Outside smoke in lane 1, Brendan Burns is an NCAA champion once again.
The Indiana swimmer returned for his fifth year with some unfinished business and claimed the 100-yard backstroke title in 43.86 – a repeat title that was always possible but seemed unlikely with his lane placement.
Burns jumped out of the pool and let loose a roar.
“I was kind of caught up in the moment,” Burns said. “It was so awesome having our entire team there, our fans and my entire family. It was pure caught-up-in-the-moment. The swim was great. The year has been rocky personally, looking myself in the mirror and realizing my own journey in the sport is coming to an end a lot sooner than I would have liked. That has been very humbling, but to have moments like this with my teammates is a reminder of why I came back.”
Burns broke Ryan Murphy‘s pool record in the event (43.99) and snagged another NCAA title with a late push from lane 1 and a stellar last push-off on the final 25.
“If you have a lane, you have a chance,” Burns said. “It is something that all swimmers young and old can attest to. That is what I had in me. My prelims swim was pretty terrible and I just flushed that out, and I knew I had (that title swim) in me. I just wanted to get my hand on the wall for my team. Being in lane 1 helped me focus on my own race and not get caught up in what was going on. Some of those guys are going to win Olympic medals this summer, but from lane 1, I just wanted to focus on the race that I had.”
NC State fifth-year Kacper Stokowski was second at 43.89, just three hundredths behind Burns.
Florida senior Adam Chaney led at the halfway point and ended up third in 43.99.
Arizona State sophomore Hubert Kos was fourth (44.13), followed by Cal senior Destin Lasco (44.22), who was the top seed coming into finals.
Arizona State sophomore Owen McDonald was sixth (44.46), followed by Georgia sophomore Ruard Van Renen (44.75) and Florida freshman Jonny Marshall (44.86).
It was Burns’ third overall title after winning the 200 fly in 2022.
Saturday he will do a grueling double with the 200 fly and 200 back.
“I am definitely doing both 200s. I switched this year because one of my process-oriented goals was leaving no stone unturned. This was something I had never tried before and I just wanted to leave it out there for my team. We have a great opportunity to move up in the team standings and I have a really big responsibility to my teammates to make sure I do what I am capable of. I am really excited about that opportunity.”
Event 12 Men 100 Yard Backstroke
=========================================================================
NCAA: N 43.35 3/25/2022 Luca Urlando, Georgia
Meet: M 43.35 3/25/2022 Luca Urlando, Georgia
American: A 43.35 3/25/2022 Luca Urlando, Georgia
U. S. Open: O 43.35 3/25/2022 Luca Urlando, Georgia
Pool: P 43.99 3/24/2017 Ryan Murphy, California
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== Championship Final ===
1 Burns, Brendan 5Y Indiana 44.51 43.86P 20
r:+0.61 10.28 21.26 (10.98)
32.57 (11.31) 43.86 (11.29)
2 Stokowski, Kacper 5Y NC State 44.08 43.89P 17
r:+0.67 10.32 21.40 (11.08)
32.67 (11.27) 43.89 (11.22)
3 Chaney, Adam SR Florida 44.24 43.99P 16
r:+0.67 10.15 21.09 (10.94)
32.32 (11.23) 43.99 (11.67)
4 Kos, Hubert SO ASU 44.39 44.13 15
r:+0.56 10.36 21.20 (10.84)
32.63 (11.43) 44.13 (11.50)
5 Lasco, Destin SR California 44.00 44.22 14
r:+0.65 10.42 21.48 (11.06)
32.84 (11.36) 44.22 (11.38)
6 McDonald, Owen SO ASU 44.25 44.46 13
r:+0.52 10.36 21.48 (11.12)
33.03 (11.55) 44.46 (11.43)
7 Van Renen, Ruard SO Georgia 44.21 44.75 12
r:+0.61 10.37 21.52 (11.15)
32.91 (11.39) 44.75 (11.84)
8 Marshall, Jonny FR Florida 44.52 44.86 11
r:+0.65 10.36 21.42 (11.06)
33.05 (11.63) 44.86 (11.81)
=== Consolation Final ===
9 Modglin, Will FR Texas 44.58 44.20 9
r:+0.66 10.27 21.18 (10.91)
32.71 (11.53) 44.20 (11.49)
10 Hayes, Aiden JR NC State 45.11 44.55 7
r:+0.53 10.30 21.60 (11.30)
33.27 (11.67) 44.55 (11.28)
11 Janton, Tommy SO Notre Dame 44.91 44.75 6
r:+0.61 10.39 21.35 (10.96)
32.97 (11.62) 44.75 (11.78)
12 Dolan, Jack 5Y ASU 44.86 44.79 5
r:+0.67 10.48 21.62 (11.14)
33.14 (11.52) 44.79 (11.65)
13 Seeliger, Bjorn SR California 44.80 44.81 4
r:+0.81 10.22 21.13 (10.91)
32.94 (11.81) 44.81 (11.87)
14 Morley, Cooper SO Penn St 45.12 45.28 3
r:+0.63 10.67 21.82 (11.15)
33.59 (11.77) 45.28 (11.69)
15 Stoffle, Aidan 5Y Auburn 45.01 45.30 2
r:+0.55 10.41 21.43 (11.02)
33.11 (11.68) 45.30 (12.19)
16 Buff, Scotty FR Florida 45.20 45.33 1
r:+0.59 10.53 21.72 (11.19)
33.35 (11.63) 45.33 (11.98)
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 12
1. Arizona St 303 2. Florida 272
3. California 252.5 4. Indiana 178
5. NC State 174 6. Texas 136
7. Tennessee 106 8. Stanford 101
9. Virginia Tech 92 10. Georgia 88
11. Auburn 72 12. Notre Dame 61
13. Michigan 60.5 14. Louisville 57
15. Ohio St 53 16. Alabama 50
17. Texas A&M 43 18. Smu 41
19. Virginia 27 20. Florida St 24
21. Missouri 19 22. Towson 17
22. Minnesota 17 24. Wisconsin 16
25. Arizona 15 25. Miami (Fl) 15
27. Brigham Young 7 28. Utah 6
28. Lsu 6 28. Penn St 6
31. Purdue 5 32. GW 3
33. UNC 2
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