Reported by Lauren Neidigh.
WOMEN’S 400 FREE RELAY
- NCAA record: Stanford (2017)- 3:08.51
- American record: Stanford (2017)- 3:08.51
- U.S. Open record: Stanford (2017)- 3:08.51
- Championship Record: Stanford (2015)- 3:08.54
- 2016 NCAA Champion: USC- 3:09.69
Simone Manuel rocketed to a 46.02 leadoff to post the 2nd fastest 100 free ever as Stanford took down the American Record in 3:07.61. With a 4th place finish on the line after Texas took 9th in the 400 free relay, the Georgia Bulldogs knew they had to finish at least 2nd t0 beat the Longhorns. They did just that, as Chantal Van Landeghem (46.73) ran down Cal’s Farida Osman (46.88) to give the Bulldogs a runner-up finish.
FINAL TEAM SCORES:
1. Stanford 526.5 2. California 366 3. Texas A&M 292.5 4. Georgia 252.5 5. Texas 252 6. Louisville 194.5 7. NC State 194 8. Indiana 185 9. Southern Cali 176 10. Minnesota 168 11. Michigan 159 12. Virginia 149 13. Missouri 135 14. Kentucky 106 15. Wisconsin 98 16. Arizona 89.5 17. UNC 73 18. Auburn 55 19. Ohio St 52 20. UCLA 48 21. Northwestern 40 22. Tennessee 35 23. Purdue 33 24. Umbc (W) 30 25. Miami (Oh) 29 26. Iowa 26 27. Nevada 25 28. Florida St 24 29. Arizona St 22 30. Denver 20 31. Virginia Tech 18 32. Florida Int'l 16 33. Nebraska 15 34. Lsu 14 35. Cincinnati 12 36. Boise St 10 36. Penn St 10 38. South Carolina 8 39. Miami (Fl) 5 39. Air Force (W) 5 41. Pittsburgh 4 41. Florida Gulf 4 43. Alabama 3.5 44. Notre Dame 2 44. San Diego State University 2 44. Massachusetts 2 47. Duke 1 47. Drexel 1 47. Rutgers 1 AB
It seemed to me that Simone was speaking to the fact that if she had been on the team last season, being DQ’d on the relay wouldn’t have cost them the title.
What type of annual endorsement $$$ could Lia get? I’m completely ignorant to the endorsement packages out there. She’s got a great personality, would be the type of person you’d want endorsing your product, but so far has only been a relay swimmer at the international level. Could endorsements fully support her after she graduates?
I’m wondering if she’d be on the level of Conor Dwyer, who has a lot of international success as mostly a relay swimmer. Not Michael Phelps but still endorseable. Articles put his annual endorsements around $300K-$400K.
For the downvotes, I don’t think anyone is trying to pry into Lia’s personal situation, but I kinda wonder what the ballpark range is for a top tier athlete like a two-time Olympian that isn’t quite at superstar status. I’d love to see Lia keep swimming but she is an intelligent woman who is about to have a Stanford degree and I wonder whether being a professional swimmer is more lucrative than the other options she has.
Lia has only been a relay swimmer but she is also the *second* black woman to qualify the US Olympic team. That’s a very big deal!!! Very important and she’s a huge inspiration to young people of all backgrounds. She is actually more “known” in the media than you think. More known than Dwyer for sure. She could get endorsements.
Pop-off — I wasn’t demeaning Lia, I think she’s awesome. I have no idea how the world of endorsements work, that’s why I asked the question. I remember two Olympics ago Lolo Jones being quite popular as a media darling like Lia, but finding it hard to crack the nut on sponsorships with McDonald’s, Revlon, etc. until she hired a marketing agent separate from her sports agent. So it would be interesting to hear from folks with real marketing chops on what the Olympic swimmet who is not quite a superstar could expect to earn. Is it enough to support her 100% through the next quad to 2020, or will she have to use her technical degree from Stanford to… Read more »
I’m sure Simone passed up a lot of pro opportunities for this championship as well. Hopefully the sponsors are ready and waiting to sign Lia once she graduates!
Great interview. Interesting to hear Simone say she “came back” to try and win a national championship. Is there any talk of her going pro now? Lia also mentioned this ending her career, but not sure if she was talking only about her collegiate career or if she now plans to retire. Has anyone heard anything on this? Great job by the Stanford team.
I caught that too. Haven’t heard anything, but she would certainly be a great pro prospect both in swimming and endorsements whenever she chooses to make the leap. Great career for Lia Neal — kudos to her. What a way to go out! The emotion there was palpable. Got me a little choked up just watching!
She said in the interview that she is swimming until the end of the summer this sure and afterwards is up in the air.