NCAA Men’s Championships: Bjorn Seeliger Caps Morning of Big Drops by Cal with Swim-Off 44.17
It took a swim-off to bring the best out of Bjorn Seeliger. But the Cal fifth-year delivered it in the men’s 100 backstroke on Friday.
Seeliger and Stuart Seymour of Northwestern tied for 16th in 45.22 in prelims of the 100 backstroke at the NCAA Championships. Seeliger won the swim-off in 44.17 to the 45.11 turned in by the sophomore Seymour.
Had Seeliger done that time in prelims, he would’ve been sixth in the A final. As it is, Cal’s stroke dominance has them poised to move, with seven A finalists and five B finalists Friday night, plus the 400 medley relay.
Seeliger left no doubt, leading the swimoff by .66 at the 25-yard wall. He went out in 21.08 to Seymour’s 21.97.
Cal entered the meet – and it was particularly pronounced on Friday – with slower than representative seed times from its first ACC Championships. It mattered little, since the Golden Bears summoned plenty of time drops from early heats. In the 400 IM, Lucas Henveaux was nearly five seconds quicker than his best time of the season to go from 29th seed to second in finals. Jack Alexy, seeded 38th and swimming out of the second heat of six in the 200 free, went 1:30.07 for the second seed. Gabriel Jett improved from 24th to third, while Robin Hanson jumped from 17th to ninth.
In the 100 breast, Hank Rivers went from 31st to 16th, sneaking into a scoring position. Destin Lasco, despite three consecutive A finals in the 100 back, was outside the circle-seeded heats in 25th but put up the third-best time. Mewen Tomac went from 23rd to fifth.
Seymour was near a best time, which is had been 45.07. The sophomore from Brookfield, Wisconsin, was seeded 19th.
Seeliger, a two-time Olympian for Sweden, finished 10th in the 100 back in 2023 and eighth in 2022.
Event 112 Men 100 Yard Backstroke Swim-off
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Name Year School Seed Finals Points
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=== - Swim-off ===
1 Seeliger, Bjorn 5Y California 45.22 44.17
r:+0.69 10.16 21.08 (10.92)
32.58 (11.50) 44.17 (11.59)
2 Seymour, Stuart SO Northwestern 45.22 45.11
r:+0.77 10.82 21.97 (11.15)
33.59 (11.62) 45.11 (11.52)
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