1,800 fans turned out on Saturday to watch the presumptive NCAA women’s favorites from Stanford in a dual meet against the Texas Longhorns – which was a new Avery Aquatic Center Record.
That was not the only record to be set on the day – a full 6 were broken by the Stanford women in the water, including an NCAA Record in the 1000 free by none other than Katie Ledecky. She swam a 9:10.49 to break Leah Smith’s record, set last season as a split to a 1650, of 9:20.15.
The atmosphere was electric, reminiscent of the early days of Missy Franklin’s career around the bay at Cal when she was coming off a similar Olympic success to that of Ledecky. The line for autographs alone stretched 1000-or-more deep. This was Stanford’s last home meet of the fall semester, and fans took advantage of the 70 degree sunny day to come out en force to watch the event.
Below, watch the full race video of Ledecky’s swim, plus a few other videos put together by the Stanford athletics department of the day.
Our fans are the best!
Autograph line… pic.twitter.com/rNmft0glCE— Stanford Women's Swim/Dive (@stanfordwswim) November 12, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP7dq-9JrJg&feature=youtu.be
I love the announcer – “It’s just silly” It is so amazing to watch her swim!
ANIMAL
It looks like her split at the 500 was the 16th fastest 500 in history.
This would win many Div. I men’s meets !
I’m not an American but there has to be something wrong with the NCAA sports system. When a college athlete plays FB, BB, MLB, and maybe Hockey, they can sign a contract that pays them a lot of money. The NCAA is like a farm system for those sports which they can make a career playing! Swimmers cannot do that. That seems to be very unfair! Swimmers should be allowed make an earning in college and collect prize money and earn from endorsement’s, after all their earning potential decrease rapidly when compared with other sports. Just my take on the matter! The NCAA is a repressive organization!
Preach
“When a college athlete plays FB, BB, MLB, and maybe Hockey, they can sign a contract that pays them a lot of money.”
Bolded the key word there.
All athletes should be able to be paid.
“I’m not an American but there has to be something wrong with the NCAA sports system. When a college athlete plays FB, BB, MLB, and maybe Hockey, they can sign a contract that pays them a lot of money. ”
None of that has to do with the NCAA.
She did that in a practice suit…. good lord thats amazing
Pure logic.
And in competition suit she swims under 9 minutes.