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Texas absolutely unloaded on the rest of the teams with the most dominant single event in NCAA history with six A finalists in the 100-yard fly at the NCAA Division I Men’s Championships. It is fitting that butterfly made history at this meet in Iowa, as this state is the birthplace of the modern day butterfly stroke, created by former Iowa coach David Armbruster in 1935.
Joseph Schooling (45.04), Jack Conger (45.17), Tripp Cooper (45.33), Will Glass (45.40), John Murray (45.89) and Matt Ellis (45.92) treated NCAAs like the Big 12 Championships, claiming the 1-2-3-4-7-8 seeds to guarantee a huge point swing for the Longhorns.
North Carolina’s Sam Lewis (45.60) and Ohio State’s Matt McHugh (45.82) will join the Longhorns in the finale.
The previous best single event team efforts since the NCAA moved to eight lanes in 1985 were USC’s 1987 and Michigan’s 1994 and 1995 500-yard frees.
USC had four A finalists with Daniel Jorgensen (4:16.25), Thomas Fahrner (4:16.31), Mike O’Brien (4:17.01) going 1-2-3 with Chris Chalmers taking eighth in 4:21.99. Chris Hansen also took 15th overall in 4:22.50.
Michigan had four A finalists with Tom Dolan (4:08.75), John Piersma (4:16.06), Chris Rumley (4:17.35) and Owen Von Richter (4:18.34) placing 1-3-4-5 in the A final with Dolan being the first man under 4:10. Thomas Blake, meanwhile, took fourth in the B final with a 4:22.71 for a total of five finalists.
Michigan also claimed four A finalists and a B finalist in 1994 in the 500-yard free. Tom Dolan (4:12.30), John Piersma (4:17.13), Chris Rumley (4:19.11) and Marcel Wouda (4:25.26) placed 2-3-5-8. Rodney Van Tassell took 16th overall in 4:27.46.
1995 proved to be truly dominant for Michigan as it also claimed four A finalists in the 400-yard IM. Tom Dolan (3:38.18), Owen Von Richter (3:44.81), Royce Sharp (3:46.27) and Marcel Wouda (3:46.45) went 1-3-4-5.
Additionally, Stanford had four A finalists in the 1992 100-yard back. Jeff Rouse (46.12), Brian Retterer (46.51), Drew Weatherford (47.80) and Josh Mikesell (48.29) went 1-2-5-7 that year for the Cardinal. Texas had four A finalists in the 2009 200-yard free. Dave Walters (1:32.59), Ricky Berens (1:32.74), Michael Klueh (1:34.25) and Peter Jameson (1:34.52) went 2-3-7-8 that year. Auburn also picked up four A final spots in the 50-yard free in 1997. Nick Shackell (43.07), Brock Newman (43.23), Scott Tucker (43.35) and Brett Hawke (43.41) went 2-3-5-6 for the Tigers
Arizona also had four A finalists in the 200-yard free in 2007. Darian Townsend (1:33.29), Adam Ritter (1:33.76), Jean Basson (1:33.85) and Nick Nilo (1:33.90) went 1-3-4-5. Stanford also had four A finalists in the 100 back in 2002. Peter Marshall (45.91), Randall Bal (46.13), Dan Westcott (46.51) and Jayme Cramer (46.95) went 1-3-4-6. Stanford had four A finalists again in the 100-yard back in 2001. Peter Marshall (46.23), Randall Bal (46.59), Markus Rogan (46.83) and Dan Westcott (46.84) went 2-3-6-7.
Prior to the expansion to six lanes in 1985, Tennessee did have a dominant 50-yard free in 1978. Andrew Coan (20.29), John Newton (20.41), Robert Sells (20.44) and Tom White (20.55) went 1-3-4-5 out of the top six, while John Ebuna placed second in the consolation heat with a 20.56. That happened to be one of the rare times the B finalist was faster than the A as USC’s Scott Findorff had the fastest time of the evening in 19.94.
Notably, we just did a feature on Coan’s recent health struggles.
1 Schooling, Jose FR Texas 44.81 45.04 q
r:+0.63 21.35 45.04 (23.69)
2 Conger, Jack SO Texas 44.78 45.17 q
r:+0.70 21.02 45.17 (24.15)
3 Cooper, Tripp SR Texas 45.79 45.33 q
r:+0.72 21.12 45.33 (24.21)
4 Glass, Will SO Texas 45.96 45.40 q
r:+0.71 21.28 45.40 (24.12)
5 Lewis, Sam JR UNC 45.93 45.60 q
r:+0.62 21.46 45.60 (24.14)
6 McHugh, Matt SO Ohio St 45.75 45.82 q
r:+0.69 21.38 45.82 (24.44)
7 Murray, John JR Texas 46.73 45.89 q
r:+0.67 21.36 45.89 (24.53)
8 Ellis, Matt JR Texas 46.23 45.92 q
r:+0.70 21.59 45.92 (24.33)
2015 NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships, Live Results – Results
I believe Tenn had 4 of 6 finalists in 50 Free around 1977 or so.
4 in top 12 in 1977, but only 1 A finalist.
Tenn did go 4 up, 1 down in 78 though! Will add to article.
Whoa!