Stanford's Eastin, Leydon-Mahoney named swimmer & diver of the month

SAN FRANCISCO – STANFORD freshman Ella Eastin was named Pac-12 Women’s Swimmer of the Month and her teammate sophomore Gracia Leydon-Mahoney was named Diver of the Month for February competition, the Conference office announced Wednesday. 

Ella Eastin (Irvine, Calif.) won three individual events on Feb. 13 to propel Stanford to a decisive win over No. 3 Cal, and then won three individual Pac-12 titles and was a member of Stanford’s winning 400-yard freestyle team at the Conference championship meet last week. Against Cal, Eastin won the 200 fly, 200 IM and 500 free to lead the Cardinal to a 172-128 victory over their rival and clinch an undefeated Pac-12 regular season. Then at the Pac-12 Championship meet, Eastin became the youngest women’s swimmer of all-time to break four-minutes in the 400 individual medley and just the seventh to ever do so. Her time of 3:59.30 also set the National Age Group record and currently ranks as the sixth-fastest finish all-time. That time is tops in the nation by a staggering four seconds. In addition, Eastin’s Pac-12 winning time in the 200 IM (1:52.77) is the fastest in the nation this year, while her time in the 200 fly (1:52.01) was nearly two full seconds better than second place and now ranks second in the nation this season. To cap off the meet, she helped lead Stanford’s 400 free relay team to victory.

This is the first-career Swimmer of the Month honor for Eastin and Stanford’s 14 all-time monthly nod, the most in Conference history.

Gracia Leydon-Mahoney (Newton, Mass.) won both diving events to lead Stanford over No. 3 Cal on Feb. 13, and then claimed two Pac-12 championships last week. The sophomore won the 1-meter and 3-meter to help Stanford clinch an undefeated Pac-12 season with a 172-128 win over the Bears. She then won Pac-12 titles in the 3-meter and platform to help Stanford to a second-place team finish at the championship meet. On the platform, her score of 341.40 was 30-points higher than the runner-up. Earlier that week, she won the 3-meter event with a score of 379.55. She also placed fourth in the 1-meter to earn a total of 90 points for the Cardinal at the Pac-12 meet.

This is the first-career Diver of the Month honor for Leydon-Mahoney and ninth overall for the Cardinal.

Also Nominated:

Swimmer: Marlies Ross, ASU; Farida Osman, CAL; Linnea Mack, UCLA; Chelsea Chenault, USC.

Diver: Mara Aiacoboae, ASU; Maria Polyakova, UCLA; Madi Witt, USC.

2015-16 Women’s Swimmers and Divers of the Month