Reported by James Sutherland.
WOMEN’S 100 FREE FINAL
- Taylor Ruck, HPCO, 53.42
- Simone Manuel, STAN, 53.84
- Margo Geer, MVN, 54.40
Taylor Ruck went head-to-head with reigning world champion Simone Manuel and didn’t flinch, taking the lead early and not giving an inch. Ruck flipped 1st in 25.89, and only gave up .01 to Manuel coming back as she won by over four tenths in 53.42. Manuel closed in 27.52 to overtake Margo Geer and take 2nd in 53.84, with Geer 3rd in 54.40.
Mallory Comerford (54.51), Katie Ledecky (54.56) and Kayla Sanchez (54.62) all joined Ruck and Manuel by coming back sub-28 to finish 4th, 5th and 6th. Allison Schmitt won the B-final in 55.13.
WOMEN’S 50 FREE FINAL
- PSS Record: 24.17, Sarah Sjostrom, 2016
- Simone Manuel, STAN, 24.59
- Margo Geer, MVN, 24.72
- Taylor Ruck, HPCO, 24.76
Stanford’s Simone Manuel threw down an impressive 24.59 to edge out Margo Geer and Taylor Ruck to win the women’s 50 freestyle, moving her up into 10th in the world after getting into the top-20 this morning.
Geer was 24.72 for 2nd, which improves her lifetime best of 24.78 done earlier this year, and Ruck proved she’s a consistent 24-second swimmer by dipping below 25 again in 24.76. She sits 7th in the world with her 24.26 from the Commonwealth Games.
Mallory Comerford (25.09) took 4th, and Kayla Sanchez (25.33) edged Kelsi Dahlia (25.36) for 5th.
WOMEN’S 200 FREE FINAL
- PSS Record: 1:54.43, Katie Ledecky, 2016
- Katie Ledecky, STAN, 1:55.42
- Simone Manuel, STAN, 1:58.06
- Mallory Comerford, UN, 1:58.71
Katie Ledecky picked up her third win of the meet in the women’s 200 free, asserting herself early with the quickest first 100 in 56.62 before touching in 1:55.42. After her preliminary showing of 1:57.00 put her 13th in the world, she jumps up to 4th.
Simone Manuel made it a Stanford 1-2 in 1:58.06, closing fiercely in 29.57 after flipping 5th at the 150. Mallory Comerford had a similar swim, turning in 6th with 50 metres to go but charging back in 29.74 to take 3rd in 1:58.71. That just misses her in-season best of 1:58.54.
Katie Drabot made it three Cardinal swimmers in the top-4 with her 1:58.86, and Leah Smith moved up from 8th at the 150 to 5th at the wall in 1:59.15.