NCAA Men’s Championships: Destin Lasco Downs Ryan Murphy’s American Record to Win 200 Backstroke

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

NCAA Men’s Championships: Destin Lasco Downs Ryan Murphy’s American Record

Generation after generation, the California backstroke group rolls deep. Destin Lasco has long been a big part of that. Saturday’s swim only solidified his place in its lore.

Lasco lowered Ryan Murphy’s NCAA and American record from 2017 with a swim of 1:35.37. It downs the mark of 1:35.73 that Murphy set in 2016. It also downs the U.S. Open and NCAA record set by Hubert Kos of Arizona State last year at 1:35.69.

“It is so hard to explain. Some of my best races I have just gone blank. Seeing that 1:35 low on the board was so satisfying because I was chasing that record for four years,” Lasco said. “It makes it sweeter. It feels like a dream come true. Ryan is a mentor to me every day. I am just so happy I got the record back to Cal. We are known as backstroke-U.”

Lasco, the reigning champion, set the pace in prelims at 1:36.05. Lasco was fifth at the midpoint Saturday night but worked his third 50 to the tune of 23.89. He had the fastest final 50, too, in 24.01.

After winning the 200 IM, Lasco didn’t have a great swim in the 100 backstroke, which helped motivate him.

“Not swimming the way I wanted yesterday, I wanted to come back with a vengeance and show them who Destin Lasco is, and it worked,” he said.

That held off Kos of Arizona State, who went 1:35.90, also under the pool record. Kos was third last year behind a momentum-shifting Cal 1-2. The shoe was on the other foot this year from the Sun Devils. The biggest Arizona State swim was from Owen McDonald, who clocked in at 1:36.63, 1.5 seconds quicker than prelims to go from an outside lane to third. He had been fifth last year.

The Sun Devils are 81 points clear of Florida and 85.5 up on California.

Jonny Marshall of Florida was fourth in 1:37.04. Brendan Burns, the 100 back champ, was seventh. NC State’s Kacper Stokowski finished fifth for the second straight year.

Aidan Stoffle of Auburn went 1:38.36 to win the B final, with Cal’s Keton Jones second.

Team Scores

Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 16                  
  1. Arizona St                        402   2. Florida                           321
  3. California                      316.5   4. Indiana                           263
  5. NC State                          242   6. Texas                             166
  7. Tennessee                         147   8. Stanford                          144
  9. Virginia Tech                     116  10. Georgia                           106
 11. Notre Dame                         96  12. Auburn                             88
 13. Louisville                         80  14. Ohio St                            79
 15. Michigan                         68.5  16. Texas A&M                          65
 17. Smu                                54  18. Alabama                            50
 19. Virginia                           41  20. Minnesota                          40
 21. Florida St                         34  22. Southern California                24
 23. Miami (Fl)                         21  24. Missouri                           19
 24. Arizona                            19  26. Towson                             17
 27. Wisconsin                          16  28. Pittsburgh                         15
 29. Lsu                                11  30. UNC                                 9
 31. Penn St                             8  32. Brigham Young                       7
 33. Utah                                6  34. Purdue                              5
 35. GW                                  3  36. Northwestern                        1

Event 16  Men 200 Yard Backstroke
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:35.69  3/9/2024  Hubert Kos, ASU
         Meet: M 1:35.73  3/26/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
     American: A 1:35.73  3/26/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
   U. S. Open: O 1:35.69  3/9/2024  Hubert Kos, ASU
         Pool: P 1:36.05  3/30/2024 Destin Lasco, California
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Final ===                        
 
  1 Lasco, Destin          SR California        1:36.05    1:35.37N  20  
    r:+0.66  22.83        47.47 (24.64)
        1:11.36 (23.89)     1:35.37 (24.01)
  2 Kos, Hubert            SO ASU               1:37.03    1:35.90P  17  
    r:+0.71  22.50        47.36 (24.86)
        1:11.72 (24.36)     1:35.90 (24.18)
  3 McDonald, Owen         SO ASU               1:38.21    1:36.63   16  
    r:+0.63  22.81        47.29 (24.48)
        1:12.21 (24.92)     1:36.63 (24.42)
  4 Marshall, Jonny        FR Florida           1:37.84    1:37.04   15  
    r:+0.76  22.21        46.79 (24.58)
        1:11.35 (24.56)     1:37.04 (25.69)
  5 Stokowski, Kacper      5Y NC State          1:37.90    1:38.15   14  
    r:+0.54  22.38        47.34 (24.96)
        1:13.10 (25.76)     1:38.15 (25.05)
  6 Dunham, Bradley        5Y Georgia           1:37.58    1:38.43   13  
    r:+0.64  22.86        47.48 (24.62)
        1:12.91 (25.43)     1:38.43 (25.52)
  7 Burns, Brendan         5Y Indiana           1:38.18    1:38.62   12  
    r:+0.61  23.37        47.79 (24.42)
        1:12.92 (25.13)     1:38.62 (25.70)
  8 Janton, Tommy          SO Notre Dame        1:38.36    1:40.25   11  
    r:+0.62  23.23        48.44 (25.21)
        1:14.35 (25.91)     1:40.25 (25.90)

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