NCAA DI women's swimming and diving championships: Stanford takes home the crown

Stanford has won its third Division I Swimming national championship in a row. For full meet results, click here.

Here's a look at how the Cardinal got to this point, via Stanford Athletics.

AUSTIN, Texas — Senior Ella Eastin became the first woman in NCAA history to win four straight national titles in the 400-yard individual medley on Friday night at the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships.

Freshman Taylor Ruck added another silver and bronze to her collection this week, while sophomore Brooke Forde took home bronze in the 400 IM.

Through three of four days and 14 of 21 events, two-time defending national champion Stanford is in second place with 299.5 points. Cal has taken the lead with 328 points. Michigan is third at 233.

Eastin led from start-to-finish and claimed her fourth consecutive championship in the 400 IM with a time of 3:57.03.  

Four other women had won three straight national titles in the 400 IM, but none claimed gold all four years. Only one man has accomplished the feat, USC's David Wharton from 1988-91.

"I think the biggest thing for me was making sure I did everything I could to get some points for my team and get my hand on the wall first," Eastin told ESPN. "This team has been one of the consistent things in my life the past couple of years, and I wanted to do this for all of those that I train with for the 400 IM because we work our butt off. I'm just really pleased for the result and to have two of my teammates in there with me doing well, too." (Eastin Press Conference Audio).

Eastin led off with a split of 54.55 in the butterfly and finished the backstroke in 59.33. She maintained a body-length lead with a split of 1:07.56 in the breaststroke and touched the wall with a finish of 55.59 in the freestyle. 

Stanford has won this event 12 times, the most in the nation. Eastin is the sixth Cardinal to win the national title in the 400 IM, a list that includes Julia Smit's three-peat from 2008-10.