2024 Ivy League Women’s Championships: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2024 Ivy League Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships

• Wednesday, February 21 – Saturday, February 24, 2024
• Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center, Providence, RI
• Defending Champions:
  • Women: Princeton (1x)
• Championship Central
• Fan Guide
• Pre-scratch Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Live Video

WEDNESDAY NIGHT HEAT SHEETS

The first night of the 2024 Women’s Ivy League Championships starts in just a few minutes, where Princeton enters both relay events as the top seeded entrants. We will see just two relays tonight: the 200 medley relay and the 800 freestyle relay.

Princeton owns a season best of 1:37.65 in the 200 medley relay, which is less than a second shy of the Ivy league record they set en route to gold last year. The NCAA ‘A’ standard sits at 1:36.24 and the ‘B’ standard is 1:37.00, so those are markers to watch for tonight. Harvard (1:39.21) is seeded 2nd and Yale (1:39.33) sits in 3rd on the entry sheet.

In the 800 free relay, Princeton’s season best time of 7:13.36 clears the field by three seconds, with Harvard (7:16.58) and Brown (7:21.00) ranked 2nd and 3rd.

WOMEN’S 200 MEDLEY RELAY — FINALS

• NCAA Record: 1:31.51 – Virginia (2023)
• Ivy League Record: 1:36.89 – Princeton (2023)
• Ivy Championships Record: 1:36.89 – Princeton (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 1:36.24
• 2024 NCAA ‘B’ Standard: 1:37.00

Full Results:

1. Princeton – 1:36.79 *IVY LEAGUE RECORD*
2. Harvard – 1:37.38
3. Brown – 1:37.84
4. Yale – 1:38.97
5. Cornell – 1:40.30
6. Dartmouth – 1:40.47
7. Columbia – 1:40.88
8. Pennsylvania – 1:41.03

The Princeton women kicked off the 2024 Ivy League Championships in record-breaking fashion, taking down their Ivy League record from a year ago. The quartet of Alexa Pappas, Margaux McDonald, Sabrina Johnston, and Ela Noble hit the wall in 1:36.79, which eclipses the 1:36.89 record from 2023.

Pappas and McDonald return from last year’s foursome, with Johnston and Noble representing the newcomers on this relay squad. Noble’s scorching 21.54 anchor was a big reason for the record tonight, as they were a bit behind pace until the freestyle leg. Johnston and Noble are the top two seeds in tomorrow’s 50 free, where Johnston (22.30) sits just 0.05 ahead of Noble (22.35) on the psych sheets.

See a full comparison between this year’s relay and the previous record, below:

Splits Comparison:

Harvard touched the wall for 2nd place tonight, finishing in a time of 1:37.38. Splits for their relay are currently unavailable, but Anya Mostek, Victoria Eisenhauer, Addie Rose Bullock, and Mandy Brenner comprised their relay. Brown rounded out the top three, as Jenna Reznicek (24.74), Gillian Tu (27.15), Lillian Klinginsmith (23.97), and Samantha Scott (21.98) touched in 1:37.84.

WOMEN’S 800 FREESTYLE RELAY — FINALS

• NCAA Record: 6:45.91 – Stanford (2017)
• Ivy League Record: 6:59.92 – Harvard (2020)
• Ivy Championships Record: 6:59.92 – Harvard (2020)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 7:00.86
• 2024 NCAA ‘B’ Standard: 7:05.88

Full Results: 

1. Princeton – 7:04.45
2. Brown – 7:08.77
3. Harvard – 7:10.25
4. Pennsylvania – 7:12.91
5. Yale – 7:16.90
6. Columbia – 7:17.95
7. Cornell – 7:19.19
8. Dartmouth – 7:24.91

Princeton completed their sweep of the day one relays, clocking 7:04.45 en route to a decisive victory in the 800 free relay. Their winning team consisted of Ellie Marquardt (1:46.43), Sabrina Johnston (1:45.14), Eleanor Sun (1:46.11), and Heidi Smithwick (1:46.77).

Marquardt’s lead-off split of 1:46.43 was a bit off her season best (1:45.53), but checks-in faster than her 1:46.57 anchor split from last year’s Ivy League Championships. Princeton’s final time (7:04.45) was over a second faster than they swam last year (7:05.85). Their time tonight also undercuts the NCAA ‘B’ standard of 7:05.88.

Brown hit the touchpad in 2nd place tonight, as the squad of Zehra Bilgin (1:47.01), Morgan Lukinac (1:44.28), Anna Podurgiel (1:48.98), and Kelly Dolce (1:48.50) combined for a time of 7:08.77.

Harvard grabbed 3rd to feature on the podium, with Anya Mostek (1:48.14), Sydney Lu (1:47.61), Molly Hamlin (1:46.98), and Alexandra Bastone (1:47.52) finishing in 7:10.25.

Team Scores After Day 1:

1. Princeton – 128 points
2. Harvard & Brown – 110 points
3. –
4. Yale – 102 points
5. Pennsylvania & Cornell – 96 points
6. –
7. Columbia – 94 points
8. Dartmouth – 92 points