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Two weeks ago we covered five women from Mid-Major programs that could make a splash at the NCAA Championships. Here are five men that might do the same:
1. Andrea Bolognesi (George Washington)
An Italian native, Bolognesi boasts a personal best of 52.06 in the 100 breaststroke from the 2016 NCAA Championships. After coming out of prelims as the fourth seed, Bolognesi added time to finish eighth in the A-final.
He recently swam personal bests in the 200 breaststroke and 200 IM at the A10 Conference Championships, suggesting he’s in strong form. Bolognesi’s season best currently ranks him fifth among Division I men in the 100 breaststroke.
2. Payton Sorenson (BYU)
Sorenson had a solid 2016 NCAAs where he finished 14th in the 50 freestyle despite adding tenths from his entry time. He managed to take .01 off his personal best in December, and his time of 19.22 ranks eighth in the NCAA.
Sorensen had a strong Olympic Trials, swimming to personal bests in the 50 and 100 freestyle. He also holds a personal best of 42.86 in the 100 freestyle, just off the 42.67 it took to make it back for a second swim in that race last season.
3. Philipp Sikatzki (Cleveland State)
Sikatzki first swam to prominence when he was one of two men that was not a Texas Longhorn in the 100 butterfly final at 2015 NCAAs. Last year as a junior, Pukatzki finished fourth in the final of the 100 fly in a personal best of 45.37.
After Caeleb Dressel fired off a 44.21 at SECs, the 100 butterfly is looking like an extremely competitive race, with Dressel, Jack Conger and Andrew Sansoucie all swimming under 45 seconds so far this season. Add in defending Olympic and NCAA 100 fly champion Joseph Schooling, and Sikatzki may have to swim a personal best to repeat his finish from a year ago.
Photo Courtesy: Reagan Lunn/Georgia Tech Athletics
4. Marlin Brutkiewicz (Navy)
Brutkiewicz is the only swimmer on this list to not have swum at an NCAA Championships in his career. Still, the Navy breaststroker has dealt with a high stakes dual meet against arch-rival Army.
Brutkiewicz beat out Loyola swimmer Ben Cono at the Patriot League Championships, with both men finishing inside 1:55 in the 200 breaststroke. It took 1:55.58 to score in the 200 breaststroke last season, and Brutkiewicz would have just missed making the NCAA A-Final last year with the time he posted last weekend.
5. Anton Loncar (Denver)
Like teammate Bailey Andison, Loncar is an international swimmer who has proved a massive asset to the Pioneers. Loncar missed scoring in both backstroke events a season ago at NCAAs, but he was able to swim at the Short Course World Championships in Windsor, Ontario as part of the Croatian National Team.
Both of his personal best times in the backstroke events are from the Texas Invite in December, which would have tied for sixth in the 100 and been 12th in the 200 back in prelims of NCAAs. Loncar comfortably won his 200 backstroke conference title by more than two seconds over teammate Jared Smith. With more competition, he may be able to produce personal bests in a few weeks.
All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.
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