2019 WOMEN’S DIVISION I NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, March 20th – Saturday, March 23rd
- Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center — Austin, Texas
- Prelims 9 a.m./Finals 5 p.m. (Central Time)
- Championship Central
- Psych Sheet
- Live Results
- Full livestream schedule
Bolstered by a 46.07 anchor split from junior Abbey Weitzeil, sporting a wrapped arm as a result of an “awkward” finish to her fastest ever 50 free relay split on the 200 medley relay Friday night, the Cal Bears broke the NCAA record in the 400 free relay Saturday night.
Because of Weitzeil’s arm tape, however, Rowdy Gaines reported on ESPN that this is not an official American record – we’re still waiting on confirmation as to whether or not it is an American record.
Izzy Ivey led off in 47.79, Katie McLaughlin went second in 46.62, Amy Bilquist went 46.48 on the third leg, and then Weitzeil anchored in her 46.07 for a final time of 3:06.96.
Cal set the previous NCAA record of 3:07.41 at Pac-12s last month, with Robin Neumann leading off. Neumann is Dutch, so Stanford still owns the American record at 3:07.61, set at NCAAs in 2017.
Splits Comparison:
| Stanford 2017 NCAAs | Cal 2019 Pac-12s | Cal 2019 NCAAs |
| 46.02 | 48.17 | 47.79 |
| 47.59 | 46.55 | 46.62 |
| 47.63 | 46.3 | 46.48 |
| 46.37 | 46.39 | 46.07 |
| 3:07.61 | 3:07.41 | 3:06.96 |
What a gutsy swim for Weitzeil
any word on what tape has to do with an American record?
Exactly. If tape has something to do with the American Record, then it shouldn’t even be a NCAA record also.
I’m not 100% sure, but I would imagine that USA Swimming and the NCAA may have different rules on what sort of wraps are permissible. I know that’s always a “fun” topic of conversation in high school swimming.
Sounds like rowdy made it up
Indiana high school doesn’t allow “jewelry.” It made a bit of a story when a diver was dq’ed at state for wearing a scrunchy. There are too many silly rules with stuff like this.
When did that happen? This rule has since been changed nationally, though I’m not sure if Indiana has hung on to it.
I guess they’re afraid of shark skin medical wraps and a sudden influx of injuries. Not accusing Abbey, in fact I thought she did an incredible job.
USA swimming does not allow tape except for a few minor exceptions, such as buddy tape on a finger or wound closure.. USA Swimming does not allow:
Any type of Elastic Therapeutic Tape
Any type of Kinesio Tape
Any other type of taping that may support the muscles, ligaments, or tendons and/or provide compression to a joint that isn’t explicitly stated.
I’m guessing this isn’t an American record as the relay would have been disqualified. I don’t know enough about NCAA rules to comment.
Here is a SwimSwam article about it:
https://swimswam.com/usa-swimming-releases-clarifications-use-tape/
We actually asked USA Swimming this morning in anticipation of just this issue. They’re still working on getting us an official answer.
USA Swimming says that “the rules allow for tape if the referee allows it,” indicating that the record would count. We’ll provide an update when it’s officially ratified, but that’s the word for now.
I think it might have been ruled as an American record this afternoon: https://www.usaswimming.org/news-landing-page/2019/03/24/stanford-wins-third-consecutive-title-in-record-setting-final-day-at-ncaa-championships