Women's Swimming & Diving | March 22, 2019

Junior Louise Hansson won her second consecutive NCAA title in the 100y fly by breaking the NCAA record for the second time this month, shattering her national mark with a 49.26 at the 2019 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships in Austin, Texas, on Friday (March 22).
 
The Trojans finished the third night of the championships with 103 points, 11th overall. California leads the team competition with 328 points and is followed in the top 10 by Stanford (299.5), Michigan (233), Louisville (163), North Carolina State (141), Tennessee (138), Minnesota (131), Virginia (128), Texas (127.5) and Indiana (122).
 
Hansson first broke the NCAA record in the 100y fly (49.34) en route to the Pac-12 title three weeks ago and then clocked a 49.98 this morning to grab the top seed in finals, becoming the first woman to break 50 seconds six times. She soon made it seven.
 
"It felt really good. I felt really strong in the first 50. It felt very controlled," Hansson said. "I didn't time my turns well, but I was able to push through on the underwaters. I'm really happy with the swim, those are just details.
 
"I'm happy I was able to go another best time especially because I just broke the record (at Pac-12s). My goal was to go 49.3 and I did that at Pac-12s and wasn't fully rested. So I used these last two weeks to work on details and get that extra rest."
 
Hansson led from the start, hitting the halfway point at 23.03, leading Cal senior Katie McLaughlin by 0.33 and Michigan freshman Maggie MacNeil, the third-fastest woman ever in the race, by 0.40. Hansson and MacNeil both came home in 26.23, Hansson keeping the Wolverine at bay for her second NCAA title.
 
Hansson won the race last year with a 49.80, a time she has posted twice to go with her two NCAA record swims this month as well as a pair of 49.90s. The Swedish national teamer won USC's 44^th NCAA individual title, 58^th national title overall.

Hansson will go for her first career title in the 200y fly on Saturday, entering the race as the top seed. She will be joined in the heat by senior Maddie Wright, who is a two-time All-American in the race as well.
 
USC's morning concluded with quartet of redshirt junior Hanni Leach, senior Riley Scott, Hansson and sophomore Marta Ciesla finishing 12^th in the 200y medley relay to earn a B final swim. The Trojans won both the 200y free and 400y medley relay B finals on Thursday and appeared to have tied for first in the B final tonight. But, with junior Tatum Wade on the evening anchor, USC was disqualified for an early jump.
 
Freshman Jemma Schlicht finished 22^nd overall in the 100y fly prelims with a 52.16, 0.03 off her best time and 0.17 out of the B final. Junior Catherine Sanchez posted her best NCAA finish, tying for 34^th (52.57), senior Maddie Wright finished 36^th (52.60) while sophomore Caitlin Tycz took 39^th in 52.68, a spot higher than last year.
 
Wade finished a career-best 20^th in the 200y free in 1:45.00 with freshman Laticia Transom taking 34^th (1:46.47). Scott finished 18^th overall in the 100y breast (59.73), 0.18 out of 16^th. Redshirt junior Kirsten Vose was 38^th (1:00.26) with sophomore Maggie Aroesty 44^th (1:00.55).
 
The meet concludes Saturday with prelims at 9 a.m. PT and finals at 3 p.m.