Larson Breaks Washington State Pool Record Again with 22.59 50 Free vs Idaho

Washington State vs Idaho (Women’s Dual)

• Friday, January 29th, 2021
• Gibb Pool, Pullman, WA
• SCY (Short Course Yards)
• Results

Team Scores

1. Washington State – 162
2. Idaho – 98

The University of Idaho women’s swim team made the approximately 7 mile trip across the border to Washington State University for a dual meet last night. The Cougars emerged victorious, winning 13 of the 14 scored events. It was also senior night for WSU, where they honored seniors Chloe Larson, Mackenzie Duarte, Taylor McCoy, and Samantha Howell.

Chloe Larson, who has been nothing short of electric for the Cougars this year, impressed again by breaking her own weeks-old Gibb Pool record in the 50 free. Larson sped to a 22.59, bettering her previous season best and pool record swim of 22.70. The race also marked a personal best for Larson, dipping under her 22.64, which she swam at last season’s Pac-12 Championships. With the swim, Larson remains the 2nd-fastest Cougar in program history, and inched a little close to the Washington State record of 22.45, which has stood since 2009.

Fellow senior Taylor McCoy won 3 events, and raced a 4th exhibition (not for points) race, in which she was the fastest swimmer. McCoy first clocked a 4:24.47 to win the 400 IM, finishing as the only swimmer in the field under 4:30. She went on the win the 100 back with a 55.95, posting the fastest split in the field on both 50s. The swim was half a second off McCoy’s personal best of 55.45, which she swam a few months back in November.

McCoy then went on the swim a 2:02.27 to win the 200 back by 7 seconds, swimming the fastest split in the field on all 4 50s by over a second on each 50. She also swam the 200 IM exhibition, swimming a 2:02.83, which is right in line with her other performances in the event this season. McCoy also anchored an exhibition 200 free relay in 23.80, which was fast enough for her to have been on the Washington State A relay. McCoy’s official personal best in a flat-start 50 is 24.75 from back in 2013.

Mackenzie Duarte swept the breaststroke events, and won the 100 IM as well. Duarte first swam a 1:04.03 to win the 100 breast, using 33.74 on the 2nd 50 to pull away from freshman teammate Kaya Takashige, who was 2nd in 1:04.75. Another freshman Cougar, Alexandra Vartiainen, came in 3rd with a 1:05.43. Duarte also won the 200 breast in another 1-2-3 WSU charge with a 2:20.46. Duarte holds the WSU team record with a 2:09.45, which she swam at the 2019 Pac-12 Champs, making her the first Cougar to make the NCAA Championships in a decade. Vartiainen was right behind Duarte last night, touching in 2:20.65. Emily Ward, another Cougar, was 3rd with a 2:24.50. Duarte also won the 100 IM with a 1:00.02.

Hailey Grotte, a Washington State freshman, was 3rd in the 50 free with a 24.01, then went on to win the 100 free after going out in 25.03 on the first 50. She came home in 27.25, finishing in 52.28 to lead the field by over a second. Grotte was close to her personal best of 51.54, which she swam in November of 2019. Grotte also posted a 1:03.87 breast split on the 400 medley relay, and a 23.66 on the 2nd leg of the 200 free relay.

Cougar freshman Josie Liebzeit swam a personal best to win the 200 free, finishing in 1:55.36. Liebzeit’s personal best was 1:55.41, which was from earlier this season. She took the race out in 56.52, and came home in 58.84, marking a 2.28-second difference between 100s.

Fellow freshman Kiana Swain and Kaya Takashige won events, taking the 200 fly and 100 fly respectively. In the 200 fly, Swain, a New Zealand native, swam a 2:04.54, taking the race by over 5 seconds. Takashige then won the 100 fly with a 56.80, coming home in 29.95 to keep both her splits under 30 seconds. Takashige has a personal best of 55.63, which she swam in January of 2019.

Idaho picked up a win in the 500 free, where Zoe Froh swam a 5:05.43. Froh, a freshman from Canada, blew past Josie Liebzeit on the final 50 to get her hand on the wall first.

PRESS RELEASE – WASHINGTON STATE:

PULLMAN, Wash. (Jan. 29, 2021) – Senior Chloe Larson highlighted an impressive senior night performance for Washington State Women’s Swimming, breaking her own Gibb Pool record in the Cougars’ 162-98 victory over Idaho Friday evening.

WSU (4-1) claimed 13 of the 14 races as seniors Mackenzie Duarte (100 breast, 200 breast, 100 IM) and Taylor McCoy (400 IM, 100 back, 200 back) tied for the team-lead with three wins a piece while freshmen Jose Liebzeit and Kiana Swain each posted wins in the 200 free and 200 fly, respectively.

Larson, who broke the pool record in the 50 free two weeks ago, surpassed her own mark by .11 and also notched her second NCAA B time of the season while claiming the 50 free. Freshman Hailey Grotte won the 100 free and fellow freshman newcomer Kaya Takashige won the 100 fly. Washington State also won both relay events (400 medley and 200 free relay).

Next up for the Cougars will be the Pac-12 Conference Championships Feb. 24-27.

PRESS RELEASE – IDAHO:

PULLMAN, Wash. – Idaho swim made the quick trip across the border to Pullman for a rematch with Washington State, but ultimately fell 162-98 to a tremendous Pac-12 squad. The Vandals return home to face Dixie State on Saturday morning, with senior day festivities beginning at 10:50 a.m. and streamed live on Facebook.

The Vandals scored in bunches in the 200-yard butterfly. Rylie Jones placed second in 2:09.66, with Bindi Pedersen and Jamie Huerta right behind in third and fourth, respectively. Pedersen finished in 2:10.18, while Huerta came through in 2:16.04. Jones went on to take second in the 100-yard fly at 57.26 seconds.

Zoe Froh got the win in the 500-yard freestyle, edging out WSU’s Josie Liebzeit by 0.37 seconds to finish in 5:05.43. Froh also placed second in the 400-yard individual medley at 4:30.58. Rilie Krieg also picked up a second-place finish, in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:55.39.

Katie Hale took second in the 50-yard freestyle at 23.75 seconds. WSU’s Chloe Larson won the event in 22.59 seconds, setting a new pool record.

Morgan Votava and Haylee Buyers went 2-3 in the 200-yard backstroke, finishing less than half a second apart. Votava finished in 2:09.15, Buyers in 2:09.63.

Next up is senior day in Moscow as the Vandals say goodbye to Katie Hale who will be competing in Moscow for the final time. The festivities begin at 10:50 a.m. over on Facebook.com/VandalAthletics , with the competition starting shortly after.