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Lucy Bell, record setter.
It's been true since her high school days at Fossil Ridge and has continued all the way to this year's NCAA Division I women's swimming and diving championships.
The Stanford junior set a new school record in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2 minutes, 4.28 seconds to win her first NCAA national title Saturday night at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way, Wash.
Teammates awaited at the starting block afterward, wrapping Bell in big hugs to celebrate her inaugural national championship for the storied program that has an NCAA best 11 team titles.
It was a key swim for the Cardinal late in the final night of the four-day event. Bell's record race helped Stanford secure a runner-up team finish over Texas, placing second with 417 points.
This title was just the latest proof of Bell's elite versatility.
She also took third in the 400 individual medley (4:00.24) and sixth in the 200 IM with a new career-best time of 1:52.47.
Through three years of college swimming, the former SaberCat now has nine All-American finishes across five different distances/strokes. She also holds top-10 times in Stanford program history in five events.
It's hardly surprising given Bell's pedigree.
She won 13 Colorado Class 5A state championships (seven individual, six relays) for Fossil Ridge and was a 16-time NISCA All-American. Her crowning achievement was breaking former U.S. Olympic star Missy Franklin's state record with a time of 1:56.41 to win the 200 IM title at her final state meet.
Bell has continued to excel at Stanford, winning over a dozen career races and posting three top-5 finishes at last month's ACC Championships. The latter included a runner-up in the 200 breast, her first time setting a school record in the event at 2:04.60.
Even more remarkable for the junior? This was Bell's first year swimming the 200 breast after largely focusing on other strokes and the shorter breast distance in her first two collegiate campaigns.
Bell also had three top-10 placements at last June's U.S. Swimming Trials, just missing out on qualifying for the Olympics in the 200-meter fly plus 200- and 400-meter IMs.
Chris Abshire covers high school and community sports for the Coloradoan.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Stanford swimming's Lucy Bell sets school record to win NCAA national title
Continue reading...
It's been true since her high school days at Fossil Ridge and has continued all the way to this year's NCAA Division I women's swimming and diving championships.
The Stanford junior set a new school record in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2 minutes, 4.28 seconds to win her first NCAA national title Saturday night at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way, Wash.
Teammates awaited at the starting block afterward, wrapping Bell in big hugs to celebrate her inaugural national championship for the storied program that has an NCAA best 11 team titles.
It was a key swim for the Cardinal late in the final night of the four-day event. Bell's record race helped Stanford secure a runner-up team finish over Texas, placing second with 417 points.
This title was just the latest proof of Bell's elite versatility.
She also took third in the 400 individual medley (4:00.24) and sixth in the 200 IM with a new career-best time of 1:52.47.
Through three years of college swimming, the former SaberCat now has nine All-American finishes across five different distances/strokes. She also holds top-10 times in Stanford program history in five events.
It's hardly surprising given Bell's pedigree.
She won 13 Colorado Class 5A state championships (seven individual, six relays) for Fossil Ridge and was a 16-time NISCA All-American. Her crowning achievement was breaking former U.S. Olympic star Missy Franklin's state record with a time of 1:56.41 to win the 200 IM title at her final state meet.
Bell has continued to excel at Stanford, winning over a dozen career races and posting three top-5 finishes at last month's ACC Championships. The latter included a runner-up in the 200 breast, her first time setting a school record in the event at 2:04.60.
Even more remarkable for the junior? This was Bell's first year swimming the 200 breast after largely focusing on other strokes and the shorter breast distance in her first two collegiate campaigns.
Bell also had three top-10 placements at last June's U.S. Swimming Trials, just missing out on qualifying for the Olympics in the 200-meter fly plus 200- and 400-meter IMs.
Chris Abshire covers high school and community sports for the Coloradoan.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Stanford swimming's Lucy Bell sets school record to win NCAA national title
Continue reading...
