Freshmen Steal Spotlight, Florida Wins Second Relay On Day Two Of NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming And Diving Championship

By Sharon Robb
ATLANTA, March 24, 2022—Freshmen swimmers took center stage Thursday at the NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships at Georgia Tech’s McAuley Aquatic Center.

Georgia freshman Matthew Sates broke the meet and pool record in the 500-yard freestyle in 4:06.61. Sophomore teammate Jake Magahey was second in 4:07.39 and Texas freshman Luke Hobson was third in 4:08.42. Olympian and early leader Kieran Smith of Florida was fourth in 4:08.68.

Arizona State freshman Leon Marchand became the first swimmer to go under 1:38 in the 200-yard individual medley. He won in 1:37.69 breaking Caeleb Dressel’s U.S. Open record of 1:38.13. His splits were 21.42, 24.32, 28.41 and 23.54.

Purdue freshman diver Tyler Downs won the 1-meter springboard title with 383.65 points.

LSU junior Brooks Curry won the 50-yard freestyle in 18.56, 3/100ths of a second ahead of Bjorn Seeliger of California in 18.59.

In a thrilling final event, Florida won the 200-yard freestyle relay in a pool record 1:14.11 ahead of California (1:14.36) and Texas (1:14.41). The Gator relay swimmers were Adam Chaney, Eric Friese, Will Davis and Smith swimming anchor in 18.59. It was the Gators’ second relay win of the meet.

Individual event competition continues Friday morning. The top 16 advance to finals at 6 p.m. and relays will be included at the end of each finals session.

ESPN3 is providing digital broadcast coverage for preliminary and finals sessions. Additionally, ESPNU will air a two-hour show at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 5. Links can be found on WatchESPN or at the Championship Central webpage.

The official website for the men’s championship is http://www.ncaa.com/championships/swimming-men/d1. As the host institution, Georgia Tech’s website also has Championship Central, where heat sheets and results will be updated each day.

The DI Men’s Swimming & Diving Program can be viewed at http://www.NCAA.com/gameprograms. The program is free to view and can be downloaded and printed.

THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE
All prelims, 10 a.m., all finals 6 p.m.

Day 3, Friday, 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 3-meter diving, 400 medley relay (finals only).

Day 4, Saturday, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, platform diving, 1650 free (4:05 p.m. start), 400 free relay (finals only).

THURSDAY RESULTS

500-yard freestyle: 1. Matthew Sates, UGA 4:06.61,2. Jake Magahey, UGA 4:07.39, 3. Luke Hobson, TEX 4:08.42, 4. Kieran Smith, UF 4:08.68, 7. Alfonso Mestre, UF 4:11.98, 10. Bobby Finke, UF 4:11.74, 11. Trey Freeman, UF 4:12.70.

200-yard individual medley: 1. Leon Marchand, ASU 1:37.69, 2. Destin Lasco, CAL 1:38.21, 3. Luca Urlando, UGA 1:39.22.

50-yard freestyle: 1. Brooks Curry, LSU 18.56, 2. Bjorn Seeliger, CAL 18.59, 3. Jordan Crooks, TENN 18.60, 9. Adam Chaney, UF 18.75, 11. Will Davis, UF 18.99.

1-meter diving: 1. Tyler Downs, PUR 383.65, 2. Jordan Rzepka, PUR 372.60, 3. Conor Casey, STAN 370.55.

200-yard freestyle relay: 1. Florida 1:14.11 (Adam Chaney, Eric Friese, Will Davis, Kieran Smith), 2. California 1:14.36, 3. Texas 1:14.41.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com
http://www.swim4soflo.com

Florida Wins Opening Event, Second On Day One Of NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming And Diving Championship

By Sharon Robb
ATLANTA, March 24, 2022—Texas and University of Florida took turns flexing their relay muscles on opening day of the NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships Wednesday at Georgia Tech’s McAuley Aquatic Center.

