After Scratching Mid-Meet Races, Eastin Qualifies 5th for 200 IM Final

2018 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, July 25 – Sunday, July 29, 2018
• William Woollett Aquatics Center, Irvine, CA
• Prelims 9 AM / Finals 6 PM (U.S. Pacific Time)
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Stanford’s Ella Eastin, who is in recovery from coming down with mononucleosis in early July, has qualified for the A-final of the 200 IM on the final day of the 2018 Phillips 66 National Championships.

Her time of 2:12.01 (28.96/32.84/38.77/31.44) from prelims makes her the No. 5-seed Sunday night. Ahead of her in prelims were Melanie Margalis (2:10.13), Evie Pfeifer (2:11.66), Alex Walsh (2:11.83), and Kathleen Baker (2:11.87).

Eastin was unsure if she could be able to compete this week at all when we spoke to her last week, and ended up scratching entirely out of two of her four races. She swam her first race of the meet Wednesday morning in the 200 fly, where she qualified for the B-final in 2:10.81 – but she scratched out of the final. She opted to skip the 200 free and 400 IM entirely in preparation for Sunday’s 200 IM.

If she makes the top two in finals, she will secure her spot on the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships team. If she doesn’t, but still places in the top six or so, she should make the either the 2019 World University Games of 2019 Pan American Games team.

Eastin is a rising senior at Stanford. She currently holds the American Records in the 200-yard butterfly (1:49.51), the 200-yard IM (1:50.67), and the 400-yard IM (3:54.60), all achieved during her junior season with the Cardinal. She also holds the American Record in the 800-yard freestyle relay with her 2017 Stanford teammates Simone Manuel, Lia Neal, and Katie Ledecky. She won all three of her individual events (200 IM, 200 fly, and 400 IM) at the 2018 NCAA Championships and earned Swimmer of the Meet honors.

Last summer, Eastin touched second in the 400 IM at the Phillips 66 National Championships & World Championship Trials only to be disqualified for the “Lochte Rule” moments later. She was third in the 200 IM and fourth in the 200 fly at Trials, thus missing out on competing at World Championships in Budapest. Eastin did represent the United States at World University Games, garnering a gold medal in the 200 fly, a silver in the 200 IM, and a silver in the 4×200 free relay.