2022 PAC 12 WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, February 23-Saturday, February 26, 2022
- Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center, Federal Way, Washington
- Defending champions: Cal (1x)
- Start Times: 10:30am prelims / 6:00 pm finals (PT)
- Event Schedule
- 2021 Scoring Breakdown
- How to Watch
- Championship Central
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Live Results via Meet Mobile – “2022 Pac-12 Women’s Swimming & Diving Champs”
As the 2022 conference season continues this week, the women’s Pac-12 Championships are set to begin in Federal Way, Washington tonight. The first two events of the meet are the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays, in which Cal and Stanford are the respective top seeds.
Last week we watch the ACC Championships begin with an electric performance by Virginia in the 200 medley when the Cavaliers threw down a 1:31.81 NCAA, American, and US record. In the 800 freestyle, however, no team has been faster than the Stanford women were back in 2017 when they swam a 6:45.91 to win the NCAA title.
Follow along below to see how the Pac-12 women fare as we get into the first few events of the meet.
Women’s 1-Meter
Top 3:
- Delaney Schnell (Arizona) – 332.55
- Daria Lenz (Stanford) – 309.10
- Hannah Butler (UCLA) – 299.55
The University of Arizona’s Delaney Schnell picked up the first Pac-12 title of the meet in the women’s 1-meter diving event. Schnell just about matched her score from prelims with a 332.55 for the win, compared to the 332.10 that she scored in prelims.
Schnell, a senior, is the reigning Pac-12 champion in both this event and the platform dive and will be an important part of the Wildcats’ conference campaign this year. Schnell had a successful summer in 2021, having collected her first-ever Olympic silver medal when she placed second in the 10-meter synchro dive at the Tokyo Games.
Stanford’s Daria Lenz was the second-highest scorer here and was the only other woman to crack 300 points, scoring 309.10 for silver. Next, Hannah Butler of UCLA took bronze with 299.55, while Nike Agunbiade for USC took 4th with 287.60.
Notably, neither Cal nor Arizona State had any divers in this event, meaning that they each missed the chance to score any points in the first event.
Women’s 200 Medley Relay
- NCAA Record: 1:31.81 – Virginia (2021)
- Pac-12 Record: 1:33.11 – Stanford (2018)
- Pac-12 Championships Record: 1:34.13 – Cal (2018)
- NCAA A Cut: 1:36.40
- NCAA B Cut: 1:37.05
Top 3:
- Stanford – 1:34.68
- USC – 1:35.40
- Cal – 1:36.09
The Stanford women swam their way to victory in the medley relay, collecting their first Pac-12 title of the year in a 1:34.68. Olympic medalist, Regan Smith got things going for the team with an opening split of 23.18, which was more than half a second of Cal’s Isabelle Stadden who dipped under 24 as well with a 23.99 backstroke split.
Following Stanford and Cal, UCLA was 3rd in the final heat courtesy of Sophia Kosturos‘ 24.59 and USC trailed slightly as Calypso Sheridan put up a 24.95.
Stanford’s Allie Raab dove in after Smith to swim breaststroke, delivering a 27.13 on the breaststroke leg and Emma Wheal was next in a 22.71. That put the Stanford women at a 1:13.02 with just the freestyle to go, while USC’s Kaitlyn Dobler (25.95) and Anicka Delgado had slightly closed the gap and brought their team to the #2 position. At the 150 USC split a 1:13.79, while Cal had fallen into 3rd place with a 1:14.05, and UCLA was at a 1:15.28.
USC anchor Laticia-Leigh Transom put up a good fight on the final leg with a 21.61 freestyle split, but Stanford’s closer Anya Goeders was far enough ahead to hold the lead. Goeders put up a 21.66 freestyle split, which was a bit slower than Transom, but enough to give Stanford a winning time of 1:34.68.
After USC’s 1:35.40, Cal came into the wall with a 1:36.09, and UCLA rounded out the top 4 in the final heat with a 1:37.02. Having swum in the previous heats, the University of Arizona was 5th overall with their 1:37.10, and Arizona State placed 6th with a 1:38.22.
