Maya DiRado Becomes 5th-Fastest American Female 200 Backstroker in History

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Maya DiRado of Stanford became the fifth-fastest female American 200 backstroker in history today after clocking 2:06.90 to win her third event of the week.

She joins a star-studded roster of swimmers in the top five American female backstrokers. The list is below:

1. Missy Franklin: 2:04.06 (2012)
2. Margaret Hoelzer: 2:06.09 (2008)
3. Elizabeth Beisel: 2:06.18 (2012)
4. Elizabeth Pelton: 2:06.29 (2013)
5. Maya DiRado: 2:06.90 (2016)

Tonight, she split out the middle 100 faster than anyone else in the field, allowing her to gain a second lead on second-place defending Olympic champion Missy Franklin of the Colorado Stars, who finished the race in 2:07.89. See DiRado’s splits below:

• 30.32 (r .59)
• 31.93 (1:02.25)
• 32.05 (1:34.30)
• 32.60 (2:06.90)

DiRado was this week’s first triple champion, soon to be followed by Katie Ledecky. Earlier in the meet, she scored victories (and Olympic roster spots) in the 400 IM in 4:33.73 and the 200 IM in 2:09.54.

Her time from today ranks her fourth in the world this year, less than half a second from first-ranked Belinda Hocking of Australia, who scored 2:06.49 at Australian Olympic Trials.