In a race that was dubbed fairly pedestrian this morning after it took a 4:40 to make the A-Final of the 500 freestyle at NCAAs and a 4:43 to get a second swim, it was a 1-2-3 sweep by three of the toughest women in the entire NCAA championships with Virginia’s Paige Madden leading from the outset at 4:33.61.
Distance specialists Evie Pfeifer of Texas (4:35.02) and Brooke Forde of Stanford (4:35.22) gave Madden all she could handle, flipping even with her at the 200 with Madden’s 1:47.44 to Pfeifer’s 1:47.86 and Forde’s 1:48.64. But Madden turned it on on the back half with 27-mids the rest of the way (albeit her 28.0 penultimate 50) and won with a 4:33.61. The time is not a best for Madden, who was a 4:32.98 at NCAAs two years ago when Forde won the NCAA title as those two have been on a collision course, missing out on last year’s meet, for this year in the 500. Madden and Pfeifer will lock horns on Saturday in the 1650 freestyle.
“It feels great. I have been working (toward) it for the past two years, ever since I finished second. It is definitely a good feeling,” Paige Madden said after the race. “I just wanted to do it for my team. After we got second in the relay, I wanted to hype us up a little big more. I wanted to be aggressive in the first half.”
There were six total seniors in this field as the experience really showed out for this field with Michigan’s Sierra Schmidt (4:39.30) placing in fourth after qualifying for the final from heat 1. NC State’s Kate Moore (4:39.71) and Georgia’s Courtney Harnish (4:41.33) also swam in the championship final as seniors as they both added from their conference times.
Cal’s Alya Spitz (4:39.70) and Ohio State’s Sally Tafuto (4:40.29) also swam in the championship final in fifth and seventh place, respectively.
Virginia has now won three NCAA titles in the 500 freestyle after Paige Madden won, and six overall national titles in swimming and diving, as that number should definitely grow by the end of tonight and the rest of the weekend. Madden joins Leah Smith (2015, 2016) as winners of the 500 freestyle for Virginia.
Event 3 Women 500 Yard Freestyle
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NCAA: N 4:24.06 3/16/2017 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
Meet: M 4:24.06 3/16/2017 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
American: A 4:24.06 3/16/2017 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
US Open: O 4:24.06 3/16/2017 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
Pool: P 4:29.54 12/4/2014 Katie Ledecky, NCAP
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== Championship Final ===
1 Madden, Paige SR Virginia 4:35.07 4:33.61 20
r:+0.72 25.13 52.30 (27.17)
1:19.73 (27.43) 1:47.44 (27.71)
2:15.28 (27.84) 2:42.81 (27.53)
3:10.26 (27.45) 3:37.85 (27.59)
4:05.91 (28.06) 4:33.61 (27.70)
2 Pfeifer, Evie SR Texas 4:38.18 4:35.02 17
r:+0.76 25.61 52.79 (27.18)
1:20.27 (27.48) 1:47.86 (27.59)
2:15.69 (27.83) 2:43.50 (27.81)
3:11.46 (27.96) 3:39.49 (28.03)
4:07.49 (28.00) 4:35.02 (27.53)
3 Forde, Brooke SR Stanford 4:37.49 4:35.22 16
r:+0.71 25.73 53.27 (27.54)
1:20.96 (27.69) 1:48.64 (27.68)
2:16.43 (27.79) 2:44.32 (27.89)
