2024 Ivy League Women’s Championships: Day 3 Prelims Live Recap

2024 Ivy League Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships

• Wednesday, February 21 – Saturday, February 24, 2024
• Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center, Providence, RI
• Defending Champions:
  • Women: Princeton (1x)
• Championship Central
• Pre-scratch Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Live Video
• Day 1 Finals Live Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Live Recap | Day 2 Finals Live Recap

Friday Prelims Heat Sheet

It’s already the third day of the 2024 Women’s Ivy League Championships. We have five events on the schedule this morning: the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, and 100 backstroke.

Harvard’s Sydney Lu is the top seed in the 100 fly, and is also seeded 3rd in today’s 200 free. She is yet to race individually, but did help Harvard to 3rd in the 800 free relay and 2nd in the 200 free relay earlier in the meet. She is the only swimmer entered with a sub-53 second entry time in the 100 fly.

Princeton freshman Eleanor Sun leads the way in the 400 IM, seeded with a time of 4:06.07. Her time is actually faster than the championship record (4:06.15), so keep an eye on that record today. Her teammate Dakota Tucker (4:07.22) will also feature in the event today, and Tucker claimed victory in yesterday’s 200 IM. 500 free champion, Anna Kalandadze of Penn, will also contest this event. She is entered with a time of 4:18.68.

Princeton senior Ellie Marquardt is the top entrant into the 200 free, where she has a near two second advantage over the next closest competitor. Her entry time is 1:45.56 and she led off Princeton’s victorious 800 free relay on night one in 1:46.43.

Yale sophomore Jessey Li (1:00.05) leads the loaded 100 breast field, with Princeton’s Margaux McDonald (1:00.39) and Brown’s Gillian Tu (1:00.91) all seeded under the 1:01-barrier. Harvard sophomore Anya Mostek (52.28) leads the 100 back and is seeded with her own Ivy League record in the event.

WOMEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 48.25 – Gretchen Walsh, Virginia (2024)
• Ivy League Record: 51.57 – Alex Forrester, Yale (2013)
• Ivy Championships Record: 51.57 – Alex Forrester, Yale (2013)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 50.69
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 52.20

Top 8 Qualifiers:

1. Heidi Smithwick (PRIN) – 53.01
2. Sabrina Johnston (PRIN) – 53.24
3. Sydney Lu (HARV) – 53.30
4. Zehra Bilgin (BROWN) – 53.40
5. Anna Gruvberger (CORN) – 53.44
6. Lillian Klinginsmith (BROWN) – 53.56
7. Emilie Boisrenoult (CORN) – 53.61
8. Mandy Brenner (HARV) – 53.63

The Princeton Tigers posted the top two prelim 100 fly times. Sophomore Heidi Smithwick clocked a time of 53.01 to lead all qualifiers, splitting 24.96 and 28.05 en route to the win in heat three. Sophomore teammate Sabrina Johnston won the prior heat in 53.24, the second fastest time of the morning. She split the race in a similar fashion to Smithwick, hitting the halfway mark in 25.01 before closing in 28.23.

Top seed Sydney Lu was 3rd overall this morning, earning lane 3 in tonight’s final. She checked-in at 53.30, just off her entry time of 52.88, but showcased strong opening speed on the first 50 (24.88). Lu’s teammate, junior Mandy Brenner (53.61), cut almost two seconds off her entry time to advance to the ‘A’ final in 8th.

Brown and Cornell each advanced two swimmers to the championship final, with Zehra Bilgin (53.40) advancing in 4th and Lillian Klinginsmith (53.56) touching 6th for Brown. Anna Gruvberger (53.44) and Emilie Boisrenoult (53.61) posted the 5th and 7th fastest times of the morning for Cornell.

It was a very fast morning in this 100 fly, as going a time in the 53-second realm did not guarantee a slot in the ‘A’ final. Yale junior Alex Massey hit the touchpad in 53.71 this morning as the only other sub-54 performance, but sits 9th overall.

WOMEN’S 400 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 3:54.60 – Ella Eastin, Stanford (2018)
• Ivy League Record: 4:02.47 – Alicia Aemisegger (Princeton, 2009)
• Ivy Championships Record: 4:06.15 – Alicia Aemisegger, Princeton (2009)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 4:03.62
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 4:11.36

Top 8 Qualifiers:

1. Dakota Tucker (PRIN) – 4:09.06
2. Eleanor Sun (PRIN) – 4:13.92
3. Anna Kalandadze (PENN) – 4:14.29
4. Caroline Riggs (YALE) – 4:15.17
5. Emily Appleton (PRIN) – 4:15.47
6. Alexandra Bastone (HARV) – 4:16.05
7. Stephanie Iannaccone (HARV) – 4:16.76
8. Junseo Kim (YALE) – 4:17.31

Just as we saw in the 100 fly, Princeton clocked the two fastest times of the prelims. This time it was in the 400 IM, where Dakota Tucker (4:09.06) advances to the final with a near five second advantage over the field. She was victorious in the 200 IM last night, and will have the opportunity to double up on IM wins tonight.

The top seed in the event, Eleanor Sun, put her hand on the wall in 4:13.92. It won her the final heat, with Penn’s Anna Kalandadze (4:14.29) battling her for the heat win. Kalandadze advances to the final in 3rd position, and is seemingly looking to build upon her 500 free victory from a day ago.

Harvard and Yale each advanced two swimmers each. Alexandra Bastone (4:16.05) and Stephanie Iannaccone (4:16.76) touched 6th and 7th overall this morning for the Crimson. Bastone placed 3rd in last night’s 500 free final, posting a multi-second best time in the process. Iannaccone was 7th in the 200 IM final yesterday, but clocked a sub 2-minute effort (1:59.61) during prelims.

