The Week That Was: Stanford Powers to Second Straight NCAA Title

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

This week, the Stanford women’s team dominated the NCAA championships and claimed a second straight title, breaking several American and NCAA records along the way. Get a recap from that meet and all the biggest stories of the week in The Week That Was!

The Week That Was #5 – Paralympic Champion Wenpan Huang Dies Unexpectedly In Car Accident

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Photo Courtesy: Cathleen Pruden

Six-time Paralympic Games medalist Wenpan Huang of China died unexpectedly earlier this week in a car accident in Hongya County, China. In a statement provided by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), President Andrew Parsons said, “It is absolutely devastating news that one of the world’s best Para swimmers has been killed in a car accident. The thoughts of the whole Paralympic Movement are with his family, friends and teammates.” The 22-year-old won five golds and one silver medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games and most recently won five golds and one bronze medal at the most recent World Para Swimming Championships in Mexico City in December.

The Week That Was #4 – North Allegheny Takes Down Two National High School Records

Photo Courtesy: Competitor

The North Allegheny High School boys were dominant last week at the 2018 Pennsylvania 3A High School Swimming and Diving Championships, winning the meet and sweeping all three relay events, with two huge National High School records in the 4×50 and 4×100 freestyle relays. In the 4×50 free relay, the team of Jack Wright, Joel Songer, Rick Mihm and Mason Gonzalez touched in 1:19.60 to win by more than three seconds and break their own National Public School record of 1:20.46 from December. In the 4×100 free relay, Wright, Mihm and Gonzalez were joined by Andrew Zhang to set a new National High School record of 2:52.81. That puts them past the old Private School record from Bolles in 2012 that featured future Olympians Ryan Murphy, Joseph Schooling and Santo Condorelli. You can see full results of the meet here.

The Week That Was #3 – Claire Tuggle Impresses at NCSA Junior Nationals

Photo Courtesy: Clovis Swim Club

13-year-old Claire Tuggle was a standout at the NCSA Junior National Championships in Orlando, putting up some of the top times in history for her age group. The Clovis Swim Club swimmer won the 200 free in a quick 1:44.96, second all-time for 13-14 year olds behind Missy Franklin’s 1:44.55 from 2010. Tuggle also won the 500 free (4:41.36), good for fifth-fastest all-time in her age group. Nation’s Capital won the combined team score with 2388 points while also taking the boys and girls meets with 1159 points and 1229 points, respectively. Isabelle Stadden won the high point award on the girl’s side with a total of 234 points, while David Madej took home the men’s high point award with a total of 198 points. Stadden was also awarded Performance of the Meet for her 100 back (51.30) win that was just .03 of the NAG record in the event. You can catch up on all of the swims from the 2018 NCSA Junior National Championships here.

The Week That Was #2 – Queens Men and Women Defend D2 Titles

Photo Courtesy: Queens Athletics

The Queens University of Charlotte men and women defended their titles this week at the NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships, giving both teams four straight NCAA titles. The Royals set seven new Division II records and won 17 events over the course of the meet. Queens junior Marius Kusch was a standout from the men’s meet, winning four individual titles (200 IM, 200 free, 200 fly, 100 free) and as a part of four relay wins. His times in the 200 IM (1:41.61) and the 100 free (42.42) were both Division II records. Teammates Paul Pijulet and McKenzie Stevens also set new Division II records in the 100 back (45.88) and 200 fly (1:56.98), respectively. You can see full recaps and results from the 2018 Division II Swimming & Diving Championships on our Event Landing Page.

The Week That Was #1 – Stanford Posts Dominating Victory At NCAA Championships

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

The Stanford women’s swimming and diving team came away with their second straight NCAA Championship Title this week at the NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships. Junior Ella Eastin, who was named the CSCAA Swimmer of the Meet, was a standout for the Cardinal, winning the 200 IM (1:50.67) and 400 IM (3:54.60) in American and NCAA records while also adding titles in the 200 fly (1:50.01) as part of the 4×200 and 4×100 free relays. Sophomore Katie Ledecky was also part of that winning 4×200 free relay and set a new meet record in winning the 1650 (15:07.57) and repeated in the 500 free (4:26.57), as was senior Simone Manuel who defended her titles in the 50 (21.18) and 100 (45.65) free. Other notable performances from the meet included Kathleen Baker’s NCAA and American record win in the 200 back (1:47.30) and Lilly King’s pair of NCAA and American records in the 100 (56.25) and 200 (2:02.60) breast. You can see all the recaps of the meet, including results and interviews, on our Event Landing Page.

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