INDIANAPOLIS — This is what's referred to as a fast start.
The Wisconsin women's swimming and diving team opened the 2017 NCAA Championships with a strong showing in the lone event contested during the meet's opening session Wednesday, scoring a top-10 finish in school-record time.
The team of junior Abby Jagdfeld, sophomore Jess Unicomb, sophomore Emmy Sehmann and sophomore Cierra Runge set a new UW standard in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 6 minutes, 59.18 seconds that was fast enough to place the Badgers 10th.
The finish, which earned second-team All-America honors for the quartet, marks UW's best showing in the 800 free relay since taking seventh place in 2005.
"Great start for us tonight," UW head coach Whitney Hite said. "It sets us up really well for the next couple of days because we were faster than we were at conference, which is always a good thing and, again, anytime you can be faster than you've ever been in the history of the program, that's a good thing."
Jagdfeld got things started by recording a leadoff split of 1:44.91 that ranks as the fastest 200 free swim of her career. Runge, a former American record-holder in the event as part of Cal's national champion effort in the 800 free relay at the 2015 NCAA Championships, closed things out with a split of 1:43.32.
The fact that the relay was comprised of three sophomores and a junior who also took runner-up honors at the Big Ten meet points to a bright future for the Badgers in the event beyond this season, as well.
The present concern for Wisconsin, however, is on the next three days of competition inside IU Natatorium.
"We've got some really good events for us tomorrow in the 50 free, 500 and 200 IM and we're going to be competing and racing," Hite said. "We've worked all year for this, so we're off to a good start and looking forward to more fast swimming tomorrow."
