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By David Rieder.
Swimming the 400 IM next to Katie Ledecky is an experience that Ella Eastin calls “terrifying,” and it’s hard to blame her. When competing against the best swimmer in the world and one of history’s all-time great freestylers, it’s hard to feel comfortable with any sort of lead going into the final 100 yards.
But during her freestyle leg in the NCAA championships final, Eastin had no reason to be scared. She had just put together the best 100 yards of breaststroke in her career and was on her way to delivering one of the most satisfying moments she has ever had in a pool.
At the halfway point, Eastin had a lead of seven tenths over Ledecky. She then split 1:06.57, “the best breaststroke split I’ve ever had, I think by two and a half seconds,” and by the time she turned for the freestyle leg, she had a four-second edge over Ledecky.
It was a jarring sight to watch the great Ledecky buried and fighting for second the same way she has buried so many swimmers over the years. But the moment did not belong to her—it belonged to the 20-year-old from Southern California who was about to win her third straight NCAA title in the 400 IM.
Over the final 100 yards, Eastin admitted that it was still intimidating to know Ledecky was charging, but she added that, “It was fun. The 400 IM is a really tough race, and I had a really enjoyable experience with it today.”
One night earlier, Eastin had finished on top in the 200 IM, reclaiming the NCAA title she won as a freshman from Kathleen Baker and breaking her own American record by almost a second. In the aftermath, she turned to the scoreboard, turned back towards the wall and pumped her fist.
Eastin celebrates with teammates after the 400 IM final — Photo Courtesy: Dan D’Addona
In the 400 IM, she needed no scoreboard confirmation of the result. But what the scoreboard showed her was a time two full seconds faster than anyone else had ever done: 3:54.60, compared to Ledecky’s American and NCAA records of 3:56.53 from the Pac-12 championships last month.
Stunning disbelief. That’s how everyone inside the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion felt watching.
And the woman on the performing end was someone who had taken every reason to doubt herself and turned it into supreme confidence.
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You can’t blame Eastin if she doesn’t like talking about her summer. It’s clear that the memory of her 400 IM disqualification at U.S. Nationals, the result that kept her off her first World Championships team, still stings. She had the swim of her life erased from public record—but not her own memory.
“Regardless of whether I was named to the World Champ team or not, I knew that all the training I did the year leading up to that was still with me and also the training that I’ve done over the last six months, and that was something that I could only draw confidence from,” Eastin said.
And she arrived this week in Columbus, Ohio, determined but also already satisfied and comfortable, with the mindset that she had already succeeded.
“I walked into this meet and tried to give myself the best opportunity to show everybody what I can do,” Eastin said. “I’ve been really pleased with the outcome of my races before I even do them, and I know I have really good training behind me. I’ve just kind of trusted myself every lap that I’ve swum.”
Now, Eastin finds herself on about as satisfying an emotional high as one can imagine: She has crushed two records in her two best events, with only the 200 fly (where she is again expected to dominate) still to come. She’s been a part of a national championship relay. And she’s watched as her Stanford team has won nine total events, giving the Cardinal a 146-point lead headed into the final day of competition.
Then there have been the incredibly satisfying moments like the one Eastin experienced on the awards podium after the 400 IM, when she looked at the scoreboard and saw that teammate Brooke Forde had finished fourth and broken 4:00 for the first time.
Ledecky and Eastin react to Forde’s breakthrough swim — Photo Courtesy: Dan D’Addona
Eastin reached over to get Ledecky’s attention and excitedly pointed to the scoreboard. “I was like, ‘Oh my god—Brooke broke four minutes! I told her she was going to!’”
Nope, not much more Eastin could ask of these NCAA championships so far. One day remains, and that one day will likely be emotional, with the Cardinal preparing to accept a second straight NCAA title trophy. One night’s sleep stands between Eastin and those final few moments, and when she gets in bed, she knows the emotions will still be running high.
“I actually have a really hard time sleeping throughout this entire meet. I take a lot of Advil PM, just trying to calm down,” Eastin said. “I definitely try to appreciate the moment, think about it before I go to sleep and try to relax as much as possible because we still have a lot of work to do.”
For Eastin, that work entails another shot at the 200 fly, where a win would lock up NCAA Swimmer of the Meet honors, and another American record would put a cap on one of the most magical individual NCAA performances in recent memory.
A week Ella Eastin will never forget—and a smile that will take a long time to melt away.
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Way to go Ella?.. awesome swimming xo brecken
We all love Katie…but that was a lights out ass wuppin Ella Eastin put on the ENTIRE history of the 400 IM scy/ncaa record…..just saying good job all but Ella DESERVES this moment in the SUN…and yes she NEEDS to win that damn 200 fly…for HERSELF…well and the rest of us…lol
Huge upset