This swim from Stanford makes them the 6th-fastest NCAA team this season behind national record-breakers Virginia (1:31.81), NC State (1:33.25.63), Ohio State (1:33.64), Alabama (1:33.94), Texas (1:34.26), and Tennessee (1:34.63). Among those notably absent from Stanford’s relay were Olympians Torri Huske and Taylor Ruck.
Women’s 800 Freestyle Relay
- NCAA Record: 6:45.91 – Stanford (2017)
- Pac-12 Record: 6:45.91 – Stanford (2017)
- Pac-12 Championships Record: 6:49.42-Stanford (2017)
- NCAA A Cut: 7:00.86
- NCAA B Cut: 7:05.88
Top 3:
- Stanford – 6:50.21
- Cal – 6:59.11
- Arizona State – 7:03.49
En route to a second Pac-12 title, the Stanford women powered their way to the top time in the nation this season with a 6:50.21 in the 800 freestyle relay. The all-Olympic squad of Torri Huske, Taylor Ruck, Regan Smith, and Brooke Forde have replaced the Virginia women as the fastest team in the nation, beating the 6:53.37 the Cavaliers swam at the 2022 ACC Championships.
Torri Huske posted a 1:42.51, establishing a new PB in the event, improving upon the 1:42.59 that she swam in November 2021. Huske got the team off to an early lead, beating out Cal’s Izzy Ivey (1:43.80), USC’s Laticia-Leigh Transom (1:43.96), and Arizona State’s Erica Laning (1:44.61) on the first leg.
Taylor Ruck, who has been as fast as a 1:40.37 from a flat start, followed for Stanford in a 1:42.07, and Regan Smith swam her second relay of the night as the third leg here, delivering a 1:43.19. Brooke Forde anchored with a 1:42.44 to give Stanford a time of 6:50.21 for the win.
This dominant performance by Stanford allowed them to win the event by just under 9 seconds as Cal came in with a 6:59.11 for the silver medal. Ivey actually had the fastest split out of the 4 Cal women with her 1:43.80 from a flat start, but freshman Leah Polonsky was solid in a 1:44.42 to anchor the team. In the second spot Ayla Spitz threw down a 1:45.03 and Alicia Wilson swam third for Cal with a 1:45.86.
Both Stanford and Cal got under the NCAA A Cut of 7:00.86, while bronze medal-winning ASU was just over the mark in a 7:03.49. Arizona followed with a 7:04.67 and USC placed 5th overall in a 7:06.61.
Team Scores After Day 1
- Stanford – 216 points
- USC – 211 points
- University of Arizona – 158 points
- University of Utah – 154 points
- UCLA – 145 points
- Cal – 110 points
- Arizona State – 102 points
- Washington State – 88 points
Transom is a beast! Also, starting to realize just how good UVA’s 2 medley was
Has breaststroke always been a weak point on Stanford’s medleys relative to how much strong talent they have on the other legs?
better than I would have perceived. Nice late bloomer. great addition.
Yay Taylor Ruck! So happy for her
Yes. Hope she is healthy and happy first and foremost. After that in the pool then her recent form indicates hopefully a nice return to top level Canadian performances this summer….🙏🇨🇦
Great person inside and out, cannot wait to see her crush it this year:)
What was going on with her the past few years. Feel like pre pandemic this was one of the fastest women on planet. Then a small step back. Wish her massive success
Stanford loaded their 800 relay with their four medal- winning Olympians and won by a country mile.
Confident way to start the meet.
I can’t believe both CAL and ASU teams don’t have divers? Yikes…unless I missed it!
I thought that was a great swim by the Stanford ladies in the 8 free relay!!
All four swimmers likely not much rest heading into this meet. Looks like they can own this one in a couple weeks.
Stop. Not rested. Nonsense.
Meehan rests his Olympians for conference? Hahahaahahaha
Without fail, 25+% of swimswam comments are people arguing about the level of rest each team has. Reliable as the North Star.
Can we wait until further in the meet to declare this a disappointment for any team? Stanford and a Cal should be all in for NCs too. Particularly in another year where they likely had swimmers out of the water for random stretches for quarantine that at we’ll never hear about.
These aren’t professional football teams where we get injury updates multiple times every week.
Only the newbie commentators would take this meet seriously. Cal was max lifting behind the blocks as we all know.