Worth Repeating: The Katie Ledecky Page -- Previously Posted -- March 31, 2017

The Katie Ledecky Page

Katie Ledecky named PAC-12 newcomer of the year. 

Stanford wins its first national swimming and diving title in 19 years.

One year after the heartbreaking loss Stanford suffered to Georgia, The Cardinal have made it back to the top for the ninth time in their school history in their first NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship since 1998.

It was a dominate victory by Stanford who pretty much had it wrapped up by the end of day 3.

It was a special final race to end the night in the 400 free relay as Stanford’s Lia Neal, also an Olympian, would swim the anchor leg in her last race as a Cardinal.

Before the race, head coach Greg Meehan told the other swimmers on the relay, Simone Manuel, Katie Ledecky and Janet Hu, to go out and win this for Lia. They stood on the blocks, went out fast and never looked back. By the time Lia’s final lap came, all she had to do was bring them home.

Stanford ended up setting a new American and NCAA record with a time of 3:07.61, breaking the previous record they had set back at Pac-12s by 0.9 seconds. It was a storybook ending for Lia Neal and the Stanford Cardinal’s unforgettable season.

There's a nice video at the link -- the 400 Free Relay -- Ledecky had the third leg, and had a slight, very slight lead as she dived (dove?) in; she lengthened the Stanford lead by about a full body length, ensuring that Stanford would win. Stanford, 1st; then Georgia, and then USC.

And somewhat older news (previously reported): Ledeckky wins the 1650 free with second fastest time in history. Again, a nice video but it's almost 20 minutes long. The question was whether she could be the first woman to come in under 15 minutes. Not this time. A little over 15 minutes, 3 second.

But the big story was how much Stanford dominated this year (remember, they had not won the national championship in almost 20 years):

• Stanford: 526.5 points
• California: 366 points
• Texas A&M: 292.5 points
• Georgia: 252.5 points
• Texas: 252 points