Florida won the 200-yard medley relay in 1:21.13, faster than its’ qualifying time of 1:22.06. It was an NCAA record, meet record, U.S. Open record and pool record.

Adam Chaney led off with a 20.19 split followed by Dillon Hillis at 23.20, Eric Friese at 19.36 and Will Davis at 18.38 picking up 40 first place relay points. Friese’s split tied him with Joseph Schooling for fastest butterfly split of all time.

Texas was second in 1:21.36, also under the former NCAA and U.S. Open record. Cal and N.C. State tied for third in 1:21.69. Four of the fastest five 200 medley relays in history were produced by the field.

Florida State, with St. Andrew’s alum and Florida Gold Coast swimmer Izaak Bastian of the Bahamas, was 20th in 1:23.84, slower than its qualifying time of 1:23.15. Bastian’s split was 23.78. He was joined on the relay by Mason Herbet (20.88), Max McCusker (20.25) and Peter Varjasi (18.93). Top seed Louisville was seventh in 1:22.29.

In the 800-yard freestyle relay, Texas broke the American record, NCAA record, meet record, U.S. Open record of 6:05.08 and pool record of 6:08.03 winning in 6:30.89. Georgia was second in 6:05.59 and Stanford third in 6:06.90.

Florida was seventh in 6:09.01 with Olympian Kieran Smith, Trey Freeman, Oskar Lindholm and Alfonso Mestre. Smith’s split was 1:30.66.

Florida State finished 25th in 6:23.93 with Yordan Yanchev, Peter Varjasi, Jakub Ksiazek and Max McCusker.

After opening night action, Texas leads the team standings with 74 points, 10 points ahead of Florida with 64.

Individual event competition gets under way Thursday morning. The top 16 advance to finals at 6 p.m. and relays will be included at the end of each finals session.

ESPN3 will provide digital broadcast coverage for preliminary and finals sessions. Additionally, ESPNU will air a two-hour show at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 5. Links can be found on WatchESPN or at the Championship Central webpage.

The official website for the men’s championship is http://www.ncaa.com/championships/swimming-men/d1. As the host institution, Georgia Tech’s website also has Championship Central, where heat sheets and results will be updated each day.

The DI Men’s Swimming & Diving Program can be viewed at http://www.NCAA.com/gameprograms. The program is free to view and can be downloaded and printed.

THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE
All prelims, 10 a.m., all finals 6 p.m.
Day 2, Thursday, 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 1-meter diving, 200 freestyle relay (finals only).

Day 3, Friday, 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 3-meter diving, 400 medley relay (finals only).

Day 4, Saturday, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, platform diving, 1650 free (4:05 p.m. start), 400 free relay (finals only).

THURSDAY RESULTS
TEAM TOTALS: 1. Texas 74, 2. Florida 64, 3. California 61, 4. N.C. State 57, 5. tie, Arizona State, Stanford 54, 7. Louisville 46, 8. Georgia 34, 9. Alabama 30, 10. Virginia Tech 28.

200-yard medley relay: 1. Florida 1:21.13 (Adam Chaney, Dillon Hillis, Eric Friese, Will Davis), 2. Texas 1:21.36, 3. California 1:21.69, 20. Florida State 1:23.84 (Mason Hebert, Izaak Bastian, Max McCusker, Peter Varjasi).

800-yard freestyle relay: 1. Texas 6:03.89, 2. Georgia 6:05.59, 3. Stanford 6:06.83, 7. Florida 6:09.01, 25. Florida State 6:23.93.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com
http://www.swim4soflo.com

Florida Gators Defend SEC Men’s Swimming And Diving Title; Tennessee Wins Women’s Crown; Patrick Groters Breaks USC School Record

By Sharon Robb
KNOXVILLE, Tenn., February 20, 2022—University of Florida men’s team won its tenth consecutive Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championship Saturday night at Jones Aquatics Center.

The Gators won with 1,414 points, a 476-point cushion over Tennessee and Alabama. It was the fourth time in team history the Gators cracked 1,400 points.