Caroline Riggs (4:15.17) and Junseo Kim (4:17.31) grabbed the 4th and 8th qualifying spots for Yale. Yale sits just 5 points behind Harvard in the team standings, so these finalists were much needed.

WOMEN’S 200 FREESTYLE – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 1:39.10 – Missy Franklin, Cal (2015)
• Ivy League Record: 1:41.93 – Lia Thomas, Penn (2021)
• Ivy Championships Record: 1:43.12 – Lia Thomas, Penn (2022)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 1:42.84
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 1:45.31

Top 8 Qualifiers:

1. Morgan Lukinac (BROWN) – 1:47.26
2. Ellie Marquardt (PRIN) – 1:47.27
3. Anna Moehn (PENN) – 1:47.93
4. Molly Hamlin (HARV) – 1:47.97
5. Carinn Bethea (DART) – 1:48.31
6. Kate Li (CORN) – 1:48.40
7. Sydney Lu (HARV) – 1:48.46
8. Vivian Weng (YALE) – 1:48.49

After garnering a 4th place finish in the 50 free on Thursday, Brown’s Morgan Lukinac secured the top qualification spot in the 200 free. She hit the wall in a swift 1:47.26 marker, which situates her just 0.01 ahead of the top seed heading into the meet: Ellie Marquardt of Princeton.

Harvard placed two swimmers into the ‘A’ final as Molly Hamlin (1:47.97) grabbed 4th this morning and Sydney Lu (1:48.46) was 7th. Lu qualified 3rd in the 100 fly just about 40 minutes prior, so she’ll have two ‘A’ final appearances later today.

Penn (Anna Moehn), Dartmouth (Carinn Bethea), Cornell (Kate Li), and Yale (Vivian Weng) each qualified an athlete, meaning we’ll see six different teams represented in the championship final.

Moehn qualified 3rd overall, and had a great swim on Thursday to place 2nd in the 500 freestyle, which represented a 1-2 finish for Penn. Bethea clocked 1:48.31 this morning to rank 5th, Li was 1:48.40 for 6th, and Weng was 1:48.49 for 8th.

WOMEN’S 100 BREASTSTROKE – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 55.73 – Lilly King, Indiana (2019)
• Ivy League Record: 58.44 – Katie Meili, Columbia (2013)
• Ivy Championships Record: 58.44 – Katie Meili, Columbia (2013)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 58.02
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 59.73

Top 8 Qualifiers:

1. Jessey Li (YALE) – 1:00.36
2. Ava Franks (YALE) – 1:00.79
3. Margaux McDonald (PRIN) – 1:01.03
4. Victoria Eisenhauer (HARV) – 1:01.08
5. Ashley Hu (COL) – 1:01.15
6. Gillian Tu (BROWN) – 1:01.19
7. Aleksandra Denisenko (HARV) – 1:01.25
8. Isabella Pytel (PENN) – 1:01.28

Yale made their presence known in the 100 breast, posting the two fastest times of the morning. Jessey Li (1:00.36) leads the way ahead of Ava Franks (1:00.79), with both swimmers posting the only sub-1:01 efforts on the day so far. The 1:00-barrier is something to keep an eye on for tonight’s final.

Both Yale athletes showcased strong early speed today, with Li turning through the first 50 in 28.04 and Franks touching at 28.16. They will swim next to each other tonight, swimming in lanes four and five as they have the chance to go 1-2.

Harvard was the only other team to advance multiple swimmers to the championship final, as Victoria Eisenhauer (1:01.08) is 4th while teammate Aleksandra Denisenko (1:01.25) is 7th.

Margaux McDonald (1:01.13), Ashley Hu (1:01.15) of Columbia, Gillian Tu (1:01.19) of Brown, and Isabella Pytel (1:01.28) of Penn all advanced as well.

WOMEN’S 100 BACKSTROKE – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 48.26 – Gretchen Walsh, Virginia (2023)
• Ivy League Record: 52.28 – Anya Mostek (Harvard, 2023)
• Ivy Championships Record: 52.34 – Bella Hindley, Yale (2019)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 50.88
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 52.36

Top 8 Qualifiers:

1. Anya Mostek (HARV) – 52.27 *Ivy League Record*
2. Jenna Reznicek (BROWN) – 53.14
3. Isabella Korbly (PRIN) – 53.67
4. Molly Hamlin (HARV) – 53.81
5. Alexa Pappas (PRIN) – 53.97
6. Quinn Murphy (YALE) – 54.16
7. Abigail Carr (HARV) – 54.41
8. Liza Whitmire (PRIN) – 54.45

Harvard sophomore Anya Mostek just reset her own Ivy League Record in the prelims of the 100 back! She hit the wall in a time of 52.27, which slides under her previous mark of 52.28 from earlier this season.

She was stronger on the front half of the race today, flipping over two tenths faster over the first 50. She came home in a slightly slower time on the closing 50, but still posted a new record. See a full split comparison between the new and old record, below.

Splits Comparison:

Molly Hamlin (53.81) and Abigail Carr (54.41) made it three ‘A’ finalists for Harvard, advancing in 4th and 7th.

Brown’s Jenna Reznicek clocked 53.14 to rank 2nd going in tonight, while Yale’s Quinn Murphy (54.16) sits in 6th position.

Princeton advanced three swimmers, with Isabella Korbly (53.67), Alexa Pappas (53.97), Liza Whitmire (54.45) safely qualifying through.