Queen of the Pool: Izzy Ivey Delivers Dominant Performance, Wins 3 of 5 Events

2021 CAL POLY VS CAL QUEEN OF THE POOL

• September 24, 2021
• Anderson Pool, Cal Poly
• San Luis Obispo, California
• Short Course Yards (SCY)
• Results

The University of California, Berkeley, and California Polytechnic swim teams competed in the annual King and Queen of the Pool meet on Friday, Sept. 24. During the pentathlon-style meet each competitor races all four strokes 100s and the 100 IM. Upon the completion of all five races, the man and woman with the quickest aggregate time are crowned King of the Pool and Queen of the Pool, respectively.

This year’s King and Queen of the pool were Cal seniors Hugo Gonzalez on the men’s side and Izzy Ivey on the women’s.

• Read more about the men’s meet here.

Ivey managed to win the five-event competition by more than five seconds with a 4:39.91 while Ayla Spitz placed 2nd with a 4:45.26 and Isabelle Stadden 3rd in a 4:47.11. That time for Ivey marks the third-fastest time that any woman has swum in the 11-year history of the meet behind Abbey Weitzeil’s 4:38.76 in 2019 and Kathleen Baker’s 4:39.54 in 2017.

Ivey won three events at the meet, including the 100 butterfly, 100 freestyle, and 100 IM. Ivey managed to post the top 100 butterfly time at the meet despite trailing her own PB in the event by nearly 4 seconds. Ivey was a 54.20, compared to her 50.68 swim from a few months ago at the 2021 NCAA Championships, where she swam a 50.68.

In the 100 freestyle, Ivey was also a little slower than her 46.95 best time from 2021 NCAAs, which yielded her a bronze medal. Here she swam a 49.84 as the only swimmer in the field to crack 50 seconds. In her fifth and final swim, Ivey managed to improve upon her 100 IM best time with a 56.49, shaving a second and a half off her 58.09 from 2019.

Ivey placed second in the 100 backstroke with a 54.07 to teammate Isabelle Stadden, who hit a 53.45 for the win. Ivey and Stadden actually went 1-2 at last year’s Pac-12 Championships in the evennt, with Ivey swimming a 51.13 for gold and Stadden a 51.17 for silver. The duo also raced the event at NCAA Championships, where Ivey finished just off the podium in a 50.85 while Stadden touched in a 50.87 for 5th.

Second-place finisher overall Ayla Spitz followed Stadden and Ivey in the 100 backstroke with a 55.17 for third to trail her personal best of 52.85 from 2019. Ivey, Stadden, and Spitz also went 1-2-3 in the 100 IM as Stadden notched a 57.13 and Spitz a 57.30 to Ivey’s 57.30.

In the 100 breaststroke, Ema Rajic took first place in the 100 breaststroke with a 1:02.66, just out-touching teammate Alicia Henry, a Cal freshman, who hit a 1:02.71. The duo of Rajic and Henry was well ahead of the field in the breast event as Leah Polonsky touched in third with a 1:04.97.

Rajic was the Pac-12 silver medalist in 2021 in the 100 breaststroke, having swum a 58.45 PB, which she went on to follow up with a 59.17 from 14th overall at NCAAs.

Fourth place overall on the women’s side of the meet went to Cal sophomore Emily Gantriis (4:48.74) while the top-performing freshman was Mckenna Stone in 5th place (4:49.12). Cal Poly’s top performer overall was sophomore Katie Cross who earned a 5:05.66 for 22nd place.