Feb. 16, 2011
Results
MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin women’s swimming and diving team opened the 2011 Big Ten Championships on a high note. With a top-five finish in both relay events during Wednesday’s competition, the Badgers are tied with two-time defending champion Indiana for first place with 68 points.
The trio of senior Maggie Meyer and juniors Ashley Wanland and Beckie Thompson picked up their third-consecutive win in the 200-yard medley relay with help from freshman Rebecka Palm. They finished in 1:36.68, which is an automatic qualifying time for the NCAA Championships in March. The time is also a new record for Indiana’s Councilman Billingsley Aquatic Center.
“It was very exciting,” Palm said. “It’s my first time at this meet. I was so nervous, but it feels good (to get a win).”
Although he’s happy with the win, head coach Eric Hansen knows there’s room for improvement.
“We have lofty goals,” he explained. “We know we can’t (be sloppy) at the NCAA Championships. Our relays are good relays, and we expect to do well.”
Meyer and Palm joined sophomores Laura Miller and Ruby Martin for a fifth-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay, improving from the team’s eighth-place attempt at last year’s Big Ten Championships. Their time of 7:08.56 is an NCAA ‘B’ qualifying time and the second-fastest time in school history, just over a minute behind an effort led by Olympian Carly Piper in 2003.
Palm’s split time of 1:46.97 is the fastest 200-yard freestyle time for a Wisconsin swimmer this season.
Despite falling to them in the last event of the short program, the Badgers share the lead with the Hoosiers after day one of competition.
“It’s nice to be leading after the first day,” Hansen said. “But the team scoring is secondary to getting as many girls as possible qualified for the NCAA Championships.”
The Big Ten Championships continue Thursday with preliminary rounds at 10 a.m. and finals at 5:30 p.m. The Badgers are defending champions in two of the contested events: the 50-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle relay.
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Caissa Casarez
UW Athletic Communications
