COLLEGE STATION, Texas, March 20. THE 4:00 barrier withstood another strong charge, but Stanford's Julia Smit still broke the American, U.S. Open and NCAA record in the women's 400-yard IM.
Smit claimed the title in 4:00.56 to break the American and U.S. Open record of 4:00.62 set by swimming wunderkind Dagny Knutson of Minot at the U.S. Short Course Nationals in December. The time also scorched Smit's NCAA record of 4:01.56 set last month.
USC's Katinka Hosszu won the race for second with a time of 4:01.49, while Texas' Kathleen Hersey placed third in 4:01.91. Both times were among the top five all time.
Smit's win defended her title from 2008 and gave Stanford its fifth win in the event. Previous winners for the Cardinal were Janet Evans (1990), Summer Sanders (1991-92) and Smit last year. The fifth title ties Stanford with Auburn for the second-most 400 IMs in NCAA history with Florida standing at the top with seven.
In a nice gesture of family loyalty, Virginia's Claire Crippen (14th/4:08.08) made a point to hang around the blocks after finishing her swim to wish sister Teresa (6th/4:06.77) luck during the traditional walk in.
Georgia wound up with 173 points after the race with Arizona jumping up to second with 164.5 points. California (152), Stanford (137) and Auburn (130.5) completed the top five.
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