And the Gators did it without defending SEC champions Bobby Finke and Dillon Hillis, both scratched from the meet because of COVID-19 protocols.

The Gators swept all the men’s relays. In individual events, Olympian and senior Kieran Smith led the Gators’ winning the 400-yard individual medley. Sophomore Adam Chaney won the 100-yard backstroke, breaking Ryan Lochte’s school record in 44.51.

The Gators dominated the final day of competition taking seven of the top nine spots in the 1,650-yard freestyle.

Winning for the Gators were:
200-yard medley relay: Adam Chaney, Dillon Hillis, Eric Friese, Alberto Mester, 1:22.06, SEC record.

800-yard freestyle relay: Kieran Smith, Trey Freeman, Oskar Lindholm, Alfonso Mestre, 6:08.00, SEC record.

200-yard freestyle relay: Adam Chaney, Eric Friese, Kieran Smith, Macguire McDuff, 1:15.18, SEC record.

400-yard individual medley: Kieran Smith, Senior, 3:39.33.

400-yard medley relay: Adam Chaney, Amro Al-Wir, Eric Friese, Kieran Smith, 3:02.61.

1650-yard freestyle: Trey Freeman, Junior, 14:39.74.

200-yard backstroke: Kieran Smith, Senior, 1:39.51.

400-yard freestyle relay: Macguire McDuff, Adam Chaney, Eric Friese, Kieran Smith, 2:46.91.

It was the 43rd overall title for the Gators. Florida is now primed for the March 23-26 NCAA Men’s Championships in Atlanta.

In the women’s competition, Tennessee won its second women’s title in three years. The Volunteers won with 1,313.5 points ahead of Kentucky with 1,043 and Alabama, 1,038. The Gators were fifth with 905 points. It was Tennessee’s highest point total in team history.

Freshman Ellen Walshe became the third woman in the team’s history to win three individual events in a single SEC Championships.

Walshe won the 400-yard individual medley in 4:01.53, second fastest in NCAA history this season, and 100-yard butterfly in 50.34. She also won the 200 IM in 1:52.97. She was a member of the winning 800-yard freestyle relay.

The Vols also picked up a win from freshman Julia Mrozinski in the 500-yard freestyle in 4:35.95, third fastest in the NCAA this season.

The Volunteers won the 800-yard freestyle relay and finished runner-up in the remaining relays. All five relays were under NCAA A cuts.

Other Tennessee winners were:
800-yard freestyle relay: Julia Mrozinski, Ellen Walshe, Trude Rothrock, Tjasa Pintar – 6:56.81, pool record.

100-yard breaststroke: Mona McSharry, 57.50.

1650-yard freestyle: Kristen Stege, 15:42.37.

Among Florida Gold Coast swimmer results:

South Florida Aquatic Club’s Kathleen Golding, a junior at University of Florida, competed in three events. She was 18th in the 200 IM in a best time 1:57.63, seventh in the 400 IM in 4:11.14 and 21st in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 16:27.95. She dropped 1.32 second off her previous 1:58.95 200 IM.

Florida freshman Anna Auld was 33rd in the 500 freestyle in 4:48.87; 11th in the 400 IM in a best time 4:11.02 and 10th in the 1,650-yard freestyle in a best time 16:16.87, dropping 10.25 seconds.

SOFLO’s Molly Golding and Miguel Cancel did not compete.

In his SEC debut for University of South Carolina, Aruba’s Patrick Groters competed in three events. The former NSU University School and Pine Crest swimmer broke the school record in the 200 IM C-final with a best time of 1:43.77. The previous school record was 1:44.00 by Tomas Peribonio in 2018. Groters finished first in the C-final and was bumped up from 17th to 15th place after two swimmers were disqualified from the A-final. He was 18th in the 400 IM in a best time 3:47.17, dropping 1.12 and 13th in the 200 backstroke in 1:43.24, also a best time dropping 1.93.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com
http://www.swim4soflo.com