Swimming is making a splash, as six women with ties to Cal and Stanford compete.
U.S. women take second as Australian team sets world record in 400-meter freestyle relay
It took stunning world-record times Saturday night to keep Bay Area swimmers from leaving the Olympic Aquatics Stadium with a golden aura.
But six women with ties to Stanford and Cal have a silvery shine on the first night of swimming at the Rio Games.
Despite going faster than they ever have, it was not nearly enough in two big blowouts that lacked the high drama that often unfolds at the pool.
Despite setting a U.S. mark, the Americans weren’t close to Australia’s world-record time of 3 minutes 30.65 seconds in the 400-meter freestyle relay. The runners-up finished in a
time of 3:31.89 — a full second slower than the Aussies’ previous world mark.
Stanford graduate Maya DiRado also swam the race of her life with a record performance in the 400 individual medley to win the silver medal just as she did at last year’s World Championships.
Her personal record of 4:31.15 also was nowhere near Katinka Hosszu of Hungary. The woman who is known as the “Iron Lady” broke the world record with a time of 4:26.36, almost five seconds ahead of the former Cardinal star.
“I honestly didn’t even see her, she was so far ahead,” DiRado said.
Stanford-bound Katie Ledecky and Cal graduate Dana Vollmer were relay teammates who will return Sunday looking to win medals in their specialties. Ledecky, 19, is favored in the 400 meters freestyle, while Vollmer is defending Olympic champion in the 100 butterfly.
Ledecky, in particular, is heading into her wheelhouse with a race in which she owns the world record and has dominated the past three years.
But something about the relay called to her.
“I never wanted to be on a relay team so badly,” she told reporters.
As much as the U.S. star wanted to save American hopes, it was asking too much in an event the women haven’t won in 20 years.
The results were not surprising. But a decision by U.S. coach Dave Marsh might have puzzled some swim fans when sending his fastest two sprinters to the blocks to began the relay.
That left Vollmer and Ledecky to face the vaunted Campbell sisters over the final two legs. The U.S. women, who finished sixth and seventh in the 100 freestyle at the U.S. trials had little chance.
Bronte Campbell overtook Vollmer in the third leg, while Cate gave Ledecky a view of her wake, something the Maryland teen is known to do in the longer distances.
Ledecky said she cried when told she would anchor the relay earlier Saturday.
The swimmer from Bethesda, Maryland, still has a chance to win four gold medals with the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle races and 800 relay still to come. But Marsh said coaches wanted to broaden Ledecky’s range.
“The more that she can focus on being her personal best, the more successful she can be,” he said.
But some might question the decision considering Amanda Weir and Stanford’s Lia Neal were faster at the trials a month ago. They raced in the preliminaries to also earn silver medals along with Stanford star Simone Manuel and incoming Cal freshman Abbey Weitzeil, who gave the United States a lead midway through the race.
But almost all 15,000 inside the aquatic arena knew what was coming once the Campbell sisters exploded off the blocks. Bye bye, American prize. Marsh had predicted upsets that often happen at the Olympics. Then again, fairy tales play out best in Tinseltown.
“Definitely my favorite race ever,” said Bronte Campbell, who swept the sprints at last year’s World Championships. She was more than a second faster than Vollmer, who had raced in the butterfly semifinals an hour earlier.
Cate, 24, holds long course and short course world records in the 100 freestyle.
Hosszu sounded as surprised as anyone about her otherworldly performance.
“It’s just crazy that I’ve been able to swim two seconds faster than anyone else ever did,” she told reporters.
A woman who won nine medals at the 2015 World Championships roared past the previous record of 4:28.43 held by Ye Shiwen of China.
DiRado, 23, was under the world record for half the race before tailing off in the first of the three events she will swim in Rio.
DiRado, who already has said this will be her only Olympics, displayed her California laidback vibe afterward.
“I wasn’t even worried about her being ahead,” the Santa Rosa swimmer said of Hosszu. “I was just looking around making sure I would be on the podium.”