Stanford's Misty Hyman bounced back from a sub-par performance in the 200m back earlier this morning, qualifying first in the 200m fly at 2:10.14. With teammate Shelly Ripple winning the previous heat in 2:10.78, Stanford placed one-three with two swimmers who were doing the difficult 200 back/200 fly double.
Nevada's Limin Liu rocketed to an early lead in the final heat, splitting 28.92 at the 50 and 1:01.60 at the 100. Hyman began gradually reeling her Chinese rival in, catching her just before the final turn and forging ahead on the final lap. Liu, the second qualifier, finished in 2:10.66. In 1998 Hyman won this event. Last year Liu out-touched Hyman for the win. Once again, the two flyers are poised to wage a titanic battle in the final.
Arizona's Erin Vogt was fourth (2:10.93), followed by UCLA's Katie Younglove (2:11.23), Cal's Joscelin Yeo (2:11.38), Arizona's Trina Jackson (2:11.68) and Wisconsin's Gina Panighetti (2:11.74).
In the team race, Stanford has two in finals; Arizona has two in finals, one in consols; Cal has one swimmer in finals; and Georgia failed to qualify any swimmers for the top 16.