Cal's Natalie Coughlin Sets Pac-10 Record Winning 200 IM To Highlight Second Day Of Pac-10 Women's Swimming Championship

Feb. 26, 2004

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- California junior All-American Natalie Coughlin stole the show during the second day of the 2004 Pac-10 Women's Swimming Championships Thursday night at Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach. The three-time NCAA Swimmer of the Year and world record holder won her eighth Pac-10 individual title with a conference record swim of 1:54.95 in the 200 IM.

Stanford maintained the overall lead with 482 points, with six swimming events and the three-meter diving completed. The diving event, won by Arizona State's Trisha Tumlinson, was conducted at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash. UCLA (410), Arizona (398), California (354) and Arizona State (322.5) round out the top five heading into the third day of competition.

Coughlin (Concord, Calif.) destroyed the old conference record set by Summer Sanders in 1992 by nearly a half a second with her 1:54.95 time in the 200 IM. She also bettered the Pac-10 meet record of 1:56.64 set by Stanford's Shelly Ripple in 2002. USC's Kaitlin Sandeno (1:57.53), Stanford's Kristin Caverly (1:59.17) and Arizona State's ?gnes Kov?cs (1:59.58) finished second through fourth respectively and also broke the two-minute barrier to earn NCAA automatic qualifying standards.

The evening got underway with USC freshman Kalyn Keller (Phoenix, Ariz.) setting a new Pac-10 meet record with a 4:37.76 in the 500 freestyle. Keller broke the old meet record of 4:38.79 by Arizona's Emily Mason set last year in Federal Way, Wash. Mason, a junior from Phoenix, came in second with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 4:40.02. California's Erin Reilly (4:43.28) and Ashley Chandler (4:45.44) also received automatic bids while finishing third and fourth respectively. USC sophomore Stacy Vazhenin rounded out the top five with a NCAA consideration time of 4:46.79.

Stanford's Lacey Boutwell (Noblesville, Ind.) paced the field in the 50 freestyle to win her second Pac-10 individual title. The 11-time All-American who also won the 2002 Pac-10 50 freestyle earned an NCAA automatic time with a career- best 22.60 Thursday evening. UCLA's Sara Platzer (22.73) and Kim Vandenberg (23.09) finished second and third respectively. Platzer (Lakewood, Wash.) earned her second straight second-place finish in the event at the conference championships. Arizona's Marshi Smith (23.11) and Jenna Gresdal (23.23) rounded out the top five. Kristin Huston of Oregon State and Florencia Szigeti of Arizona State tied for sixth with identical 23.26 times.

The day concluded with UCLA taking home the title in the 200 freestyle relay with a 1:31.32. Arizona (1:31.32), Stanford (1:31.70), California (1:31.92) and Arizona State (1:32.52) rounded out the top five all earning NCAA consideration times.

The 2004 Pac-10 Women's Swimming Championships continue Friday in Long Beach with a full slate of events scheduled. Preliminaries start at 11 a.m. and finals begin at 6 p.m. The 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breastroke, 100 backstroke and 400 medley relay are schedule to take place.

Team Scores After Six Events and 3M Diving: