2022 SEC Championships, Day 3 Finals: Kieran Smith Captures 400 IM
As problems in a swimming postseason go, Florida has some pretty good ones. For one, they’re in a strong position two days into the 2022 SEC Championships despite being without a two-time NCAA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist in Bobby Finke. They can lose the 400 IM NCAA champ and slot in another swimmer capable of winning, as the Gators did Thursday night.
And they have to spend March deciding whether they want Kieran Smith, for his second-best event, to choose between two in which he’s capable of winning a title.
Smith opted for the 400 IM on Thursday instead of the 200 freestyle, promptly winning it and using the final 150 yards to trounce the field. His leadoff leg of the 200 free remains faster than the time used by Matt Sates to win the event Wednesday. And more importantly, the Gators’ lead atop the team standings has grown again, now out near 250 points.
The full event-by-event recap is below.
2022 SEC Championships Links
- Meet Home
- Psych Sheet
- Live Results
- Meet Information Page
- Day 1 Results
- Day 2 Results
- 2022 SEC Championships Day 1 Finals: Alabama Women, Florida Men Set Relay Marks
- 2022 SEC Championships, Day 2 Prelims: Star-Studded Men’s 500 Free Lined Up
- 2022 SEC Championships, Night 2 Finals: Florida Goes 3-for-3 in Relays
- 2022 SEC Championships, Day 3 Prelims: Ellen Walshe Sets up Daring Double
Men’s team standings
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 21 1. University of Florida 744 2. Georgia, University of 496 3. University of Tennessee 483.5 4. University of Alabama 481 5. Texas A&M University 457.5 6. Auburn University 414.5 7. Missouri 344 8. Kentucky, University of 322 9. Louisiana State University 305 10. South Carolina, University of 221.5
Men’s 400 individual medley
For a while, it looked like Kieran Smith might be in trouble, thanks to a charge by Georgia’s Andrew Abruzzo on breaststroke. But Smith turned on the gets, coming home in a Finke-ian 24.75 to win by nearly four seconds in 3:39.33. It’s an NCAA B cut, but it’s his fastest of the season, improving the third-fastest time in the NCAA this season.
Georgia made its bid to close to gap atop the team standings by going 2-3, Ian Grum nudging Abruzzo by four tenths in 3:43.23. Florida’s Mason Laur was fourth in 4:34.84, slower than prelims. Florida finished ninth and 10th in the B final but lost points when Nicholas Hernandez-Tome was disqualified.
Event 17 Men 400 Yard IM
=========================================================================
NCAA: N 3:33.42 3/24/2017 Chase Kalisz, Georgia
SEC: S 3:33.42 3/24/2017 Chase Kalisz, Georgia
SEC Meet: M 3:35.76 2/16/2018 Hugo Gonzalez, Auburn
Pool: P 3:36.21 2/16/2017 Chase Kalisz, Georgia
3:39.16 A
3:51.46 B
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Smith, Kieran S SR Florida-FL 3:43.26 3:39.33 B 32
r:+0.70 23.17 50.13 (26.96)
1:18.68 (28.55) 1:45.80 (27.12)
2:16.31 (30.51) 2:48.05 (31.74)
3:14.58 (26.53) 3:39.33 (24.75)
2 Grum, Ian P JR Georgia-GA 3:44.61 3:43.23 B 28
r:+0.75 23.39 50.77 (27.38)
1:18.66 (27.89) 1:46.07 (27.41)
2:18.91 (32.84) 2:51.61 (32.70)
3:17.88 (26.27) 3:43.23 (25.35)
3 Abruzzo, Andrew SR Georgia-GA 3:43.85 3:43.65 B 27
r:+0.75 23.44 50.72 (27.28)
1:19.41 (28.69) 1:47.60 (28.19)
2:19.34 (31.74) 2:52.02 (32.68)
3:18.28 (26.26) 3:43.65 (25.37)
4 Laur, Mason A FR Florida-FL 3:43.40 3:43.84 B 26
r:+0.64 23.66 51.06 (27.40)
1:19.61 (28.55) 1:47.31 (27.70)
2:18.60 (31.29) 2:51.29 (32.69)
3:18.23 (26.94) 3:43.84 (25.61)
5 Erzen, Anze F JR Texas A&M-GU 3:45.21 3:45.42 B 25
r:+0.71 23.55 51.09 (27.54)
1:20.15 (29.06) 1:48.43 (28.28)
2:20.32 (31.89) 2:52.74 (32.42)
3:20.61 (27.87) 3:45.42 (24.81)
6 Rathle, Jacques FR Auburn-SE 3:45.93 3:45.92 B 24
r:+0.70 23.93 51.37 (27.44)
1:20.32 (28.95) 1:48.73 (28.41)
2:20.17 (31.44) 2:52.86 (32.69)
3:19.63 (26.77) 3:45.92 (26.29)
7 Rosely, Zane T SO Kentucky-KY 3:45.85 3:46.35 B 23
r:+0.59 23.84 50.92 (27.08)
1:20.00 (29.08) 1:48.38 (28.38)
2:20.53 (32.15) 2:53.14 (32.61)
3:20.51 (27.37) 3:46.35 (25.84)
8 Perera, Nichola SR Alabama-SE 3:45.47 3:47.78 B 22
r:+0.61 23.83 51.13 (27.30)
1:20.27 (29.14) 1:48.62 (28.35)
2:19.99 (31.37) 2:52.48 (32.49)
3:20.22 (27.74) 3:47.78 (27.56)
Men’s 100 butterfly
The 100 fly is often the collision of technique and speed, given the distance and discipline. Chalk one up on the technique side.
