2022 Ivy League Women’s Championships: Day 4 Prelims Live Recap

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 4 prelims
• Championship Central
• Pre-scratch Psych Sheets
• Day 4 Prelims Heat Sheets

Harvard has built up an insurmountable lead and is set to win their first Ivy League women’s crown since 2019. Yale and Penn are vying for second place, while Princeton is sitting alone in a distant fourth, yet still not challenged by by Brown, Columbia, Cornell, and Dartmouth.

Day 4 will feature prelims of the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, and 200 fly. Penn transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, who has already won the 500 free and the 200 free individual events, is in line to be Women’s Swimmer of the Meet should she also win the 100 free, as no other swimmer has won two events in the last three days.

Women’s 200 Backstroke – Prelims

• Ivy League Record: 1:52.56 – Felicia Pasadyn, Harvard (2020)
• Ivy Championships Record: 1:52.56 – Felicia Pasadyn, Harvard (2020)
• NCAA A Standard: 1:50.50
• NCAA B Standard: 1:57.11

Top 8:

1. Felicia Pasadyn, Harvard – 1:55.69
2. Liza Whitmire, Princeton – 1:57.08
3. Hannah Kannan, Penn – 1:57.61
4. Isabella Korbly, Princeton – 1:57.97
5. Alexandra Massey, Yale – 1:58.02
6. Quinn Murphy, Yale – 1:58.09
7. Aziza Ganihanova, Columbia – 1:58.16
8. Mary Pruden, Columbia – 1:58.65

Defending champion and Ivy League record-holder Felicia Pasadyn of Harvard led the qualifiers in morning heats of the 200 back with 1:55.69. Liza Whitmire of Princeton and Yale’s Quinn Murphy touched second and third in the heat.

The other two circle-seeded heats went to Princeton’s Isabella Korbly (1:57.97) and Penn’s Hannah Kannan (1:57.61).

Women’s 100 Freestyle – Prelims

• Ivy League Record: 47.85 – Bella Hindley, Yale (2019)
• Ivy Championships Record: 47.85 – Bella Hindley, Yale (2019)
• NCAA A Standard: 47.18
• NCAA B Standard: 49.51

Top 8:

1. Iszac Henig, Yale – 47.80
2. Lia Thomas, Penn – 48.71
3. Molly Hamlin, Yale – 49.52
4. Nikki Venema, Princeton – 49.66
5. Lindsey Wagner, Yale – 49.85
6. Ophelia Pilkinton, Yale – 49.94
7. Margot Kaczorowski, Penn – 50.06
8. Ashley Post, Dartmouth – 50.12

One heat after Penn’s Lia Thomas threw down a dominant 48.71 to win her heat and take over the leaderboard, Yale’s Iszac Henig lit up the pool with a lifetime-best 47.80. His time broke the Ivy League, Ivy Championships, Yale program, and Blodgett Pool records. The previous Ivy records had been set by Yale’s Bella Hindley in 2019, while Miki Dahlke of Harvard had the pool record of 48.64 from 2018.

Defending champion Nikki Venema of Princeton went 49.66 to win her heat. Yale’s Lindsey Wagner won the first heat, seeded with no time, in 49.85 to make the A final.

Women’s 200 Breaststroke – Prelims

• Ivy League Record: 2:08.47 – Jaycee Yegher, Harvard (2020)
• Ivy Championships Record: 2:08.47 – Jaycee Yegher, Harvard (2020)
• NCAA A Standard: 2:06.58
• NCAA B Standard: 2:13.97

Top 8:

1. Aleksandra Denisenko, Harvard – 2:13.78
2. Mikki Thompson, Harvard – 2:14.56
3. Ava Franks, Yale – 2:15.73
4. Audrey Lukawski, Brown – 2:16.15
5. (tie) Anna Boeckman, Penn / Margaux McDonald, Princeton – 2:16.38
6. –
7. Olivia Paoletti, Yale – 2:16.47
8. Isabella Pytel, Penn – 2:16.70

Harvard earned the middle two lanes in tonight’s final with Aleksandra Denisenko (2:13.78) and Mikki Thompson (2:14.56) winning their respective heats. Top-seeded Ava Franks of Yale took the final heat, but her time of 2:15.73 was the third-fastest of the morning.

Margaux McDonald of Princeton matched Franks stroke for stroke but was a half-second behind for second place in the final heat with 2:16.38. Brown’s Audrey Lukawski (2:16.15) finished second to Denisenko in the penultimate heat, just ahead of Penn’s Anna Boeckman (2:16.38).

Women’s 200 Butterfly – Prelims

• Ivy League Record: 1:54.60 – Alex Forrester, Yale (2013)
• Ivy Championships Record: 1:54.60 – Alex Forrester, Yale (2013)
• NCAA A Standard: 1:53.20
• NCAA B Standard: 1:59.23

Top 8:

1. Mia Leko, Dartmouth – 1:57.65
2. Abigail Carr, Harvard – 1:58.08
3. Jess Yeager, Princeton – 1:59.19
4. Nell Chidley, Brown – 1:59.97
5. Vanessa Chong, Penn – 2:00.03
6. Alexandra Massey, Yale – 2:00.32
7. Junseo Kim, Yale – 2:00.45
8. Grace Yoon, Harvard – 2:00.54

Dartmouth’s Mia Leko, who won this event in 2019 and finished third in 2020, posted the fastest time of the morning, winning heat 1 in 1:57.65 over Harvard’s Abigail Carr (1:58.08).

Princeton’s Jess Yeager came back from being a full second behind Penn’s Vanessa Chong at the 100 to win heat 2 by .8 with 1:59.19.

Brown’s Nell Chidley (1:59.97) won the final heat, holding off a late charge by top-seeded Alexandra Massey of Yale (2:00.32). The first three-quarters of the race had belonged to her Brown teammate Zehra Bilgin, but both Chidley and Massey passed her over the final 50 yards as Bilgin’s fourth 50 was nearly 3 seconds slower than her third. Bilgin’s 2:00.90 just missed the A final.