NCAA Men’s Championships: Liam Bell Shatters NCAA Record in 100 Breaststroke
Five swimmers were 50-point in the 100-yard breaststroke as the group collectively inched closer to Ian Finnerty’s NCAA record of 49.69 set in 2018.
It has finally fallen.
Cal fifth-year Liam Bell scorched a 23.15 on the first 50 as he took control and kept building that lead and got to the wall in 49.53.
“It means a lot, especially to my family and the guys on the team. It is something I have been wanting for a long time. It was a long journey. A lot of time and patience,” Bell said. “These are the moments we live for.”
A long journey that included taking a step away from swimming this past summer.
“A big thing was having a relatively injury-free season,” Bell said. “Being able to train for a whole season has been a game-changer. I didn’t really train much this summer. Maybe twice a week. I was lifting a lot. I think for me, gaining a lot of strength has been one of the big things because I was always that skinny kid that got washed away off the walls. I wanted to compete with those guys. But I just took a break from it.”
His best time before this race was 50.50, and like a whole slew of breaststrokers, he was looking for what would get him past the 50-second barrier. Year after year, that record looked like it would fall, but it took until the 2024 NCAAs.
“It is something everyone dreams of,” he said. “But a lot of people don’t think this was achievable. Looking at the guys when I was a kid, I would have never thought I could get here, but then I am training with the best guys in the world. I think it hit me at the Minnesota Invite (that I could do this). I was tired of being in the shadows and thought this would be a good season for me.”
Towson’s Brian Benzing surged to a second-place finish in 50.59 – a huge win for mid-majors. When his runner-up award was given, the Indiana Natatorium NCAA crowd gave him a thunderous ovation.
Louisville’s Denis Petrashov finished third in 50.91, ahead of Virginia’s Noah Nichols (50.93) as four broke 51 in the finals.
Virginia Tech’s Carles Coll Marti took fifth (51.06), ahead of Indiana’s Josh Matheny (51.07), Florida’s Julian Smith (51.18) and Stanford’s Ron Polonsky (51.25).
Event 11 Men 100 Yard Breaststroke
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NCAA: N 49.69 3/23/2018 Ian Finnerty, Indiana
Meet: M 49.69 3/23/2018 Ian Finnerty, Indiana
American: A 49.69 3/23/2018 Ian Finnerty, Indiana
U. S. Open: O 49.69 3/23/2018 Ian Finnerty, Indiana
Pool: P 50.52 3/29/2024 Liam Bell, California
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
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=== Championship Final ===
1 Bell, Liam 5Y California 50.52 49.53N 20
r:+0.62 10.47 23.15 (12.68)
35.93 (12.78) 49.53 (13.60)
2 Benzing, Brian SR Towson 50.92 50.59 17
r:+0.61 10.76 23.70 (12.94)
36.88 (13.18) 50.59 (13.71)
3 Petrashov, Denis 5Y Louisville 51.25 50.91 16
r:+0.68 10.75 23.66 (12.91)
37.04 (13.38) 50.91 (13.87)
4 Nichols, Noah SR Virginia 50.97 50.93 15
r:+0.62 10.71 23.54 (12.83)
36.75 (13.21) 50.93 (14.18)
5 Coll Marti, Carles SR VT 51.19 51.06 14
r:+0.60 10.71 23.94 (13.23)
37.24 (13.30) 51.06 (13.82)
6 Matheny, Josh JR Indiana 51.27 51.07 13
r:+0.63 10.97 24.14 (13.17)
37.39 (13.25) 51.07 (13.68)
7 Smith, Julian JR Florida 50.94 51.18 12
r:+0.64 10.80 23.94 (13.14)
37.39 (13.45) 51.18 (13.79)
8 Polonsky, Ron JR Stanford 50.87 51.25 11
r:+0.66 10.90 23.80 (12.90)
37.25 (13.45) 51.25 (14.00)
=== Consolation Final ===
9 Savickas, Aleksas SO Florida 51.35 51.06 9
r:+0.65 10.71 23.74 (13.03)
37.22 (13.48) 51.06 (13.84)
10 Crisci, Flynn 5Y Tennessee 51.63 51.15 7
r:+0.61 10.57 23.69 (13.12)
37.13 (13.44) 51.15 (14.02)
11 Horner, Jaek 5Y Utah 51.87 51.35 6
r:+0.58 10.78 23.73 (12.95)
37.35 (13.62) 51.35 (14.00)
12 Yep, Jassen SR Indiana 51.72 51.52 5
r:+0.48 10.99 24.09 (13.10)
37.64 (13.55) 51.52 (13.88)
13 Varjasi, Peter 5Y FSU 51.69 51.55 4
r:+0.62 10.55 23.93 (13.38)
37.47 (13.54) 51.55 (14.08)
14 Lazzerini, Mariano SO Penn St 51.43 51.77 3
r:+0.60 10.94 24.17 (13.23)
37.92 (13.75) 51.77 (13.85)
15 Pouch, AJ 5Y VT 51.82 51.78 2
r:+0.65 11.16 24.53 (13.37)
37.80 (13.27) 51.78 (13.98)
16 Foster, Jake 5Y Texas 51.58 51.81 1
r:+0.65 10.90 24.04 (13.14)
37.69 (13.65) 51.81 (14.12)
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 11
1. Arizona St 270 2. Florida 244
3. California 234.5 4. Indiana 158
5. NC State 150 6. Texas 127
7. Tennessee 106 8. Stanford 101
9. Virginia Tech 92 10. Georgia 76
11. Auburn 70 12. Michigan 60.5
13. Louisville 57 14. Notre Dame 55
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 30. Purdue 5
31. GW 3 31. Penn St 3
33. UNC 2
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