NCAA Women’s Championships: Alex Walsh, Ella Nelson Swim 4:01s to Dominate 400 IM Prelims
With Virginia already holding a 46.5-point lead in the team competition, the Cavaliers are set up for another big haul in the 400 IM after Alex Walsh and Ella Nelson posted the top two qualifying times in the morning prelims. Walsh, the third-place swimmer in the 200 IM Thursday and the defending NCAA champion in this event, was out well ahead of the field in the final heat, leading the final heat by almost three seconds at the halfway point before Nelson made a major charge on breaststroke.
Nelson, who entered the meet as the top seed after swimming a time of 3:59.33 at the ACC Championships last month, trailed Walsh by just a quarter-second after breaststroke, and she appeared to take the lead on freestyle as the UVA duo went stroke-for-stroke to the finish, but Walsh got her hand on the wall in 4:01.86, one hundredth ahead of Nelson’s 4:01.87. Walsh’s best time of 3:57.25 ranks fourth all-time in this event behind Ella Eastin, Katie Ledecky and Katinka Hosszu, while Nelson is 11th-quickest in history.
Meanwhile, NC State’s Grace Sheble took third in that heat in 4:04.65, and that was good enough for the third-best qualifying time into the evening’s final. Florida’s Mabel Zavaros finished fourth in that heat in 4:05.72, good for fifth overall in the morning.
In the fifth of sixth heats, Louisville’s Abby Hay established a big early lead, but Florida’s Emma Weyant built steadily over the course of the 16 lengths before taking over the lead on freestyle. Weyant, the fourth-place swimmer in this event last year behind Walsh, Stanford’s Brooke Forde and Nelson, finished in 4:05.61 for fourth-best overall, while Stanford’s Lucy Bell (4:06.05) and Kentucky’s Lauren Poole (4:06.33) also qualified out of that heat. Hay ended up finishing in 4:07.46 for 11th overall.
In the first of the circle-seeded heats, Minnesota’s Megan Van Berkom claimed a tight win over Cal’s Leah Polonsky and Ohio State’s Felicia Pasadyn. Van Berkom finished in 4:06.70, and she needed every bit to clinch the last spot in the A-final. Polonsky (4:06.94) and Pasadyn (4:06.95) will be the top two swimmers in the B-final.
Event 8 Women 400 Yard IM
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NCAA: N 3:54.60 3/16/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
Meet: M 3:54.60 3/16/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
American: A 3:54.60 3/16/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
US Open: O 3:54.60 3/16/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
Pool: P 3:58.36 2/15/2012 Elizabeth Beisel, Florida
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Walsh, Alex JR Virginia 4:03.79 4:01.86
r:+0.78 25.40 53.94 (28.54)
1:24.70 (30.76) 1:54.31 (29.61)
2:28.54 (34.23) 3:03.49 (34.95)
3:33.31 (29.82) 4:01.86 (28.55)
2 Nelson, Ella SR Virginia 3:59.33 4:01.87
r:+0.71 26.31 55.66 (29.35)
1:26.62 (30.96) 1:57.15 (30.53)
2:30.20 (33.05) 3:03.73 (33.53)
3:33.02 (29.29) 4:01.87 (28.85)
3 Sheble, Grace SO NC State 4:04.98 4:04.65
r:+0.65 25.74 55.10 (29.36)
1:26.77 (31.67) 1:57.79 (31.02)
2:31.88 (34.09) 3:06.77 (34.89)
3:36.24 (29.47) 4:04.65 (28.41)
4 Weyant, Emma SO Florida 4:01.18 4:05.61
r:+0.77 26.74 56.51 (29.77)
1:28.00 (31.49) 1:59.02 (31.02)
2:33.77 (34.75) 3:09.43 (35.66)
3:38.06 (28.63) 4:05.61 (27.55)
5 Zavaros, Mabel JR Florida 4:07.41 4:05.72
r:+0.66 25.89 55.24 (29.35)
1:26.61 (31.37) 1:56.71 (30.10)
2:32.90 (36.19) 3:09.27 (36.37)
3:38.17 (28.90) 4:05.72 (27.55)
6 Bell, Lucy FR Stanford 4:06.28 4:06.05
r:+0.70 25.97 55.76 (29.79)
1:27.78 (32.02) 1:58.88 (31.10)
2:33.53 (34.65) 3:09.30 (35.77)
3:38.53 (29.23) 4:06.05 (27.52)
7 Poole, Lauren SR Kentucky 4:04.62 4:06.33
r:+0.69 26.24 56.31 (30.07)
1:27.57 (31.26) 1:58.42 (30.85)
2:33.48 (35.06) 3:08.71 (35.23)
3:38.27 (29.56) 4:06.33 (28.06)
8 Van Berkom, Megan JR Minnesota 4:04.86 4:06.70
r:+0.68 25.70 55.32 (29.62)
1:27.45 (32.13) 1:58.76 (31.31)
2:33.98 (35.22) 3:09.69 (35.71)
3:38.88 (29.19) 4:06.70 (27.82)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
9 Polonsky, Leah SO California 4:05.27 4:06.94
r:+0.66 26.48 56.32 (29.84)
1:28.16 (31.84) 1:58.87 (30.71)
2:33.76 (34.89) 3:09.35 (35.59)
3:39.34 (29.99) 4:06.94 (27.60)
10 Pasadyn, Felicia 5Y Ohio St 4:03.62 4:06.95
r:+0.69 25.67 54.51 (28.84)
1:25.18 (30.67) 1:55.63 (30.45)
2:31.39 (35.76) 3:08.67 (37.28)
3:38.14 (29.47) 4:06.95 (28.81)
11 Hay, Abby SR Louisville 4:05.23 4:07.46
r:+0.72 25.03 53.75 (28.72)
1:25.15 (31.40) 1:56.69 (31.54)
2:31.75 (35.06) 3:07.57 (35.82)
3:38.11 (30.54) 4:07.46 (29.35)
12 MacEachern, Paige SO UCLA 4:06.17 4:08.10
r:+0.71 26.77 56.98 (30.21)
1:29.26 (32.28) 2:00.54 (31.28)
2:35.23 (34.69) 3:10.81 (35.58)
3:39.89 (29.08) 4:08.10 (28.21)
13 Dixon, Zoe FR Florida 4:06.18 4:08.14
r:+0.64 26.22 55.86 (29.64)
1:26.69 (30.83) 1:56.79 (30.10)
2:32.67 (35.88) 3:08.99 (36.32)
3:39.21 (30.22) 4:08.14 (28.93)
14 Tadder, Samantha SO Stanford 4:10.01 4:08.67
r:+0.66 26.53 56.92 (30.39)
1:29.47 (32.55) 2:01.83 (32.36)
2:35.84 (34.01) 3:10.35 (34.51)
3:39.70 (29.35) 4:08.67 (28.97)
15 Looze, Mac 5Y Indiana 4:09.67 4:09.33
r:+0.66 27.28 57.12 (29.84)
1:29.44 (32.32) 2:01.04 (31.60)
2:36.42 (35.38) 3:11.90 (35.48)
3:40.86 (28.96) 4:09.33 (28.47)
16 Maier, Nicole JR Miami (Ohio) 4:09.22 4:09.61
r:+0.72 26.67 57.32 (30.65)
1:30.73 (33.41) 2:03.34 (32.61)
2:38.41 (35.07) 3:14.16 (35.75)
3:42.75 (28.59) 4:09.61 (26.86)
