having set a season-best (.03 off her PB) earlier this season at 2:06.56. Dobler appeared to play around with her splitting a bit, as the sophomore had the slowest second 50 among the ‘A’ finalists at 33.80 but the fastest third 50 in 32.61.
Cal senior Ema Rajic was the runner-up last season to Dobler but misses the ‘A’ final with a time of 2:12.70, placing her ninth and 16 one-hundredths back of ASU senior Nora Deleske (2:12.54) who advances in eighth.
Women’s 200 Fly – Prelims
- Pac-12 Record: 1:49.51, Ella Eastin (STAN), 2018
- Pac-12 Championship Record: 1:49.51, Ella Eastin (STAN), 2018
- NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:53.20
- NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 1:59.23
- 2021 NCAA Invite Time: 1:57.42
- Regan Smith (STAN), 1:53.16
- Rachel Klinker (CAL), 1:54.10
- Lillie Nordmann (STAN), 1:55.14
- Lindsay Looney (ASU), 1:55.43
- Lizzy Cook (CAL), 1:55.44
- Jade Foelske (ASU), 1:56.27
- Julia Heimstead (ZONA), 1:56.67
- Sam Baron (UCLA), 1:57.64
Stanford freshman Regan Smith cruised to the top of the prelims in the 200 fly, winning the fourth and final heat by more than two seconds in 1:53.16 to claim Lane 4 for tonight.
Smith owns a season-best of 1:52.48, set at the NC State Invitational in November, and is the second-fastest swimmer in history with her PB of 1:49.78.
Defending champion Rachel Klinker was the only other swimmer to go sub-1:55, clocking 1:54.10 from the penultimate heat to fall just shy of her season-best (1:54.01) from early December.
Klinker, a junior, will be the lone upperclassman in tonight’s ‘A’ final, with three freshmen and four sophomores advancing through.
Cardinal first-year Lillie Nordmann won the first circle-seeded heat to qualify third in 1:55.14, while a pair of ASU sophomores in Lindsay Looney (1:55.43) and Jade Foelske (1:56.27) give the Sun Devils their first event with two swimmers in the ‘A’ final since Thursday’s 500 free.
The third freshman to advance to the championship heat was Cal’s Lizzy Cook, who was less than half a second off her best time set earlier this season (1:54.97) to qualify fifth in 1:55.44.
Excited to see Gormley in the 1650 tonight. I think she could really rebound in the event:)
DQ?!?
Come on Torri, swim the 200 Fly! We all are curious on whether Regan or Torri would win.
Torri can’t hang with Regan in a 200 Fly. That’s not her thing. She loses gas on the last 25 of her 100. Different skills. Torri a better sprinter than Regan.
never know, she has strong 200 IM/free SCY and 200 IM LCM. I think she could definitely train a little to become an elite 2flyer. Of course, if they were to go head to head right now, Smith would whoop her
Why have they chose to not stream prelims the past few years. Disappointing and frustrating 🤢
This sport continues to get faster! I never thought it might take under 22 to qualify in the 50. Might not happen this year but we are pretty close. Reminds me of breaking a min in the 100 breast. Now it takes at least a 59 mid. Correct me if i’m way off!
How many “A” finalists did U of A have this year?
A lot more than Asu? Did the coaching staff only care about the men’s team? The women have gotten worse every year!
You must swim in the ocean 😉 the expectation was never there for ASU women, the history isn’t even close to the same. Plus, ASU had an alright mid season, where they got qualifiers.
The answer, to my question, which you ignored and deflected, is 5.
Just to make sure you smile after a tough weekend of swimming, ASU only had 4!
Being better than bad, isn’t a reason to celebrate, though.
good answer
Not releated but Carmel just smashed the National HS record in the 200 medley relay by a second
1 second is massive, interesting Club
To be fair, if diving were excluded, I think Stanford would only be ahead of Cal by 30 points or so. Does anybody know what happened to Cal diving?
they just took 18 scoring swimmers usually teams with diving take 15 swimmers and 6 divers (as divers count as half an athlete). Must have thought 3 swimmers would outscore 6 of cals divers (if they have that many)
Just from memory, I think. for this year at least, SSwam published a note that it was unlimited or something like 26 roster, for Pac12 meet. Cal has/had this season a huge roster, but when they dove the last Dual meet divers finished 6,7 below five Stanford divers. So they are probably still working on their dive lists, to do prelims and finals.
Excluding stuff is one way, but its a disservice. When SSwam does projections off of psych sheets or returning swimmers, its rarely enough info. Just for example totals from psych sheets had a couple other teams ahead of Stanford, but there is 320 relay points probably going their way, and on diving I think they had at least 240 points added. Thats what meets are all about. Just from freshman divers (who are unpredictable} Stanford got 99 points, and their Seniors were close to 140 as expected. Each event is part of the team goal. I dont know Cal’s diver story,
Ya I had feeling it was going to be tough! USC has some depth compared to past years. But still rooting for cal to pull off 2nd!