Ohio State Women Head To Cincinnati For Weekend Meet

Ohio State’s women’s swimming and diving teams hit the road for a quad meet at the University of Cincinnati this weekend. In addition to the Buckeyes and the host-Bearcats, Kenyon and Oakland will be in attendance. The meet will span Friday and Saturday, with the first session beginning at 5:00 p.m. and resuming at 11:00 a.m. the following day.

There will be no live results for this weekend, however there will be a live stream for both day one and day two.

Event Schedule

Here is the event schedule for this weekend’s meet:

Friday:                                                                                  Saturday:           

200 Medley Relay                                                            400 Medley Relay

500 Freestyle                                                                     1000 Freestyle

100 Butterfly                                                                      200 IM

100 Backstroke                                                                  200 Freestyle

100 Freestyle                                                                     50 Freestyle

100 Breaststroke                                                              200 Backstroke

400 IM                                                                                  200 Breaststroke

200 Freestyle Relay                                                         200 Butterfly

400 Freestyle Relay

Last Time Out

This will be Ohio State’s second meet of the calendar year after defeating in-state foe Toledo back on Jan. 4 by a score of 168-64.

Buckeye swimmers won every event that afternoon, including Lindsey Clary and Liz Li who won two individual events each. Including relays Amanda McNulty, Marianne Kahmann, and Meg Bailey all won multiple events against the Rockets.

In the Rankings

In the most recent edition of the College Swimming Coaches Association of America poll, Ohio State sits 19^th in the country, one of five Big Ten teams in the rankings. On CollegeSwimming.com the Buckeyes are 18^th, with nine other Big Ten teams falling in the Top 40.

Top Times

Here are Ohio State’s top individual times through the first half of the season:

50 free- Liz Li (21.70, 3rd in the NCAA this season)

100 free- Liz Li (48.20, 2nd in the B1G this season)

200 free- Lindsey Clary (1:46.57, 9th in the B1G this season)

500 free- Lindsey Clary (4:39.33, 6th in the B1G this season)

1000 free- Lindsey Clary (9:37.99. 6th in the NCAA this season)

1650 free- Lindsey Clary (15:57.03, 5th in the NCAA this season)

100 back- Liz Li (53.94, 14th in the B1G this season)

200 back- Zulal Zeren (1:55.09, 6th in the B1G this season)

100 breast- Taylor Vargo (59.86, 4th in the B1G this season)

200 breast- Taylor Vargo (2:09.43. 4th in the B1G this season)

100 fly- Liz Li (51.42, 6th in the NCAA this season)

200 fly- Meg Bailey (1:56.10, 3rd in the B1G this season)

200 IM- Meg Bailey (1:57.20, 3rd in the B1G this season)

400 IM- Lindsey Clary (4:05.90 9th in the NCAA this season)

The Story So Far

–          This year the inaugural USA College Challenge was held, an event that pitted the best the Big Ten had to offer against USA Swimming. Lindsey Clary, Liz Li, and Taylor Vargo represented the Buckeyes and all made their marks.

–          Li set a new Big Ten record in the 100 fly with her time of 51.42.The performance also automatically qualified her for NCAA Championships. She finished second in that race, only trailing American record holder and Olympian Kelsi Worrell.

–          Li also posted an NCAA A time in the 50 freestyle (21.72, fastest in the country this year), an event she won. Nine total Big Ten swimmers won an individual event, including three on the women’s side, so Li put herself in elite company.

–          Clary shined brightest in the 400 IM, her time of 4:05.90 currently puts her atop the NCAA leaderboard and all but assured her a spot at NCAA’s. She also had strong showings in the 500 (4:43.22) and 1000 free (9:37.99).

–          Vargo appeared in the 200 breaststroke for the Big Ten, recording a time of 2:12.53 in the same event she competed in during this summer’s Olympic Trials.

–          In early December, the 2016 AT&T Winter National Championships were held in Atlanta and Clary won a national title, placing first in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:39.33). It marks the second national title for Clary, who capture the 400 IM crown as a sophomore in 2014. Former Buckeye swimmer Aliena Schmidtke won a championship in the 100 butterfly. Her time of 51.87 outpaced the rest of the field to give her gold.

–          A pair of swimmers have earned weekly honors for fantastic performances this season. Liz Li was named the Big Ten Swimmer of the Week after her performance at the USA College Challenge and Taylor Vargo was named CollegeSwimming’s Big Ten Swimmer of the Week after the OSU Invite. Vargo swept the breaststroke events in impressive fashion.

–          Ohio State enters the meet undefeated in dual meets, having beaten five Ohioan foes: Kenyon, Denison, Cleveland State, Miami (OH), and Toledo.

News courtesy of Ohio State Athletics,