Ohio State’s women’s swimming team returns to the pool for the first time since the calendar rolled over to 2017 this Wednesday with a dual meet against Toledo. Competition will begin at 2 p.m.
Live results for this meet, and every home meet, can be found here.
Parking Information
Neil Avenue Garage will not be available on Wednesday, so fans are encouraged to use either Lane Avenue Garage or Tuttle Garage.
Event Schedule
Here is the tentative event schedule for the meet against the Rockets (subject to change):
200 Medley relay 100 Free
1000 Free 200 Back
200 Free 200 Breast
100 Back 500 Free
100 Breast 100 Fly
200 Fly BREAK (10 minutes)
50 Free 200 IM
BREAK (20 minutes) 400 Free Relay
Last Time Out
Though individual swimmers have competed more recently, the last time Ohio State competed as a team was the annual OSU Invite back in November. The Buckeyes placed third out of 10 teams that weekend, finishing behind NCAA stalwart Stanford and also Kentucky, though just barely.
A number of Ohio State swimmers earned spots in A finals heats over the course of the weekend. Most notably, Taylor Vargo won both breaststroke events, and in both cases she came from behind to win. Liz Li also set a new meet record in the 50 freestyle, posting an NCAA A time in the process.
Olympic gold medalist and Stanford Cardinal Katie Ledecky put on quite a show for all attendees, setting two American records in fantastic fashion.
Top Times
Here are Ohio State’s top individual times through the first half of the season:
50 free- Liz Li (21.70, 3rd in the NCAA this season)
100 free- Liz Li (48.20, 2nd in the B1G this season)
200 free- Lindsey Clary (1:46.57, 9th in the B1G this season)
500 free- Lindsey Clary (4:39.33, 6th in the B1G this season)
1000 free- Lindsey Clary (9:37.99. 6th in the NCAA this season)
1650 free- Lindsey Clary (15:57.03, 5th in the NCAA this season)
100 back- Liz Li (53.94, 14th in the B1G this season)
200 back- Zulal Zeren (1:55.09, 6th in the B1G this season)
100 breast- Taylor Vargo (59.86, 4th in the B1G this season)
200 breast- Taylor Vargo (2:09.43. 4th in the B1G this season)
100 fly- Liz Li (51.42, 6th in the NCAA this season)
200 fly- Meg Bailey (1:56.10, 3rd in the B1G this season)
200 IM- Meg Bailey (1:57.20, 3rd in the B1G this season)
400 IM- Lindsey Clary (4:05.90 9th in the NCAA this season)
The Story So Far
– This year the inaugural USA College Challenge was held, an event that pitted the best the Big Ten had to offer against USA Swimming. Lindsey Clary, Liz Li, and Taylor Vargo represented the Buckeyes and all made their marks.
– Li set a new Big Ten record in the 100 fly with her time of 51.42.The performance also automatically qualified her for NCAA Championships. She finished second in that race, only trailing American record holder and Olympian Kelsi Worrell.
– Li also posted an NCAA A time in the 50 freestyle (21.72, fastest in the country this year), an event she won. Nine total Big Ten swimmers won an individual event, including three on the women’s side, so Li put herself in elite company.
– Clary shined brightest in the 400 IM, her time of 4:05.90 currently puts her atop the NCAA leaderboard and all but assured her a spot at NCAA’s. She also had strong showings in the 500 (4:43.22) and 1000 free (9:37.99).
– Vargo appeared in the 200 breaststroke for the Big Ten, recording a time of 2:12.53 in the same event she competed in during this summer’s Olympic Trials.
– In early December, the 2016 AT&T Winter National Championships were held in Atlanta and Clary won a national title, placing first in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:39.33). It marks the second national title for Clary, who capture the 400 IM crown as a sophomore in 2014. Former Buckeye swimmer Aliena Schmidtke won a championship in the 100 butterfly. Her time of 51.87 outpaced the rest of the field to give her gold.
– A pair of swimmers have earned weekly honors for fantastic performances this season. Liz Li was named the Big Ten Swimmer of the Week after her performance at the USA College Challenge and Taylor Vargo was named CollegeSwimming’s Big Ten Swimmer of the Week after the OSU Invite. Vargo swept the breaststroke events in impressive fashion.
– Ohio State enters the meet undefeated in dual meets, having beaten four Ohioan foes: Kenyon, Denison, Cleveland State, and Miami (OH).
Bucks On Us!
Did you know that Ohio State fans can enjoy over 20 sports for free? And even better, did you know that swimming and diving are among them?
There is no cost of admission for any regular season meet, meaning that you can enjoy all the Buckeyes’ home events and watch as some of the best student-athletes in the Big Ten for free!
From our official release: In order to celebrate Ohio State’s free admission sports, the Department of Athletics is officially launching the “Bucks On Us” campaign. Of the Buckeyes’ 36 varsity sports, over 20 do not charge admission to regular season home events. Those sports are: cross country, fencing, field hockey, men’s and women’s golf, men’s gymnastics, women’s ice hockey, women’s lacrosse, pistol, rifle, rowing, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, synchronized swimming, men’s and women’s tennis, track and field and men’s volleyball. (Note: NCAA/Big Ten Tournament contests may have an admission cost but all of these sports’ regular season home events are free to fans.).
Why does OSU yr after yr have such a soft schedule???? They don’t really race any power house teams or many in the Big 10????? Do they really just want to have a winning dual season?? Doesn’t really help in the end Bill!!!!
Ok