Alex Walsh on 200 IM: “I was feeling really ready… that’s really rare for me”

2022 NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 16-19, 2022
• McAuley Aquatic Center, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia (Eastern Daylight Time)
• Prelims 10AM /Finals 6PM
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Championship Central
• Official Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Video (ESPN3): Day Two Finals
• Thursday night finals heat sheets

Reported by Anne Lepesant.

WOMEN 200 YARD INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY – FINALS

• NCAA Record: 1:50.67 – Ella Eastin, Stanford (2018)
• Meet Record: 1:50.67 – Ella Eastin, Stanford (2018)
• American Record: 1:50.67 – Ella Eastin, Stanford (2018)
• US Open Record: 1:50.67 – Ella Eastin, Stanford (2018)
• Pool Record: 1:51.65 – Ella Eastin, Stanford (2016)
• 2021 Champion: Alex Walsh, Virginia – 1:51.87

Podium:

1. Alex Walsh, SO Virginia – 1:50.08
2. Torri Huske, FR Stanford – 1:51.81
3. Isabel Ivey, SR Cal – 1:53.02
4. Zoie Hartman, JR Georgia – 1:53.15
5. Kelly Pash, JR Texas – 1:53.31
6. Sally Foley, SO Duke – 1:54.38
7. Abby Hay, JR Louisville – 1:54.93
8. Ella Nelson, JR Virginia – 1:55.01

Stanford freshman Torri Huske was out quickly with a 23.87 butterfly, with defending champion Alex Walsh of Virginia (23.95) and Cal’s Isabel Ivey (23.97) a tenth behind. Huske and Walsh put half a body length behind them on the backstroke leg, both splitting 27.5.

Walsh exploded on the breaststroke, splitting 31.64 and moving to first place heading into the freestyle. Huske (32.7) and Ivey (33.7) were in second and third place, with Georgia’s Zoie Hartman just behind them.

Walsh came home in 26.99 to stop the clock at 1:50.08. She broke Ella Eastin’s 2018 American, U.S. Open, NCAA and meet records by nearly six-tenths, very nearly becoming the first sub-1:50 woman in history.