Editorial coverage sponsored by SpeedoUSA
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, March 30. ARIZONA’s Kevin Cordes jumped himself into a different stratosphere in the men’s 200-yard breaststroke at the NCAA Division I Men’s Championships with another barrier-breaking swim.
Cordes, who already posted the fastest time ever with a 1:49.79 in prelims, blasted the field en route to an NCAA and American record 1:48.68 in the finale. He split the race 24.61, 52.19 (27.58), 1:20.78 (28.59), 1:48.68 (27.90).
For comparison’s sake, using our Time Conversion Utility, that swim converts to a 2:00.63 in short course meters and 2:05.21 in long course meters. Daniel Gyurta owns the SCM record with a 2:0.67 from 2009, while Akihiro Yamaguchi holds the LCM mark with a 2:07.01 from last year in Japan.
Without question. RT @swimmingworld: RT @carmelagcoach: In my opinion, Kevin Cordes 200 brst in (cont) tl.gd/lek5cr
? Bob Bowman (@coach_bowman) March 31, 2013
Arizona finished 1-2 in the race with Carl Mickelson taking second in 1:51.90. That’s 3.22 seconds behind, just off the NCAA record for margin of victory held by John Hencken with a 3.66-second triumph ahead of Kevin Williams in 1975.
Mickelson moved into a ninth-place tie with Trevor Hoyt of California in the all-time performers list, while Cordes became just the second Wildcat to ever win the event. He joined Clark Burckle, who prevailed in the 2010 race with a 1:53.19.
Hoyt raced to third with a 1:52.19, while Indiana’s Cody Miller touched fourth in 1:53.29. California’s Josh Prenot (1:53.74), Florida’s Matt Elliott (1:53.79), Michigan’s Richard Funk (1:54.15) and Dartmouth’s Nejc Zupan (1:54.40) also competed in the finale. Georgia’s Nicolas Fink took home the B final win in 1:53.79.
Michigan’s leading tally moved to 417 points, while California pushed its second-place total to 362.5 points. Arizona (278.5), Southern California (249) and Texas (248) held third through fifth moving into the 200 fly.
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