Lia Thomas swims for Penn and is participating in the Ivy League Conference Championships, which are on ESPN+ TODAY.
Heat sheets, results, and video link can be found here.
The 800-free relay was swum on Wed. Lia Thomas led off the relay with a 1:44.50, touching first (but barely).
It appears that all teams (except one) put their fastest swimmer first (presumably to swim in the cleanest water possible).
Lia Thomas had the fastest split of anyone.
Ok, so you're asking, why did she swim a 1:44.5 when she swam 2.5 seconds faster in December? What I would suspect is that she's continuing to work out through this meet and is aiming to peak at the NCAA championships in a month. Speed is the last thing to peak. I expect she will do relatively better in this meet in the longer races.
The 500 Free leads off at 8AM PST, with finals at 3PM PST.
Lia Thomas is seeded a pool length (13 seconds) ahead of 2nd.
On Friday, she is listed as seeded first in the 200 Free, some 4.9 seconds ahead of 2nd.
Prelims start at 8AM and finals at 3PM PST. The 200 Free will be the 3rd event of the prelims, 4th of the finals)
(She is not listed as an entrant in the 1000yd free even though she swam a time 13 seconds better than the #1 seed.)
She may swim the freestyle leg on the 400 medley relay at the end of the evening.
On Saturday, the 1650yd Free final heat will begin at 3:00PM PST.
Lia Thomas is seeded 24 seconds ahead of 2nd (not quite lapping 2nd, but lapping 3rd).
She is seeded 2nd in the 100 Free. I suspect she'll swim it hard in the prelims (to assure making Nationals in it), and maybe scratch it in the finals as it follows the 1650 free by about a half hour.
I suspect she will instead swim a leg on the 400 Free Relay, the last event of the meet.
Heat sheets, results, and video link can be found here.
The 800-free relay was swum on Wed. Lia Thomas led off the relay with a 1:44.50, touching first (but barely).
It appears that all teams (except one) put their fastest swimmer first (presumably to swim in the cleanest water possible).
Lia Thomas had the fastest split of anyone.
Ok, so you're asking, why did she swim a 1:44.5 when she swam 2.5 seconds faster in December? What I would suspect is that she's continuing to work out through this meet and is aiming to peak at the NCAA championships in a month. Speed is the last thing to peak. I expect she will do relatively better in this meet in the longer races.
The 500 Free leads off at 8AM PST, with finals at 3PM PST.
Lia Thomas is seeded a pool length (13 seconds) ahead of 2nd.
On Friday, she is listed as seeded first in the 200 Free, some 4.9 seconds ahead of 2nd.
Prelims start at 8AM and finals at 3PM PST. The 200 Free will be the 3rd event of the prelims, 4th of the finals)
(She is not listed as an entrant in the 1000yd free even though she swam a time 13 seconds better than the #1 seed.)
She may swim the freestyle leg on the 400 medley relay at the end of the evening.
On Saturday, the 1650yd Free final heat will begin at 3:00PM PST.
Lia Thomas is seeded 24 seconds ahead of 2nd (not quite lapping 2nd, but lapping 3rd).
She is seeded 2nd in the 100 Free. I suspect she'll swim it hard in the prelims (to assure making Nationals in it), and maybe scratch it in the finals as it follows the 1650 free by about a half hour.
I suspect she will instead swim a leg on the 400 Free Relay, the last event of the meet.