3:12.03 (27.71) 3:40.09 (28.06)
4:07.87 (27.78) 4:35.22 (27.35)
4 Schmidt, Sierra SR Michigan 4:40.00 4:39.30 15
r:+0.80 25.97 53.62 (27.65)
1:21.62 (28.00) 1:49.85 (28.23)
2:18.02 (28.17) 2:46.32 (28.30)
3:14.65 (28.33) 3:43.15 (28.50)
4:11.58 (28.43) 4:39.30 (27.72)
5 Spitz, Ayla SO California 4:40.15 4:39.70 14
r:+0.74 25.79 53.71 (27.92)
1:21.79 (28.08) 1:50.10 (28.31)
2:18.61 (28.51) 2:47.10 (28.49)
3:15.38 (28.28) 3:43.92 (28.54)
4:12.12 (28.20) 4:39.70 (27.58)
6 Moore, Kate SR NC State 4:40.13 4:39.71 13
r:+0.69 25.64 53.42 (27.78)
1:21.47 (28.05) 1:49.84 (28.37)
2:18.27 (28.43) 2:46.83 (28.56)
3:15.52 (28.69) 3:44.27 (28.75)
4:12.58 (28.31) 4:39.71 (27.13)
7 Tafuto, Sally JR Ohio St 4:40.70 4:40.29 12
r:+0.76 26.27 54.00 (27.73)
1:22.10 (28.10) 1:50.48 (28.38)
2:19.03 (28.55) 2:47.48 (28.45)
3:15.82 (28.34) 3:44.47 (28.65)
4:12.79 (28.32) 4:40.29 (27.50)
8 Harnish, Courtney SR Georgia 4:40.72 4:41.33 11
r:+0.79 25.94 53.70 (27.76)
1:21.99 (28.29) 1:50.30 (28.31)
2:18.81 (28.51) 2:47.43 (28.62)
3:15.91 (28.48) 3:44.62 (28.71)
4:13.15 (28.53) 4:41.33 (28.18)
=== Consolation Final ===
9 Stege, Kristen SO Tennessee 4:41.40 4:39.89 9
r:+0.79 25.49 53.05 (27.56)
1:21.44 (28.39) 1:49.96 (28.52)
2:18.44 (28.48) 2:46.97 (28.53)
3:15.65 (28.68) 3:44.31 (28.66)
4:12.84 (28.53) 4:39.89 (27.05)
10 McMahon, Kensey JR Alabama 4:41.99 4:39.98 7
r:+0.73 26.12 53.78 (27.66)
1:21.75 (27.97) 1:49.88 (28.13)
2:18.17 (28.29) 2:46.66 (28.49)
3:15.14 (28.48) 3:43.88 (28.74)
4:12.59 (28.71) 4:39.98 (27.39)
11 Mathieu, Tylor SO Florida 4:42.89 4:40.34 6
r:+0.74 26.05 53.89 (27.84)
1:22.06 (28.17) 1:50.49 (28.43)
2:19.08 (28.59) 2:47.61 (28.53)
3:16.24 (28.63) 3:44.71 (28.47)
4:13.17 (28.46) 4:40.34 (27.17)
12 Gyorgy, Reka SR Virginia Tech 4:42.37 4:42.04 5
r:+0.71 25.77 53.68 (27.91)
1:21.96 (28.28) 1:50.52 (28.56)
2:19.16 (28.64) 2:47.76 (28.60)
3:16.49 (28.73) 3:45.39 (28.90)
4:14.11 (28.72) 4:42.04 (27.93)
13 Neumann, Robin SR California 4:41.40 4:42.31 4
r:+0.63 25.52 53.44 (27.92)
1:21.89 (28.45) 1:50.32 (28.43)
2:18.91 (28.59) 2:47.54 (28.63)
3:16.00 (28.46) 3:44.89 (28.89)
4:13.96 (29.07) 4:42.31 (28.35)
14 Haebig, Autumn SR Nebraska 4:42.28 4:42.32 3
r:+0.76 25.74 53.95 (28.21)
1:22.14 (28.19) 1:50.72 (28.58)
2:19.54 (28.82) 2:48.41 (28.87)
3:17.18 (28.77) 3:45.78 (28.60)
4:14.37 (28.59) 4:42.32 (27.95)
15 Donohoe, Maddie SO Virginia 4:42.58 4:44.79 2
r:+0.67 26.00 54.07 (28.07)
1:22.75 (28.68) 1:51.57 (28.82)
2:20.40 (28.83) 2:49.19 (28.79)
3:18.06 (28.87) 3:47.34 (29.28)
4:16.68 (29.34) 4:44.79 (28.11)
16 Klinker, Rachel SO California 4:43.16 4:45.39 1
r:+0.72 26.11 54.41 (28.30)
1:22.79 (28.38) 1:51.22 (28.43)
2:19.95 (28.73) 2:48.84 (28.89)
3:18.07 (29.23) 3:47.64 (29.57)
4:16.89 (29.25) 4:45.39 (28.50)
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 3 1. Virginia 96 2. California 91 3. Ohio St 64 4. Texas 61 5. Alabama 59 6. Stanford 58 7. Georgia 51 8. NC State 45 9. Kentucky 34 10. Florida 32 11. Michigan 31 12. Missouri 30 13. Louisville 24 13. UNC 24 15. Tennessee 21 16. Indiana 12 17. Virginia Tech 11 18. Texas A&M 10 19. Wisconsin 8 20. Northwestern 6 21. Southern California 4 22. Nebraska 3
