In a Just Women's Sports exclusive release, women's health and wellness startup Sequel announced an agreement with Stanford Athletics to provide Stanford athletes with free Sequel Spiral Tampons through the 2024/25 academic year.

This is the first time a college athletic program has entered an official collaboration with a tampon brand in NCAA history.

Cameron Brink of the Stanford Cardinal and Saniya Rivers of the NC State Wolfpack jump for the opening tip off during the Sweet Sixteen round of the 2024 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.
Stanford has long excelled in the realm of women's sports. (Tyler Schank/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

A Division I school, Stanford's history as a women's sports powerhouse runs deep. With broad representation on both past and present USWNTs — including superstars Tierna Davidson, Sophia Smith, Naomi Girma, Catarina Macario, Kelley O'Hara, Christen Press, and Julie Foudy — the Cardinal won the NCAA women's soccer championship in 2011, 2017, and 2019.

Women's basketball has also been an area of strength for Stanford, picking up NCAA championships in 1990, 1992, and 2021. Through the years, the school has produced elite WNBA talent like Cam Brink, Nneka Ogwumike, Lexie Hull, Haley Jones, Karlie Samuelson, Candice Wiggins, and Jennifer Azzi under the guidance of now-retired NCAA coaching legend Tara Vanderveer.

"We are committed to supporting the health and well-being of all our athletes," Stanford assistant athletics director Sarah Lyons told JWS. "This collaboration offers an important resource to our female athletes, allowing them to concentrate on excelling in their sport."

Sequel co-founders Greta Meyer and Amanda Calabrese pose behind a desk.
Sequel co-founders Greta Meyer and Amanda Calabrese met while students at Stanford. (Sequel)

Sequel is the brainchild of Stanford-educated engineers Greta Meyer and Amanda Calabrese. As former high-level athletes frustrated with the inadequacy of conventional tampons, the co-founders drew on their competitive experiences to inform their reinvention.

"Whether we were competing in our respective sports or making our way through the Stanford School of Engineering, Amanda and I had no patience for tampons that leaked," Meyer, a former DI lacrosse player at Stanford, said. "Because we were unable to find one that was suitable for peak performance, we committed to creating our own."

Sequel's relationship with Stanford goes beyond its co-founders degrees, however, as a shared class at the Palo Alto institution actually gave rise to the pair's original business idea.

"This collaboration marks a full-circle moment for us, as our tampon re-design began as a class project during our senior year at the university," Calabrese said. "Just five years later, the Sequel Spiral Tampon is FDA approved as a medical device, available nationwide and now, available to Stanford athletes.

Two tampons sit side-by-side with the Sequel tampon showing a spiral design.
Sequel Spiral Tampon features a proprietary structure engineered to absorb fluids more evenly and efficiently. (Ashley Batz/Sequel)

The first significant tampon redesign in more than 80 years, the Sequel Spiral Tampon features a proprietary structure engineered to absorb fluids more evenly and efficiently.

According to Sequel's website, most tampons are fit with linear channels drawing fluid down in a way that can cause leakage, while the Sequel Spiral's channels are wrapped around the tampon, creating a longer flow path designed to increase absorption and prevent leakage.

"As the winningest college in existence, Stanford's collegiate athletes are the ultimate peak performers and we are thrilled to be providing them with the tampon we wish we'd had on game day," added Calabrese.

Cameron Brink made history Sunday, recording just the second triple-double with blocks in Pac-12 history in No. 3 Stanford’s 62-54 win over Oregon.

Brink finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 10 blocks. Those 10 blocks also broke the Cardinal’s single-game blocks record.

The Stanford junior joins former Oregon State star Ruth Hamblin, the only other player to achieve a triple-double with blocks in conference history. Hamblin did so in 2014.

“What a great game for Cam,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “I don’t think there’s anyone on the block that’s any better in our league for sure, and I think she challenges anyone nationally.”

Even after Brink was called for two fouls, VanDerveer didn’t take the star player out, instead allowing her to play on.

“I was kind of shocked she kept me in,” Brink said. “But I played through it.

“I’m really excited about [the triple-double]. I love blocking shots, it’s probably what I do best. It gets me in trouble sometimes but I’m glad it paid off today.”

On her last block, which came with 3:08 remaining, Brink said she was waiting for the scorer’s table to count it as a block.

“I knew I touched it,” she said. “I really wanted that last one.”

Her 10 blocked shots also added to her career total and brought it to 267, which sits second in program history behind Jayne Appel (272). She could break that record in the next few games — and also break the single-season program record she set last year.

Despite all Brink’s accomplishments, VanDerveer still thinks she can do more.

“On a scale of 1-to-10, and obviously a triple-double is awesome, she’s a five of where she can be,” VanDerveer said. “Cam is just scratching the surface of how good she can be. She’s making great strides, and I mean that as a compliment because she’s got so much upside.”