Waves Bloomington/Normal YMCA’s Hannah Boyd has committed to the Stanford Cardinal for next fall. Boyd is a very strong freestyler, who excels most at the 200 and 500 free. Her freshman year at University High School, in Normal, IL, she won the IHSA State title in the 200 free with a 1:49.05, though that was the only high school state meet at which Boyd swam at.
Verbally commited to Stanford University ✔️❤️ #gotrees pic.twitter.com/sU3ZvSYtvW
— Hannah Boyd (@_halfbanana) October 12, 2015
Boyd’s Top Times (SCY/LCM)
- 100 free – 50.66/57.01
- 200 free – 1:46.89/2:02.34
- 500/400 free – 4:45.51/4:18.27
- 800 free – 8:54.47
Her best times all come from the 2013-14 season, though she still picked up Winter Nationals qualifying times with her 57.26 and 2:04.13 from this past summer in the 100 and 200 meter freestyle races.
Boyd would’ve been Stanford’s 4th-fastest 500 freestyler last season, and her best times put her in B final scoring range in the 200 and 500 free as well as on the C final bubble in the 100 free.
Other than the one and only Katie Ledecky, Boyd will join Erin Voss, Megan Byrnes, Brooke Stenstrom, and Katie Drabot in Palo Alto next fall. Stanford, always a program to recruit the cream of the crop, has five top-notch freestylers (and one certain World Record holder) coming in to a program that is already jam-packed with freestyle talents like Lia Neal and Simone Manuel. Boyd looks to be a scorer at the Pac-12 level, and could fit into the Cardinal 800 free relay in the future, too.
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I see huge potential for her in the 200 and 500 free. If she can pull of a 1:46 in the 200 while still having a :50 mid for her 100, then her 200 can see huge improvement, particularly at Stanford. Getting that 100 down to a :49.4 or lower can drop her 200 all the way down to 1:44, or maybe even 1:43 if she can hold pace well. I predict :24.1, :27.3, :27.0, :26.8 to be her best splits next season, assuming she drops time. A final time of 1:45.2.
Stanford also has a verbal from distance freestyler/400 IMer Megan Byrnes.