2022 Women’s Ivy League Swimming & Diving Championships
- Wednesday, February 16 – Saturday, February 19, 2022
- Prelims 11:00 AM / Finals 6:00 PM
- Blodgett Pool, Harvard University, Boston MA
- Defending Champions: Princeton University (results)
- Live Results
- Streaming (ESPN+): Day 2 prelims
- Championship Central
- Pre-scratch Psych Sheets
- Day 2 Prelims Heat Sheets
After Day 1’s timed finals of the 200 medley relay and 800 free relay, Harvard leads Princeton by 2 points and Yale by 6. The individual events begin on Thursday with the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, and 1-meter diving. Penn’s Lia Thomas, who had already qualified for NCAAs in the 500 free with her conference record-breaking performance in December, is top seed with 4:34.06. Defending champion and meet record-holder Ellie Marquardt of Princeton comes in with a seed time of 4:47.28, more than 13 seconds behind Thomas. Penn’s Anna Sofia Kalandadze is also seeded with 4:47, as is Harvard’s Erin Cavanagh.
Harvard’s Felicia Pasadyn tops the field of qualifiers in the 200 IM with 2:00.20. She is the defending champion (1:55.88). Princeton’s Liza Whitmire (2:00.54) and Jess Yeager (2:00.86) are seeded second and third.
Yale’s Iszac Henig is the one to beat in the 50 free, coming in with a seed time of 22.05. He cracked a 21.8 anchor leg on Yale’s medley relay last night, the fastest in the field by half a second. Seeded second is defending champion Nikki Venema of Princeton (22.59), who won this event in 2020 with 22.41.
Women’s 500 Freestyle – Prelims
- Ivy League Record: 4:34.06 – Lia Thomas, Penn (2021)
- Ivy Championships Record: 4:36.37 – Ellie Marquardt, Princeton (2020)
- NCAA A Standard: 4:35.76
- NCAA B Standard: 4:47.20
Top 8:
- Lia Thomas, Penn – 4:41.19
- Anna Sofia Kalandadze, Penn – 4:46.52
- Catherine Buroker, Penn – 4:47.22
- Erin Cavanagh, Harvard – 4:47.38
- Aziza Ganihanova, Columbia – 4:48.60
- Ellie Marquardt, Princeton – 4:48.61
- Ashley Loomis, Yale – 4:49.24
- Mikki Thompson, Harvard – 4:49.99
Penn’s Lia Thomas posted the top time of the morning, winning the last heat in 4:41.19. Teammate Catherine Buroker touched second in 4:47.22, just ahead of Harvard’s Erin Cavanagh (4:47.38).
Anna Sofia Kalandadze of Penn won the first circle-seeded heat in 4:46.62. Yale’s Ashley Loomis (4:49.24) and Penn’s Amelia Girotto (4:51.87) were second and third. Columbia’s Aziza Ganihanova touched out Princeton’s Ellie Marquardt, 4:48.60 to 4:48.61 to win heat 4.
Bridget O’Leary of Penn won heat 2 in a lifetime-best 4:50.20. Dartmouth’s Sarah Minnigh was second in 4:56.37. Cornell’s Gillian Caverly won the first heat in 5:01.67, holding off a very strong final charge by Dartmouth’s Christina Cianciolo (5:01.91).
Women’s 200 Individual Medley – Prelims
- Ivy League Record: 1:55.09 – Katie Meili, Columbia (2013)
- Ivy Championships Record: 1:55.09 – Katie Meili, Columbia (2013)
- NCAA A Standard: 1:53.66
- NCAA B Standard: 1:59.94
Top 8:
- Felicia Pasadyn, Harvard – 1:58.86
- Jess Yeager, Princeton / Samantha Shelton, Harvard – 1:59.48
- –
- Liza Whitmire, Princeton – 2:00.82
- Aleksandra Denisenko, Harvard – 2:01.16
- Vivian Weng, Yale – 2:01.64
- Maggie Buckley, Harvard – 2:02.15
- Raime Jones, Yale – 2:02.28
Defending champion Felicia Pasadyn of Harvard posted the fastest time of the morning with 1:58.86, .11 faster than her prelims time in 2020. She won the final heat ahead of teammates Samantha Shelton (1:59.48) and Maggie Buckley (2:02.15).
Liza Whitmire of Princeton won her heat in 2:00.82 and was followed by Harvard’s Aleksandra Denisenko (2:01.16), Yale’s Raime Jones (2:02.28), and Brown’s Anna Podurgiel (2:02.41).
Princeton put up a 1-2 finish in the first circle-seeded heat with Jess Yeager cracking 2:00 (1:59.48) and Margaux McDonald (2:02.35) edging Penn’s Isabella Pytel (2:02.41). Princeton’s Vivian Wang touched fourth in the heat with 2:03.26.
