2021 NCAA WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- When: Wednesday, March 17 – Saturday, March 20, 2021
- Where: Greensboro Aquatic Center / Greensboro, NC (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending champion: Stanford (3x) – 2019 results
- Streaming:
- Championship Central
- Live Results
- Our story on pre-selection psych sheets.
- See the full pre-selection NCAA women’s psych sheets here.
Cal star Izzy Ivey is opting to swim a double on day 3 of NCAAs this year, rather than swimming the 200 IM or 50 free on day 2 of the meet. This year, Ivey is entered in the 100 fly and 100 back, both of which are on day 3, and the 100 free, which is on day 4. Ivey’s event selections mirrors her scored event schedule at Pac-12s last week, though, she did did swim the 50 free exhibition at the meet as well.
Ivey has competed in 6 events this season, and realistically, she could have justifiably swum any of the 6 at NCAAs. She enters NCAAs as the 2nd seed in the 100 free, 5th seed in the 100 back, and 6th in the 100 fly. She could have entered the 200 IM on day 2 as the 8th seed, or the 50 free as the T-20 seed, although, she’s split low-21s off relay starts several times, indicating she could finish significantly higher than 20th in the event. Ivey also could have swum another event on day 3 – the 200 free, where she would have been the 5th seed.
Ivey choosing not to race individually on day 2 may have been strategic, as there are 2 relays on day 2 of NCAAs. Not swimming the 200 IM or 50 free may indicate that Cal intends to have Ivey race on both the 200 free and 400 medley relays. Additionally, the 200 medley relay is on day 3, where Ivey is swimming her double. The 200 medley would be the relay Ivey is least likely to compete on, since Cal can have one of their other sprinters take the fly leg on that relay.
Ivey has successfully navigated the 100 fly/100 back NCAA double before, having done so at the 2019 NCAAs. In 2019, Ivey swam to a 4th-place finish in the 100 back, and 6th in the 100 fly. She also won the B final of the 200 IM. Also, in 2019, Ivey only swam on the 800 free, 400 free, and 200 medley relays.