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California’s Missy Franklin absolutely demolished her NCAA, U.S. Open and American record in the women’s 200-yard free at the NCAA Division I Women’s Championships.
Franklin put on what ESPNU commentator Rowdy Gaines said was the most impressive yards swim of all time as she obliterated her record of 1:40.31 with a ridiculous time of 1:39.10.
Not only did Franklin blow through the 1:40 barrier, she broke her record by a full 1.21 seconds and nearly jumped into the 1:38 range.
That’s California’s fourth title ever in the 200 free:
1986 Conny Van Bentum, California, 1:46.45
2009 Dana Vollmer, California, 1:42.01
2014 Missy Franklin, California, 1:40.31
Franklin led a huge scoring event for the Golden Bears with Cierra Runge (1:43.23) and Caroline Piehl (1:44.30) going fourth and eighth as California took a 294-252 lead over Georgia after the race.
Missy Franklin, California
On swimming like it’s her last NCAA meet
“I can’t even believe that. I do, I want to finish with a bang. I’ve been thinking about that [1:] 39 literally all season so to finally get it – words can’t describe.”On the importance of the win for Cal
“That’s the most important thing – I got my hand to the wall and got the most points I could for my team and that’s what matters most.”
Stanford’s Simone Manuel, who had been touted as a potential challenger for Franklin after clocking a 1:41.15 at the Pacific 12 Championships, wound up taking second tonight in 1:41.45.
Stanford’s Lia Neal finished third overall in 1:42.65 to move to 15th all time in the event’s history.
1 Franklin, Missy SO California-PC 1:41.92 1:39.10ND1-A 20
r:+0.77 22.98 47.74 (24.76)
1:12.91 (25.17) 1:39.10 (26.19)
2 Manuel, Simone FR Stanford-PC 1:41.93 1:41.45PD1-A 17
r:+0.73 23.70 49.12 (25.42)
1:15.03 (25.91) 1:41.45 (26.42)
3 Neal, Lia SO Stanford-PC 1:43.77 1:42.65 D1-A 16
r:+0.74 24.31 50.02 (25.71)
1:16.37 (26.35) 1:42.65 (26.28)
4 Runge, Cierra FR California-PC 1:43.71 1:43.23 D1-A 15
r:+0.81 24.53 50.68 (26.15)
1:17.24 (26.56) 1:43.23 (25.99)
5 Goss, Kennedy FR Indiana-IN 1:43.37 1:43.52 D1-A 14
r:+0.64 24.61 50.90 (26.29)
1:17.32 (26.42) 1:43.52 (26.20)
6 Chenault, Chels SO Southern Cali-CA 1:42.53 1:43.90 D1-A 13
r:+0.82 24.12 50.38 (26.26)
1:16.72 (26.34) 1:43.90 (27.18)
7 Smith, Leah SO Virginia-VA 1:43.80 1:44.00 D1-B 12
r:+0.79 24.67 50.96 (26.29)
1:17.51 (26.55) 1:44.00 (26.49)
8 Piehl, Caroline SR California-PC 1:43.78 1:44.30 D1-B 11
r:+0.75 24.82 51.66 (26.84)
1:18.00 (26.34) 1:44.30 (26.30)
1. California 294 2. Georgia 252 3. Stanford 173 4. Louisville 145 5. Virginia 118 6. Texas A&M 116.5 7. Tennessee 96 8. Southern California 89 9. Texas 82 10. Missouri 71 11. Wisconsin 59 12. Florida 52 13. NC State 51 14. Arizona 48 15. Auburn 34 15. Kentucky 34 17. Minnesota 32 18. UNC 30.5 19. Florida State 30 20. Florida Gulf Coast 26.5 21. Penn State 26 22. Indiana 24 22. Notre Dame 24 24. Denver 17 25. Purdue 14 26. Illinois State University 12 27. So. Methodist 9.5 28. Nevada 9 29. Miami University (Ohio) 7 30. UCLA 6 30. University of Miami (Florida) 6 32. Ohio State 5 33. San Diego State 4 33. Kansas 4 33. Iowa 4 36. Michigan 3 36. Hawaii (W) 3 36. Lsu 3 39. Cincinnati 1
2015 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming & Diving, Live Results – Results
Wowza!
That is unreal.
Wow. The US 4×200 is going to be ridiculous in Rio.
Consider the night Mark Spitz had:
He was the first person ever under :50.0 in 100 Fly; April, 1967 AAU Championships in Dallas at :49.9.
Now Kelsi Worrell at :49.81.
He was the first person ever under 1:40.0 in 200 free; March, 1969 NCAA in Bloomington, Ind at 1:39.5.
Now Missy Franklin at 1:39.12.
A good night, ladies!
Antonio Soto Echeverria
I take pictures like that!
Woooooouuuuu Eric Mellow