2021 PAC-12 WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, February 24 – Saturday, February 27
- Campus Rec & Wellness Center, University of Houston, Houston, TX
- Defending Champion: Stanford (4x) (2020 results)
- Live Video
- Championship Central
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
Thursday Finals Heat Sheet
The first full day of the 2021 Pac-12 Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships will pick up here in Houston with the finals of the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, and 200 free relay. Earlier in the day, the prelims and finals of the women’s 3-meter diving were also contested. Looking at the team scores after the 800 free relay and 400 medley relay, Arizona holds a 7-point lead over Cal. Defending team champions Stanford currently sit in 4th place with 165 points, only two points behind Utah. UCLA (148), USC (124), and Washington State (94) round out the top 7 teams.
Coming in with the top 2 seed times in the 500 free by 0.06s are seniors Stanford’s Brooke Forde and Cal’s Robin Neumann, both clocking in under 4:40. The entire final will have 4 Stanford Cardinals and 4 Cal Bears.
Meanwhile, Cal junior Alicia Wilson leads the 200 IM final over USC junior Isa Odgers, Cal freshman Isabelle Stadden, and Stanford junior Zoe Bartel.
Looking to finish 1-2 in the 50 free final will also be a pair of Cal Bears, sophomore Eloise Riley and junior Elise Garcia. Washington State senior Chloe Larson jumped from a 22.59 seed to a 22.19 morning swim, which qualified 3rd this morning. A pair of USC freshmen will also appear in the 50 free final, led by #6 seed Kaitlyn Dobler.
Current Team Scores
- Arizona, 179
- Cal, 172
- Utah, 167
- Stanford, 165
- UCLA, 148
- USC, 124
- Washington State, 94
WOMEN’S 3-Meter Diving – FINALS
- Pac-12 Meet Record: 387.75 – Blythe Hartley (USC) – 2006
- Pac-12 Record: 420.90 – Cassidy Krug (Stanford) – 2007
- 2020 Champion: Carolina Sculti (Stanford) – 378.55
- Nike Agunbiade (USC)- 374.65
- Daria Lenz (Stanford)- 335.55
- Lizzie DeCecco (Utah)- 328.65
Winning the 3-meter board was USC sophomore Nike Agunbiade, scoring 374.65 points. Stanford junior Daria Lenz (225.55) and Utah sophomore Lizzie DeCecco (328.65) rounded out the top 3 divers. USC had 3 divers in the top 8 tonight, which is worth 80 points.
Looking at the team scores after the 3-meter board, Utah now leads with 260 points, followed by Stanford (234), USC (213), Cal (210), Arizona (202), UCLA (192), and Washington State (94).
WOMEN’S 500 FREE – FINALS
- Pac-12 Meet Record: 4:25.15 – Katie Ledecky (Stanford) – 2017
- Pac-12 Record: 4:24.06 – Katie Ledecky (Stanford) – 2017
- NCAA “A” Cut: 4:35.76
- 2020 Champion: Emma Nordin (Arizona State) – 4:33.74
- Brooke Forde (Stanford)- 4:37.07
- Morgan Tankersley (Stanford)- 4:37.11
- Ayla Spitz (Cal)- 4:38.05
Stanford senior Brooke Forde held the lead for the entirety of the 500 free final. Yet into the last 150 yards, her junior teammate Morgan Tankersley rapidly increased her tempo, splitting 27.85-27.73-27.05 to nearly run down Forde. Forde took the Pac-12 title title tonight with a 4:37.07, her 4th-fastest performance in her career. Taking second by only 0.04s was Tankersley, hitting 4:37.11, which is just off her best of 4:35.99 from last year’s Pac-12 meet. Both Stanford times are now within the top 5 times in the NCAA this season.
Picking up points for 3rd and 4th place were Cal teammates sophomore Ayla Spitz (4:38.05) and senior Robin Neumann (4:39.96).
Already looking at the team scores, Stanford as now taken over the lead with 356 points, with Cal now trailing in second with 319 points.
WOMEN’S 200 IM – FINALS
- Pac-12 Meet Record: 1:52.26 – Katinka Hosszu (USC) – 2012
- Pac-12 Record: 1:50.67 – Ella Eastin (Stanford) – 2018
- NCAA “A” Cut: 1:53.66
- 2020 Champion: Louise Hansson (USC) – 1:54.09
- Alicia Wilson (Cal)- 1:53.65
- Isabelle Stadden (Cal)- 1:55.80
- Isa Odgers (USC)- 1:56.51
Cal junior Alicia Wilson threw down a blistering 32.92 on the breast leg of this race to distance herself from the pack. She took the Pac-12 title by two full seconds at 1:53.65, which is just off her lifetime best of 1:53.58 from this past January.
Coming off the last wall to pass USC’s Isa Odgers was Cal rookie Isabelle Stadden, who aided a Bears 1-2 finish with her 1:55.80 finish time. Odgers settled for third at 1:56.51.
Behind them was a deep 4-5-6 finished from Stanford, led by senior Hannah Kukurugya (1:56.67).
