Stanford Veterans Hope to Lead Team to NCAA Three-Peat

The Stanford women’s swim team looks to repeat it’s championship run at NCAAs, led by both the veterans and rookies alike.

On paper, and as seen at the Pac-12 Championships, Stanford appears to be the favorite, but as senior, Leah Stevens said, “We’re not exactly focused on winning per say, just putting together the best possible meet that we can as a team by just being the best possible versions of ourselves, and putting together the best possible races.”

Lead by seniors, Kim Williams, Stevens, and Ella Eastin, the Stanford team is focusing on assembling the strongest NCAA team in the country. Stanford coach Greg Meehan is counting on, in part, his “three incredible leaders.”

After winning the Pac-12 title, Stevens is excited to head into the mile at NCAAs with fellow teammates Morgan Tankersley and Megan Byrnes.

“We’ve put in a lot of work together and I think that we’ve all really pushed each other this year, so I’m really excited to see what we can do as a group later this month,” Stevens said.

While the Stanford seniors are helping lead their team, they’re counting on the underclassmen to add some much needed depth to their team.

“It’s always a little nerve racking going to such a big meet with so many freshman and sophomores, but I’m really proud of the progress that they’ve made,” Meehan said. “We’re pretty reliant on our freshman and sophomores. Having only three seniors gives this year’s team a very different feel. I appreciate how the freshman have taken some big steps this year in terms of their maturity within swimming and how they look at the sport. Our seniors and captains have really helped them through that process.”

Photo Courtesy: McKenna Ehrmantraut

Freshman Taylor Ruck has looked up to the veterans as she adjusted to college swimming, and loves being able to race them.

“Being able to race the upperclassmen has really helped me to get to where I’m at this season,” she said.

Ruck is having the time of her life swimming for Stanford and is thrilled to go into her first NCAAs.

“I’m so excited to see how the relays do, sharing the experience again with my teammates is just going to be so exciting, and at the National level,“ she said. “I’m excited to see what happens.“

When asked about how Stanford was going to fend off the Cal team, particularly their stand out relays, Meehan said that he is working hard to fill the 13 of 20 relay spots open from last year that were vacated by graduating seniors or swimmers turning professional.

“We’re not trying to do what we did last year, we’re just trying to be the best version of this particular team, and wherever that get us in terms of relays, we’re going to fight for it,” he said.

In addition to relays, Meehan is looking forward to his swimmers triumphing in their individual races and to swim even faster than they did at the Pac-12 Championships. A couple of stand-out swims that he hopes will go above and beyond are Grace Zhao in the 200 breast and Eastin in the 200 backstroke.

For full coverage of the 2019 Women’s Pac-12 Conference click here.

Photo Courtesy: McKenna Ehrmantraut

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use