Yale’s Vivian Weng slashed more than 5 seconds off her seed time to win heat 2 in 2:01.64 and book a spot in the A final.
Women’s 50 Freestyle – Prelims
- Ivy League Record: 21.83 – Bella Hindley (2019)
- Ivy Championships Record: 21.83 – Bella Hindley (2019)
- NCAA A Standard: 21.66
- NCAA B Standard: 22.76
Top 8:
- Iszac Henig, Yale – 22.17
- Nikki Venema, Princeton – 22.65
- Samantha Scott, Brown – 22.80
- Mandy Brenner, Harvard – 22.90
- Christina Bradley, Princeton – 23.02
- Zoe Wortzman, Dartmouth – 23.05
- Ophelia Pilkinton, Yale – 23.06
- Amelia Liu, Princeton – 23.12
Yale’s Marykate Buckley kicked off the 50 free heats with 23.78, beating her seed time by nearly 1.4 seconds. Penn’s Andie Myers followed with 23.69, coming to the wall just ahead of Brown’s Sage Matsushima (23.87) in heat 2.
Princeton’s Christina Bradley went 23.02 to win the first circle-seeded heat. She was followed by Yale’s Ophelia Pilkinton (23.06) and Lindsey Wagner (23.14) and her Princeton teammate Jennifer Secrest (23.26).
Swimming in the middle lanes, Princeton’s Nikkin Venema (22.65) and Amelia Liu (23.12) finished 1-2 in the penultimate heat, with Dartmouth’s Ashley Post (23.25) and Cornell’s Melissa Parker (23.30) coming in third and fourth.
Top-seeded Iszac Henig of Yale won the final heat, stopping the clock in a blistering 22.17 to lead the morning’s qualifiers. Brown’s Samantha Scott (22.80) beat Harvard’s Mandy Brenner (22.90) for second place in the heat. Dartmouth’s Zoe Wortzman (23.05) took .7 off her seed time to come in fourth from out in lane 8.
Women’s 1-Meter Diving – Prelims
- Ivy League Record: 314.20 – Mikaela Thompson, Harvard (2016)
- Ivy Championships Record: 314.20 – Mikaela Thompson, Harvard (2016)
- NCAA A Standard: 265.00
Top 8:
- Morgane Herculano, Harvard – 272.95
- Esther Lawrence, Harvard – 269.15
- Evelyn Geier, Harvard – 259.40
- Remi Edvalson, Harvard – 257.45
- Madelyn Seltzer, Princeton – 252.15
- Olivia Francella, Penn – 247.05
- Katie Laverty, Harvard – 246.55
- Alice Diakova, Columbia – 245.95
Half of the contestants in prelims came from two school, with Harvard fielding 9 divers and Yale, 6. The other six schools had either three divers (Brown, Columbia, and Penn) or two (Cornell, Dartmouth, and Princeton).
Harvard bet big on diving and it paid off. The Crimson managed to put five into the A final of the 3-meter event, with Morgane Herculano leading a 1-2-3-4 sweep of the top four spots. Herculano led each round, with an average of 45.49 points in each of the six rounds. Esther Lawrence and Evelyn Geier traded spots and second and third throughout the prelims, but Lawrence finished with two strong dives to earn second place in the standings. Remi Edvalson moved from fifth to fourth on the final dive, while Katie Laverty had a huge final performance that vaulted her from 11th to seventh.
Princeton, Penn, and Columbia each scored an invite to the A final with Maddie Seltzer, Olivia Francella, and Alice Diakova.
With 9 athletes in the diving events, Harvard can only use 15 swimmers at the meet, since swimmers each count for 1 of the 18 possible roster spots and divers take 1/3 of a roster spot. Harvard is poised to score 170 points in 3-meter diving alone.
Team Scores After Day 1
- Harvard – 118
- Princeton – 116
- Yale – 112
- Penn – 104
- Brown / Columbia 98
- —
- Dartmouth – 92
- Cornell – 90
Tough break for Ellie.
Let’s go Lia, we are rooting for you
Such a fun meet
Did Iszak have a masectomy and does that affect swimming performance? Genuine curiosity. Because he is shown topless on Yale’s swim and dive website but I would have figured that that’s against NC rules to have a surgery that physically alters the person in an athletic benefitting way.
Athletes have surgery that benefits their athletic performance all the time. There is no rule against it.
https://theathletic.com/news/top-college-pitching-prospect-peyton-pallette-to-undergo-tommy-john-surgery/U9VJ2pOMrf3d/
What’s even wilder is that some parents try to get their kids Tommy John for no other reason than that they think it will improve their performance. Not common obviously, since it requires a pretty unethical doctor, but just insane that that’s something people do.
How does that improve anything? A lot of ball players don’t come back from it.
