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COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 26. THE first day of short course yard action is underway at the NCAA Division I Men's Championships hosted by Ohio State University.
200 freestyle relay
California's Nathan Adrian, Graeme Moore, Joshua Daniels and Guy Barnea topped the preliminary heats with a pool record time of 1:16.66. The effort beat the 1:17.21 set by Northwestern back in 2007. Adrian clocked a 19.05 leadoff, slower than Texas' Jimmy Feigen.
Feigen led the way for Texas with a 19.03, as Feigen, Dave Walters, Benjamin Vanroekel and Peter Jameson took second in 1:16.73. Stanford's Alex Coville, David Dunford, Geoff Cheah and Jake Allen placed third in 1:17.23, tying with Auburn's Adam Brown, Christopher Fox, Kohlton Norys and Gideon Louw.
Auburn will be looking to extend its four-year streak of triumphs in the event.
Kentucky (1:17.31), Florida (1:17.64), Arizona (1:17.76) and Virginia (1:18.05) completed the top eight. Michigan had the top consolation heat swim with a 1:18.17.
500 freestyle
Florida's Conor Dwyer led a big charge for the Gators in the middle distance event. Dwyer clocked a time of 4:15.20 to clip the facility mark of 4:15.35 set by George Mankovic at Big Tens last month. Balazs Gercsak finished sixth for Florida in 4:16.76 to put the Gators two up.
Michigan went two up, one down with Hassaan Abdel Khalik (4:15.73) and Dan Madwed (4:16.29) finished second and fifth. Charlie Houchin was the top qualifier in the consolation heat with a 4:17.53 for Michigan.
USC's Clement Lefert (4:15.52), Ohio State's Markovic (4:16.25), Stanford's David Mosko (4:16.92) and Arizona's Jean Basson (4:17.28) completed the top eight. Basson, the defending champion nearly fell victim to a surprisingly slow final heat.
200 IM
Texas' Austin Surhoff paced prelims with a 1:43.17 in the sprint medley event to lead the way for what should be a special evening finale. Less than a second separated the top eight. Surhoff's teammate Ricky Berens (1:43.41) qualified fourth. The Longhorn duo will be looking to be the second swimmer from Texas to win the event. Nate Dusing topped the podium with a 1:42.85 back in 2001.
Florida went two up with Shaune Fraser (1:43.21) and Omar Pinzon (1:43.47) qualifying second and fifth. Michigan also went two up with Tyler Clary (1:43.36) and Andre Schultz (1:43.77) finishing third and seventh. California's Martin Liivamagi (1:43.52) and Georgia Tech's Gal Nevo (1:43.80) rounded out the championship field.
After the event, Florida remained in a strong spot with four up, not including the relay, while Michigan is four up and one down, also not including the relay.
50 freestyle
Texas' Jimmy Feigen rocketed to the only sub-19 second time of prelims with a blazing fast time of 18.97. The performance is the first under 19 in the facility's history, crushing the pool record of 19.40 set by Bruno Barbic of Northwestern back in 2007. Feigen is just off his lifetime best effort of an 18.84 clocked last year at this meet.
While the swim sent the Longhorn bench into a frenzy, California had the most to cheer for as the Golden Bears went two up and one down to jump into the projected total lead. Nathan Adrian (19.04) and Joshua Daniels (19.29) qualified second and sixth. Graeme Moore also qualified 14th for Cal in 19.58.
Cincy's Josh Schneider, a breakout swimmer this year, qualified third in 19.07. Stanford's Alex Coville (19.17), Auburn's Gideon Louw (19.22), Auburn's Adam Brown (19.34) and Stanford's David Dunford (19.37) completed the top eight, and all swam faster than the previous meet record. The depth of the event proved to be impressive as Arizona's Jordan Smith topped the consolation qualifiers with a 19.40, matching the previous pool mark.
After the conclusion of the splash-and-dash, Cal owned the projected lead with nearly 100 points. Texas and Florida were a close second with high 80s tallies, while Stanford and Michigan were in the low 80s to round out the top five.
400 medley relay
California's first day relays should put the Golden Bears in a strong position after day one. Mathias Gydesen, Damir Dugonjic, Tom Shields and Joshua Daniels clocked a pool record of 3:05.51 in the 400 medley relay. That swim beat the pool record of 3:06.99 set by Northwestern back in 2007. Florida's Marco Loughran, Conor Dwyer, Shaune Fraser and Brett Fraser took second in 3:05.88.
Stanford (3:07.32), Texas (3:08.17), Auburn (3:08.30), Arizona (3:08.45), Texas A&M (3:08.65) and Virginia (3:08.85) also made the big final in the event.
Based on projections, California is in the best spot with a strong relay outing. Cal could be in the lead with nearly 140 points. Florida and Texas should be the next two teams as both secured at least 120-125 points. Stanford (~115) and Auburn (~101) are among the rest of the top five teams.
One meter diving
Purdue's David Boudia cruised through prelims with a top tally of 422.25. Teammate David Colturi will join him in the finale with a third-place 393.60. Texas' Drew Livingston split the difference with 394 points, while Duke's Nick McCrory took fourth with 389.05 points.
Texas A&M's Grant Nel (378.40), Florida State's Terry Horner (373.90), BYU's Brandon Watson (370.20) and Miami's Reuben Ross (366.35) completed the top eight.
Thanks to Texas' one up, one down effort in diving, the Longhorns are now projected to be in a battle for the leading team tally after day one finals. Texas is projected in the low 140s, while California is looking at the high 130s. Florida (~125), Stanford (~115) and Auburn (~106) should make up the rest of the top five.
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