Grigory Tarasevich Leads 1-2 Finish For Louisville In 200 Back At USA Swimming Nationals
Photo Courtesy: Jeff Reinking
GREENSBORO – From the moment he stepped onto campus at the University of Louisville, Grigory Tarasevich was in the conversation to be one of the best backstrokers in the collegiate ranks. Arriving onto the NCAA scene in the fall of 2013 fresh from a gold medal in the 50 backstroke at the junior world championships, Tarasevich just missed out on the top 16 at NCAAs in his freshman year.
Now a sophomore, he’s made big strides with a personal best 1:40.71 to win the 200 back at the USA Swimming nationals. That gets him automatically qualified to swim at the NCAA championships and beats David Nolan’s 1:41.03 to become the fastest swim in the college ranks so far this season. Right behind was teammate Aaron Greene with a 1:42.56, just a few tenths off his lifetime best but ranks in the top 10 collegiately.
Eric Ress of Santa Clara Swim Club, the 2014 NCAA championships runner-up in the event for Indiana, was third with a 1:42.65 after making a late push from lane one. Another Indiana postgrad, James Wells, was fourth with a 1:42.98 representing Badger Swim Club. Michigan’s Tristan Sanders (1:43.26), Cardinal’s Pedro Oliveira (1:43.48), Louisville’s Nolan Tesone (1:44.13) and Rowan Williams of Ohio State (1:44.79) rounded out the top eight.
Steven Zimmerman of Ohio State won the B final with a 1:43.21. He was followed by a 1:44.48 from Austin Katz and a 1:44.98 from Maxime Rooney. Nick Carter took the C final with a 1:45.28, beating out the 1:45.56 by Bob Glover and the 1:45.96 by Jack Mangan.