Luca Urlando, the 200 fly artisan, worked his first 50 and then shed the chasers with his underwaters on the second 50 to win in 44.41. That’s an NCAA A cut, the fastest time in the nation and a pool record. It’s within two tenths of Caeleb Dressel’s meet record from 2017.
Urlando was second at 20.47, beaten by Eric Friese to the midway point. (Not a shock: Friese turned in a 19.64 split on the 200 medley relay on Tuesday.) But Urlando had much more coming home to get the victory. Friese was also under the pool record and earned an A cut of 44.86. Third was 50 free champ Jordan Crooks in 45.33. Danny Kovac of Missouri was fourth in 45.48.
Event 19 Men 100 Yard Butterfly
=========================================================================
NCAA: N 42.80 3/23/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
SEC: S 42.80 3/23/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
SEC Meet: M 44.21 2/18/2017 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
Pool: P 44.87 2/16/2017 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
44.96 A
47.43 B
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Urlando, Luca R SO Georgia-GA 45.32 44.41PA 32
r:+0.67 9.46 20.47 (11.01)
32.15 (11.68) 44.41 (12.26)
2 Friese, Eric E JR Florida-FL 45.44 44.86PA 28
r:+0.64 9.07 20.19 (11.12)
32.31 (12.12) 44.86 (12.55)
3 Crooks, Jordan FR Tennessee-SE 45.60 45.33 B 27
r:+0.64 9.39 20.61 (11.22)
32.62 (12.01) 45.33 (12.71)
4 Kovac, Danny D SR Missouri-MV 45.71 45.48 B 26
r:+0.62 9.57 20.98 (11.41)
33.10 (12.12) 45.48 (12.38)
5 Kammann, Bjoern Tennessee-SE 45.93 45.57 B 25
r:+0.69 9.40 20.99 (11.59)
33.25 (12.26) 45.57 (12.32)
6 Mota, Kayky M SR Tennessee-SE 45.74 45.83 B 24
r:+0.63 9.42 20.97 (11.55)
33.04 (12.07) 45.83 (12.79)
7 Sesvold, Tyler SR Alabama-SE 46.06 46.18 B 23
r:+0.64 9.88 21.44 (11.56)
33.93 (12.49) 46.18 (12.25)
8 Crawford, Jace SO Florida-FL 45.92 46.45 B 22
r:+0.64 9.98 21.82 (11.84)
33.97 (12.15) 46.45 (12.48)
Men’s 200 freestyle
Back and forth they went in the men’s 200 free, until Matt Sates took control in the final 75 yards. Sates doubled up on titles to go with his 500 free crown, going 1:31.16. That’s a Tennessee pool record and an NCAA A cut. Second was Brooks Curry, who showed the legs late to surge to 1:31.39, also an A cut. Trey Freeman roared up to third in 1:32.20.
The reigning NCAA 500 free champ, Jake Magahey, was fourth. Jack Dahlgren of Missouri set the early pace but faded to fifth in 1:32.34.
For the record, the fastest 200 free time of the week belongs to Kieran Smith, who led off the 800 free relay in 1:30.42. That’ll play into the calculations for NCAAs.
Event 21 Men 200 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
NCAA: N 1:29.15 3/27/2019 Dean Farris, Harvard
SEC: S 1:29.48 2/23/2021 Kieran Smith, Florida
SEC Meet: M 1:29.48 2/22/2021 Kieran Smith, Florida
Pool: P 1:31.65 12/5/2013 Joao De Lucca, Louisville
1:32.05 A
1:36.32 B
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Sates, Matthew FR Georgia-GA 1:32.59 1:31.16PA 32
r:+0.63 21.48 44.61 (23.13)
1:07.77 (23.16) 1:31.16 (23.39)
2 Curry, Brooks V JR LSU-LA 1:33.49 1:31.39PA 28
r:+0.62 21.31 44.75 (23.44)
1:08.22 (23.47) 1:31.39 (23.17)
3 Freeman, Trey P JR Florida-FL 1:33.04 1:32.20 B 27
r:+0.66 21.72 45.38 (23.66)
1:09.00 (23.62) 1:32.20 (23.20)
4 Magahey, Jake M SO Georgia-GA 1:33.37 1:32.24 B 26
r:+0.71 21.88 45.09 (23.21)
1:08.66 (23.57) 1:32.24 (23.58)
5 Dahlgren, Jack SR Missouri-MV 1:32.84 1:32.34 B 25
r:+0.63 21.09 44.01 (22.92)
1:07.66 (23.65) 1:32.34 (24.68)
6 Alves, Kaique K FR Alabama-SE 1:33.65 1:33.33 B 24
r:+0.67 21.57 45.25 (23.68)
1:09.26 (24.01) 1:33.33 (24.07)
7 Bonson, Michael SO Auburn-SE 1:33.97 1:34.64 B 23
r:+0.71 21.63 45.24 (23.61)
1:09.89 (24.65) 1:34.64 (24.75)
8 Mestre, Alfonso JR Florida-FL 1:34.02 1:34.66 B 22
r:+0.68 22.10 46.19 (24.09)
1:10.87 (24.68) 1:34.66 (23.79)
