2021 NCAA WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- When: Wednesday, March 17 – Saturday, March 20, 2021
- Where: Greensboro Aquatic Center / Greensboro, NC (Eastern Time Zone)
- Prelims 10 AM / Finals 6 PM (Local Time)
- Short course yards (SCY) format
- Defending champion: Stanford (3x) – 2019 results
- Streaming: ESPN3
- Championship Central
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results – Swimming
- Live Results – Diving
Texas A&M’s Camryn Toney posted the top time out of the early 1650 freestyle heats at the Women’s NCAA Championships, with the top eight seeds slated to race during tonight’s finals session.
Women’s 1650 Top 8 (Early Heats)
- Camryn Toney (Texas A&M), 16:04.02
- Lola Mull (Northwestern), 16:04.11
- Sally Tafuto (Ohio State), 16:07.36
- Olivia Anderson (Georgia), 16:08.22
- Madelyn Donohoe (Virginia), 16:09.01
- Beth McNeese (Kentucky), 16:11.73
- Maya Geringer (Ohio State), 16:11.97
- Amanda Nunan (Tennessee), 16:12.82
Toney, a senior, won the fourth and final heat of the afternoon session in a time of 16:04.02, lowering her best time of 16:06.20 set at last month’s SECs. The 21-year-old’s time narrowly edged out the benchmark set in the previous heat by Northwestern freshman Lola Mull, who dropped more than four seconds in Heat 3 for a time of 16:04.11.
Earlier in the meet, Toney finished 29th in the 500 free (4:46.00), and then earned a second swim in the 400 IM, taking 10th in a best of 4:06.30.
An aggressive start helped earn Mull the second spot on the rankings heading into the final heat, as she improves her previous best of 16:08.33 set at Big Tens.
Mull was followed by OSU junior Sally Tafuto in the third heat, who dropped a second in 16:07.36 to take third heading into tonight. Excluding the final 50, Tafuto negative-split the race by a relatively large margin, recording 800 splits of 7:53.88/7:45.16. Tafuto was an ‘A’ finalist in the 500, placing seventh in 4:40.29.
Georgia’s Olivia Anderson was locked into a tight battle with Toney in the final heat early, but fell off around the 1000 mark, ultimately clocking 16:08.22 for fourth overall. Anderson holds a best time of 16:00.84 from the 2019 UT Invite.
Ohio State freshman Maya Geringer won Heat 2 in a time of 16:11.97, good for seventh, lowering her previous best of 16:13.58 set at Big Tens. Prior to that swim, Geringer had never broken 17 minutes, having entered college with a PB of 17:00.87 from March 2018.
Indiana senior Josie Grote, who was a surprise fourth-place finisher in the 400 IM, also set a best time from the second heat in 16:13.72, improving on her 16:15.44 from November 2019.
The opening heat went to Nebraska junior Audrey Coffey, who chopped more than four seconds off her lifetime best in 16:14.19.
The pace of the mile shows a relatively significant drop-off from 2019, where it took 16:03.64 to score. This season that time would place you in the top eight, while a minimum of 16:12.82 will score.
