[M T]

Stanford absolutely destroyed the NCAA and American Record tonight, bringing it down with a dominant 6:45.91. Simone Manuel led them off in 48.57/1:41.41, followed by teammates Lia Neal (49.05/1:42.15), Ella Eastin (49.52/1:41.89), and Katie Ledecky (48.97/1:40.46).

While Ledecky’s 1:40.46 anchor split was well ahead of anyone in the heat, the fastest split of the night came from Louisville’s Mallory Comerford, who threw down a 48.59/1:40.21 on the 2nd leg in heat 2.

Based on today's swims, it appears that Katie would likely beat Simone  by a few tenths in the 200.

I find it interesting to compare today's times to the race in the PAC-12s, to get an idea of how the taper has worked.

PAC-12 results:

800 Free Relay
(wow, those are very fast exchanges!  I'd say too fast for a 800 relay that you know you're going to win.)
Neal, Lia SR        r:+0.69  24.07 50.02 1:16.68 1:43.34
Drabot, Katie FR r:0.15  2:07.08 2:33.44 2:59.86 3:26.77    (50.10  1:43.43)
Eastin, Ella SO    r:0.07  3:50.68 4:16.68 4:42.86 5:09.14    (49.91  1:42.37)
Ledecky, Katie FR  r:0.06  5:32.16 5:57.56 6:23.59 6:49.42  (48.42 1:40.28)

200 Free
Manuel, Simone SO  r:+0.68 23.05 48.28 1:13.93 1:40.37

So, Lia Neal improved by about roughly 0.75 seconds  (1:43.43 -0.69 = 1:42.74 vs 1:42.15 - 0.15(estimated))
Ella Eastin improved by about 0.5 seconds.
Katie slowed down by 0.18 seconds (likely part of that is a safer start).
It is worrisome is that Simone was a full second slower than her individual swim three weeks ago (0.3 on the first 50, 0.7 on the second).

The 200 Free will be a VERY interesting race.

[M T]

Stanford absolutely destroyed the NCAA and American Record tonight, bringing it down with a dominant 6:45.91. Simone Manuel led them off in 48.57/1:41.41, followed by teammates Lia Neal (49.05/1:42.15), Ella Eastin (49.52/1:41.89), and Katie Ledecky (48.97/1:40.46).

While Ledecky’s 1:40.46 anchor split was well ahead of anyone in the heat, the fastest split of the night came from Louisville’s Mallory Comerford, who threw down a 48.59/1:40.21 on the 2nd leg in heat 2.

Based on today's swims, it appears that Katie would likely beat Simone  by a few tenths in the 200.

I find it interesting to compare today's times to the race in the PAC-12s, to get an idea of how the taper has worked.

PAC-12 results:

800 Free Relay
(wow, those are very fast exchanges!  I'd say too fast for a 800 relay that you know you're going to win.)
Neal, Lia SR        r:+0.69  24.07 50.02 1:16.68 1:43.34
Drabot, Katie FR r:0.15  2:07.08 2:33.44 2:59.86 3:26.77    (50.10  1:43.43)
Eastin, Ella SO    r:0.07  3:50.68 4:16.68 4:42.86 5:09.14    (49.91  1:42.37)
Ledecky, Katie FR  r:0.06  5:32.16 5:57.56 6:23.59 6:49.42  (48.42 1:40.28)

200 Free
Manuel, Simone SO  r:+0.68 23.05 48.28 1:13.93 1:40.37

So, Lia Neal improved by about roughly 0.75 seconds  (1:43.43 -0.69 = 1:42.74 vs 1:42.15 - 0.15(estimated))
Ella Eastin improved by about 0.5 seconds.
Katie slowed down by 0.18 seconds (likely part of that is a safer start).
It is worrisome is that Simone was a full second slower than her individual swim three weeks ago (0.3 on the first 50, 0.7 on the second).

The 200 Free will be a VERY interesting race.