Missy Franklin talks 200 IM NCAA Title, Cal success on Day 1 (Video Interview)

Swimming video produced by Coleman Hodges.

Swimming News as reported by Tony Carroll.

200 IM – FINALS

NCAA – 1:51.77 – Caitlin Leverenz, California – 2012
Championship – 1:51.77 – Caitlin Leverenz, California – 2012
American – 1:51.77 – Caitlin Leverenz – 2012
US Open – 1:51.77 – Caitlin Leverenz – 2012

2014 Champion: Maya DiRado, Stanford – 1:52.50

Missy Franklin was just off Caitlin Leverenz’s record time from 2012 with her time of 1:52.11, which will stand as the third fastest performance in history. She was through the first 100 of the race under 52 seconds at 51.98. Her teammate, Liz Pelton, finished second at 1:52.80. Her start looked off for some reason, even though the results don’t indicate she was much slower off the blocks than the rest of the field.

Madisyn Cox slid into third place with her time of 1:54.43, dropping nearly a half of a second. Notre Dame’s Emma Reaney was just under her prelim time to finish fourth at 1:55.13, but even more impressive was her 32.14 breaststroke split. As the American record holder in the 200 breaststroke, the breaststroke leg is definitely her strong leg of the race.

Virginia’s Courtney Bartholomew added fifth place points for the Cavaliers with her time of 1:55.71, and Cal’s Celina Li added sixth place points with her time of 1:56.10.

Louisville’s Tanja Kyliainen reached in for seventh with her time of 1:56.40, and Georgia’s Annie Zhu rounded out the A final with her time of 1:57.46. That was Zhu’s third 200 IM after the day after tying for 8th during prelims.

Texas A&M freshman Bethany Galat took off more than a second from her morning swim to win the B final with her time of 1:55.48. Her 33.03 breaststroke split separated her from the field in the back half of her swim. Caroline Piehl was second in the heat for Cal at 1:56.28.