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The Stanford women set a new American and NCAA record in the women’s 800 free relay Wednesday night to open up the women’s NCAA championships as Simone Manuel, Ella Eastin, Lia Neal and Katie Ledecky combined to finish in 6:45.91.
After the race, Eastin, Ledecky, Neal and Cardinal head coach Greg Meehan all spoke with Swimming World about the performance.
Eastin and Ledecky explained why they were excited by the opportunity to insert Manuel to the squad and what they felt they could accomplish with that foursome in the pool in Indy. Ledecky also sized up the NCAA championships after her first ever swim at the meet, while Eastin compared the start of the meet to last season’s.
Neal explained how she gets more nervous as she gets older and how the emotions of competing at her final NCAA championships have begun to sink in.
Finally, Meehan explained why he decided to insert Manuel onto the squad, the implications of that decision as far as lineups going forward and the meaning of breaking their American record again.
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Excellent start for the Stanford Women. . .
Greg, keep them guessing. . .
Great job