The first day of prelims at the 2017 Big Ten Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center on Purdue’s campus in Indiana is in the books. The three events of the day are the 500 freestyle, 200 IM and 50 freestyle, giving the audience a chance to see a little of everything, from distance to stroke, to finishing up with some sprint action in the 50.

500 FREESTYLE

B1G Record: 4:34.28 (Gillian Ryan - Michigan, 20116)
B1G Meet: 4:35.19 (Haley Lips - Indiana, 2016)
Pool: 4:34.13 (Allison Schmitt - Georgia, 2010)

1.) Gillian Ryan (Michigan): 4:37.62
2.) Cierra Runge (Wisconsin): 4:38.00
3.) Yirong Bi (Michigan): 4:38.32 
4.) Lindsey Clary (OSU): 4:38.37
5.) Kaersten Meitz (Purdue): 4:38.42 
6.) Danielle Valley (Wisconsin): 4:39.66
7.) Rebecca Postoll (Michigan): 4:39.97
8.) Valarie Gruest Slowing (NU): 4:40.23 
16th: Siena Salvaggio (Penn State): 4:45.61  
24th: Allyson McHugh (Penn State) 4:47.35

Whoever said the 500 wasn’t a sprint? With seven girls going into tonight’s final with a sub 4:40, we are about to see an intense race in that A-final. Gillian Ryan, who took the lead position early on in the race, will be battling to win another championship title in this event. However, Cierra Runge, came in a close second with a time of 4:38.00 and won’t be going down without a fight. Yirong Bi, Lindsey Clary, and Kaesten Meitz are also following only a few tenths behind. As we saw this morning in prelims, it is going to be a battle to the finish for the top three spots tonight. 

Michigan is still going strong, as their women take 3 of the top 8 spots in tonight’s final.

200 IM

B1G Record: 1:54.97 (Siobhan Haughey - Michigan, 2016)
B1G Meet: 1:54.97 (Siobhan Haughey - Michigan, 2016)
Pool: 1:53.56 (Julia Smit - Stanford, 2010)

1.) Lilly King (Indiana): 1:55.49
2.) Siobhan Haughey (Michigan): 1:55.67 
3.) Clara Smiddy (Michigan): 1:57.73 
4.) Meg Bailey (OSU): 1:58.10
5.) Emma Sougstad (Iowa): 1:58.36 
6.) Melissa Postoll (NU): 1:58.54
7.) Jessica Unicomb (Wisconsin): 1:58.82
8.) Christine Jensen (Indiana): 1:58.85
16th: Emily Kopas (Michigan): 2:00.00
24th: Alex Clarke (Purdue): 2:00.79

After a tremendous 1:42.5 split last night in the 800 freestyle relay, we thought Michigan’s star Siobhan Haughey would take the win on day two in prelims of the 200 IM…

But with over a 4-second drop from her seed time, Lilly King makes her way past first seed Haughey with a time of 1:55.49 in the 200 IM this morning. Although Siobhan had a clear body length lead by the first 100, it was not enough to keep away King on the breaststroke leg, who split a 32.31 (over a second faster than Siobhan’s 33.59). These two will be going into tonight’s A-final over two seconds faster than the third place finish, Clara Smiddy, touching with a 1:57.73

50 FREESTYLE

B1G Record: 21.70 (Zhesi Li - Ohio State, 2016) 
B1G Meet: 21.84 (Ivy Martin - Wisconsin, 2013) 21.75 (Zhesi Li - Michigan, 2017)
Pool: 21.89 (Kara Lynn Joyce - Georgia, 2005)​ 21.75 (Zhesi Li - Michigan, 2017) 

1.) Zhesi Li (OSU): 21.75
2.) Chase Kinney (Wisconsin): 22.08
3.) Catherine Deloof (Michigan): 22.28
4.) Kaitlin Saloky (Penn State): 22.39 
5.) Emmy Sehmann (Wisconsin): 22.41 
6.) Danielle Nack (Minnesota): 22.45
7.) Mary Warren (NU): 22.46
8.) Racheal Bukowski (MSU): 22.54
15th: Chantel Wynn (OSU): 22.83 and Annika Winsnes (NU): 22.83 
24th: Shelby Zoontz (Indiana): 23.01 

It isn’t too often you see multiple records broken in prelims, but that doesn’t count for Ohio State’s Zhesi Li, who took down both the pool record and B1G meet record this morning with a time of 21.75. We will be watching closely tonight to see whether she will be taking down her own B1G record as well, which is only five one-hundredths faster than her new seed time. Chase Kinney, who finished at a 22.08 was able to out-touch Catherine Deloof at a 22.28. Li, Kinney, and Deloof already held the top three fastest entries in the 50 freestyle, so we can expect a quick and vicious race between the three again tonight.