WOMEN’S 50 FREE – FINALS
- Pac-12 Meet Record: 21.03 – Abbey Weitzeil (Cal) – 2020
- Pac-12 Record: 20.90 – Abbey Weitzeil (Cal) – 2019
- NCAA “A” Cut: 21.66
- 2020 Champion: Abbey Weitzeil (Cal) – 21.03
- Chloe Larson (Washington State)-22.18
- Claire Grover (UCLA)/Eloise Riley (Cal)/Kaitlyn Dobler (USC)- 22.24
- (tie)
After setting a big lifetime best in prelims, Washington State senior Chloe Larson blasted a 22.18 to win the program’s first ever Pac-12 title. Behind her was a three-way tie for second place, with all swimmers clocking 22.24 and scoring 27 points. Picking up the runner-up finish were UCLA junior Claire Grover, Cal sophomore Eloise Riley, and USC freshman Kaitlyn Dobler. The rest of the final ended in two ties. Tying for 5th at 22.28 were USC freshman Anicka Delgado and Stanford junior Anya Goeders while simultaneously touching 22.32 for 7th were Stanford junior Amalie Fackenthal and Cal junior Elise Riley.
If you’re counting, that’s a first-ever Pac-12 title for Washington State, followed by a three-way tie for 2nd place, another tie for 5th and another for 7th.
Out of the B-final, Stanford sophomore Emma Wheal popped the event’s top time at 22.12, which would have topped the podium. In the C-final, Cal freshman Emily Gantriis went from 22.82 to 22.23 to win the heat. The time would have also placed second in the A-final.
WOMEN’S 200 FREE RELAY – TIMED FINALS
- Pac-12 Meet Record: 1:25.87 – Cal – 2018
- Pac-12 Record: 1:24.55 – Cal – 2019
- NCAA “A” Cut: 1:28.43
- 2020 Champion: Cal, 1:27.22
- Cal- 1:26.84
- Stanford- 1:27.81
- USC- 1:28.42
Dominating the 200 free relay was the Cal Bears, who featured the quartet of Eloise Riley (22.33), Emily Gantriis (21.65), Elise Garcia (21.72), and Izzy Ivey (21.14). Their winning time of 1:26.84 now ranks 3rd in the NCAA, only behind NC State (1:26.59) and Virginia (1:26.54).
Taking second place with 1:27.81 was the Stanford quartet of Anya Goeders (22.46), Amalie Fackenthal (21.67), Lauren Green (22.11), and Emma Wheal (21.57). Finishing in third was USC at 1:28.42, comprised of Kaitlyn Dobler (22.26), Jemma Schlicht (21.99), Marta Ciesla (22.36), and Anicka Delgado (21.81).
After day two, Stanford now holds a 45.5-point lead over Cal. Sitting comfy in third is USC while Utah only trails UCLA by 20 points for 4th. Arizona is also 7 points behind 5th-place Utah.
Team Scores After Day 2
1. Stanford 592 2. Cal 546.5 3. USC 413.5 4. UCLA 389 5. Utah 369 6. Arizona 362 7. Washington State 189
I would be very curious to know how Pac-12 teams have changed their taper strategies as a result of limited racing and training opportunities this year. It sounds like they have been affected more than other conferences.
I cannot believe it took a 4:58 to make finals in the 500fr and a 1:59 to A FINAL in the 2im…. that would’ve been dead last at SECs or ACCs
Have to remember the pac12 had a shorter season than some other schools with training interruptions due to the pandemic this would result in slower times I would think.
It really shows in the distance events and then 200Im I was thinking you would have to be way under 2 :00 to get a second swim but I guess not. The 50 free had lots of depth but nothing very fast. Overall I think there is just few swimmers competing across the board. I think it will be even more noticeable in the number of relays that qualify for March meet, I wouldn’t be surprised to see less than 16 qualifiers in some.
Yes and I believe the PAC 12 only started having meets last month and had to do 2 meets against the same school twice just to get enough meets in for a season. The fact that they are have PAC 12 championships is remarkable. I believe the PAC 12 will be back stronger next year.
The NCAA cutline for the 50 free is gonna be so close for a lot of those swimmers I think most are 22.2x
This is the slowest meet I’ve seen at this level in years.
I was thinking the same thing…
To me there’s just something about Women’s Pac12 Conference Championships that just makes it seem lackluster and I think the # of comments from this and last year reflect this(at least compared to SEC/ACC etc). Is it just because everyone got their A cuts already and are training straight through it?
It makes some sense: Stanford doesn’t have their full potential roster of superstars, USC is way down, and ASU isn’t competing. Plus, the PAC-12 seems harder hit by COVID disruptions last semester than any other conference. I think 2022 will be a return to form.
hmmm i wonder why
but so many tight races and great stories, who cares if they are not breaking some mythical time or something, sometimes it is racing not just dissappointment in comments if there is no Dressel or some
It was not that fast, but man that was a historic 50 free!
Wow Chloe Larson of Washington State wins the 50! Congratulations!
Go Cougs!
A three-way tie for second, a two-way tie for fifth, and a two-way tie for seventh has got to be up there for most photo finishes in one heat.
The winner was the only one who didn’t tie with someone!