It doesn’t, but there’s a misconception that it increases pitch velocity. That misconception comes from the fact that pro pitchers will sometimes throw faster after getting it than they were right before, but that’s mostly because they were throwing injured before getting the surgery.
I recall Steve Stone saying 3-4 years ago that one of the top doctors in Houston mentioned that his entire late summer/early fall was completely booked with kids ages 15-17 having elective Tommy John surgery. It was shocking
If there’s no rule against it, I’m surprised someone hasn’t gotten surgery to have webbed fingers.
Is swimming really that important that you want webbed fingers? Is that glory worth having? webbed toes seems more plausible, but as someone who has webbed toes I can confirm it had negligible swimming impact
Unless you deem my paltry 1:54 200im in SCY suspicious
Bit of a difference between surgery for an injury (UCL) vs surgery for non-medical reasons. A mastectomy might be performed for medical reasons such as cancer. Whereas others get reductions or removal for cosmetic or transition reasons. IMO, yes excess breast tissue can be a detriment to swimming. Hence suits designed to alter body contour and enhance streamlining.
Sure there’s a difference. There are lots of different kinds of surgeries, right?
OP said “in an athletic benefitting way.” Wasn’t specific about what ways, otherwise I assume they would have asked “is having a mastectomy allowed under NCAA rules” rather than expanding the question to any surgery with an athletic benefit. In either case, the answer is ‘no, it’s not against the rules.’
Lasik would be another example of a surgery that would alter a person an in “athletic benefitting way.”
Braden you are still right on this one with the Tommy John. There are pitchers who get the surgery BEFORE injury, in an effort to tighten the ligament and get more time on their arm. This is not an urban legend. Usually farm league and college pitchers who haven’t made it yet.
LASIK does the same thing. Fascinating chapter of “The Sports Gene” about how great MLB player vision is on the whole.
I thought Jess Yeager was a nickname for Jaycee Yegher for a second
Question: we can assume Lia didn’t taper for this.
But is it possible the medicine she takes might slow her down as the season goes? Would she have trouble gaining muscle and recovering as time with the medicine goes on?
After how long she’s been on? I doubt it. I think she just didn’t taper.
I wonder how many people are currently hoping you’re right. Lots and lots of people have sold out on the ‘sky is falling’ narrative, and if Lia doesn’t go 4:30 in the 500 free at NCAAs, they’re going to be devestated.
I assume at that point they’ll pivot to “she didn’t try.”
Interesting that when Simone Biles or Mikaela Shiffrin have mental health breakdowns, we work so hard to excuse and protect their results, but we’re not willing to acknowledge that the unbelievable beatdown that Lia has received from every corner of the internet for the last 6 months has impacted her performances.
I’ll just say that at this point, I don’t think Lia is incentivized to win by the largest possible margin.
Which is sorta a shame, no matter what “side” of the issue you’re on.
it’s prelims
Yeah that just hit me 🤭
No reason to be tapered. She can win all events comfortably here with zero rest. All in for the big dance.
“Changes in fat mass, lean body mass, and muscle strength occur within 12–16 weeks, stabilize at 6–12 months, but can marginally continue over years.” – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3188848/#:~:text=Results,but%20maximum%20benefits%20take%20longer.
So would there be a marginal reduction?
There could be, doesn’t seem to be guaranteed.
The paper you cited is about the effect of testosterone treatment in hypogonadal men, not the same setting as discussion here
If the medicine is spironolactone, as mentioned in a previous article, then it doesn’t slow you down. Many women take it in college to control acne. I took it as a college swimmer.
Would have thought the fine folks at Harvard could come up with at least a somewhat usable results interface.
Everyone who can design a decent interface in Cambridge goes to MIT
At Harvard we’re DiFfEreNt
Hey, it’s not so bad! Sometimes takes a lot of clicks to get where you’re going, but if you’re looking for something…you can find it.
(But I might be biased because they still have meets hosted from as far back as 2001 on the site, as this was probably the best meet of my life. I was 12.)
Oh Stephen, so close to that 50 free record.
What is a “graduated” relay?
Haunts me to this day.
Oh! A rec league staple – “graduated” in that there’s kids from 4 different age groups. (I always thought of it as buckets – you get your “15-18 bucket” where you can put a 15-18 or younger, a “13-14 bucket” where a kid can only be 14 or younger, and 11-12/9-10 ones. But you’d be surprised how few coaches understand that concept, I’ve been in torturous league meetings about it.)
Do you guys play Rock Paper Scissors to see who has to moderate the comments section for Ivy stories these days
Ordinarily you wouldn’t expect Ivy League swimming to have the dumbest comment section in D1 swimming.
Turns out we can all be idiots under the right circumstances. Hasn’t the last… *checks year*… decade taught you anything? Lol