The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Championships
Women's Swimming and Diving opens NCAA Championships with school record in 800 freestyle relay
03.14.2018 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Longhorns smash their one-year-old school record in the 800-yard freestyle relay at the NCAA Championships.
Complete Results | Race Highlights
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Texas kicked off the 2018 NCAA Championships with a bang and opened the meet Wednesday night with a school record in the 800-yard freestyle relay for a second consecutive year.
The Longhorns' quartet of junior Quinn Carrozza, sophomore Claire Adams, freshman Evie Pfeifer and senior Rebecca Millard placed fifth overall in the 800 freestyle relay final in 6 minutes, 53.42 seconds. The final time dipped well below the school mark of 6:54.83 set only a year ago by Madisyn Cox, Adams, Joanna Evans and Tasija Karosas at the 2017 NCAA Championships.
"I think we always expect the best," said sixth-year UT head coach Carol Capitani. "We'll always be satisfied if we get the best out of them and they fight hard and they're tough. That's exactly what they did tonight. That's a heck of a way to start the meet with a team record by almost a second-and-a-half. Quinn had her best 200 on that relay, Claire went a best time by a second-and-a-half. Evie (Pfeifer) went her best by over a second, and (Rebecca) Millard had a best time. That was a lot of fun."
Carrozza led off the relay in 1:43.72, good for the ninth-fastest time in a 200 freestyle in school history. Adams picked up the relay's second leg in a staggering 1:41.71 before the true freshman Pfeifer split an impressive 1:43.18 on the third leg. Millard anchored the relay in 1:44.81 and sealed the school and Big 12 record for Texas.
The fifth-place relay awarded Texas 28 points as the first of four days came to a close at the NCAA Championships.
"There's nothing like starting off the meet on a great note," Capitani added. "They swam smart and they raced tough."
Day two of the NCAA Championships gets underway Thursday at 10 a.m. ET with the preliminary rounds of the 200 freestyle relay, 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 400 medley relay and one-meter diving. The finals are set for 6 p.m. ET.
Players Mentioned
