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NCAA Women’s Championships: Taylor Ruck Takes Top Seed in 200 Free Heats Ahead of Lia Thomas, Isabel Ivey
It will be a showdown in the 200 freestyle final at the NCAA Women’s Championships after Stanford’s Taylor Ruck narrowly earned the top seed over Penn’s Lia Thomas and Cal’s Isabel Ivey in a fast prelims. Ruck, who had the fastest split in the entire field on the 800 freestyle relay Wednesday night with her 1:40.49, was seeded only 19th coming into the meet, but she made quick work of her heat while winning in 1:41.89. Ruck has the quickest best time in the field by far with her 1:40.37 from the 2019 NCAA Championships, which ties her for fourth all-time.
Thomas, meanwhile, entered the meet as the top seed, but she was almost a bodylength behind USC’s Laticia-Leigh Transom at the halfway point of heat seven. But Thomas had another gear as she out-split Transom by more than eight tenths on the third 50 to pull into the lead. Thomas finished in 1:42.09, just off her time of 1:41.93 from December. Thomas is aiming to add to her Thursday title in the 500 free that made her the first transgender female swimmer to ever win an NCAA title in swimming.
Third in prelims went to Cal’s Isabel Ivey, who held off Texas’ Kelly Pash to win heat five in 1:42.24. Ivey owns the top time in the nation in the 200 free this season with her 1:41.35 relay leadoff from Wednesday evening, so she figures to be in the mix with Ruck and Thomas in the final. The top three swimmers all swam faster than Paige Madden’s title-winning time of 1:42.35 from last season.
Pash qualified fourth in 1:42.78, while Transom ended up fifth in 1:42.93. Stanford’s Lillie Nordmann uncorked a huge best time of 1:43.02 to qualify sixth and join Ruck in the final, and Kentucky’s Riley Gaines was seventh in 1:43.05. A third Stanford swimmer, Morgan Tankersley, qualified eighth in 1:43.53, barely edging out Virginia’s Reilly Tiltmann (1:43.59) for the last spot in the A-final.
Event 10 Women 200 Yard Freestyle
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NCAA: N 1:39.10 3/20/2015 Missy Franklin, California
Meet: M 1:39.10 3/20/2015 Missy Franklin, California
American: A 1:39.10 3/20/2015 Missy Franklin, California
US Open: O 1:39.10 3/20/2015 Missy Franklin, California
Pool: P 1:41.35 3/16/2022 Isabel Ivey, California
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Ruck, Taylor JR Stanford 1:41.89
r:+0.66 23.29 48.86 (25.57)
1:15.01 (26.15) 1:41.89 (26.88)
2 Thomas, Lia 5Y Penn 1:42.09
r:+0.76 24.58 50.87 (26.29)
1:16.53 (25.66) 1:42.09 (25.56)
3 Ivey, Isabel SR California 1:42.24
r:+0.73 23.28 48.54 (25.26)
1:15.04 (26.50) 1:42.24 (27.20)
4 Pash, Kelly JR Texas 1:42.78
r:+0.70 24.07 50.08 (26.01)
1:16.41 (26.33) 1:42.78 (26.37)
5 Transom, Laticia-Leig SR USC 1:42.93
r:+0.71 23.80 49.54 (25.74)
1:16.05 (26.51) 1:42.93 (26.88)
6 Nordmann, Lillie FR Stanford 1:43.02
r:+0.66 24.50 50.58 (26.08)
1:16.46 (25.88) 1:43.02 (26.56)
7 Gaines, Riley SR Kentucky 1:43.05
r:+0.64 24.40 50.41 (26.01)
1:16.48 (26.07) 1:43.05 (26.57)
8 Tankersley, Morgan SR Stanford 1:43.53
r:+0.70 24.71 51.06 (26.35)
1:17.25 (26.19) 1:43.53 (26.28)
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9 Tiltmann, Reilly FR Virginia 1:43.59
r:+0.73 24.88 51.77 (26.89)
1:17.57 (25.80) 1:43.59 (26.02)
10 Laning, Erica 5Y ASU 1:44.38
r:+0.72 24.85 50.94 (26.09)
1:17.56 (26.62) 1:44.38 (26.82)
11 Stepanek, Chloe SO TAMU 1:44.43
r:+0.65 24.15 50.56 (26.41)
1:17.03 (26.47) 1:44.43 (27.40)
12 Peplowski, Anna FR Indiana 1:44.55
r:+0.73 24.12 50.50 (26.38)
1:17.32 (26.82) 1:44.55 (27.23)
13 Coetzee, Dune FR Georgia 1:44.65
r:+0.73 24.93 51.26 (26.33)
1:17.84 (26.58) 1:44.65 (26.81)
14 Bates, Talia JR Florida 1:44.74
r:+0.72 24.33 51.03 (26.70)
1:18.10 (27.07) 1:44.74 (26.64)
15 Spitz, Ayla JR California 1:44.92
r:+0.72 24.58 51.20 (26.62)
1:17.97 (26.77) 1:44.92 (26.95)
16 Atkinson, Emma SO VT 1:44.93
r:+0.72 24.98 51.52 (26.54)
1:18.18 (26.66) 1:44.93 (26.75)
Thomas sandbagging in the 200! Check the 100y splits of Thomas, compared to the other 7 WOMEN in finals. Thomas in 7th place after the first 100y. Less than half a second between first and second 100y splits. The other 7 WOMEN all had differences of between :02 and :05.1 between 100y splits.
How do the women who placed 9th and 17th in the 500 and 200 Free feel?