NCAA Men’s Championships: NC State’s Aiden Hayes Stuns With 200 Butterfly Comeback Win
The swimmers geared up for one more showdown individually,, this time in the 200 butterfly on the final night of the 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships from Minneapolis.
Entering the final, Cal had the top two seeds as the Golden Bears were hoping for a 1-2 finish in the final individual swim of the meet, in their march toward a title.
But it was a perhaps unexpected sophomore from NC State that put that celebration on hold.
Aiden Hayes led at the 50, then surrendered that lead to defending NCAA champion Brendan Burns of Indiana. Hayes used a late surge on the final 50 reclaim the lead and to power to the wall in 1:38.79 and claim the NCAA title.
He joins former Wolfpack swimmer Andreas Vazaios, who won the 200 fly five years ago in the same pool.
“When I came to NC State, Braden is the pinnacle of everything I want as a coach. He kept telling me over and over, 2 fly, 2 fly. He had me do a set that Andreas did and beat every single time he did in that set. I am just glad Braden was able to believe in me,” Hayes said. “The amount of faith he puts in his swimmers is special and I don’t think you can find it anywhere else.”
Teammate Ross Dant remembers that set.
“I remember when he did that workout and Braden telling us what he was doing. Braden said he was smoking what Andreas was doing and that he thought Aiden could win a title,” Dant said. “The hard work pays off.”
It was a big session after the Wolfpack went 1-2 in the mile.
“Every single one of our milers torched it,” Hayes said. “Ross destroyed his mile and Will (Gallant) follows that up with a win. This is the session, I was thinking. And it ended up happening. I love to thrive off of nerves.”
Hayes had a plan to start strong, but he still have to come back.
“I knew my competition really well. I know I am the speediest guy out there, so I came in and wanted to play to my strength and dust the first 100. If I could build enough ground between us. That was the first time that on all my turns, I never saw above water level,” Hayes said. “My eyes didn’t go any place but right ahead and that allowed me to stay in the race.”
Burns finished second in 1:38.97, followed by Cal sophomore Gabriel Jett (1:39.40) and junior Dare Rose (1:39.89).
Indiana junior Tomer Frankel was fifth in 1:40.34, followed by NC State senior Noah Bowers (1:40.85), Arizona State senior Alexander Colson (1:41.38) and Michigan sophomore Gal Groumi (1:42.73), who won the swim-off to get to the final.
Princeton’s Raunak Khosla, a senior, won the B final in 1:40.94.
Event 19 Men 200 Yard Butterfly
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NCAA: N 1:37.35 3/25/2017 Jack Conger, Texas
Meet: M 1:37.35 3/25/2017 Jack Conger, Texas
American: A 1:37.35 3/25/2017 Jack Conger, Texas
U. S. Open: O 1:37.35 3/25/2017 Jack Conger, Texas
Pool: P 1:38.60 3/24/2018 Andrea Vazaios, NC State
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
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=== Championship Final ===
1 Hayes, Aiden SO NC State 1:40.56 1:38.79 20
r:+0.64 21.90 47.21 (25.31)
1:12.72 (25.51) 1:38.79 (26.07)
2 Burns, Brendan SR Indiana 1:40.51 1:38.97 17
r:+0.68 22.07 46.70 (24.63)
1:12.13 (25.43) 1:38.97 (26.84)
3 Jett, Gabriel SO California 1:39.71 1:39.40 16
r:+0.68 22.36 47.04 (24.68)
1:12.65 (25.61) 1:39.40 (26.75)
4 Rose, Dare JR California 1:40.00 1:39.89 15
r:+0.64 22.19 47.39 (25.20)
1:13.16 (25.77) 1:39.89 (26.73)
5 Frankel, Tomer JR Indiana 1:40.94 1:40.34 14
r:+0.50 22.01 47.34 (25.33)
1:13.30 (25.96) 1:40.34 (27.04)
6 Bowers, Noah SR NC State 1:40.82 1:40.85 13
r:+0.62 22.23 47.46 (25.23)
1:13.60 (26.14) 1:40.85 (27.25)
7 Colson, Alexander SR ASU 1:40.43 1:41.38 12
r:+0.65 22.19 47.79 (25.60)
1:13.93 (26.14) 1:41.38 (27.45)
8 Cohen Groumi, Gal SO Michigan 1:41.39 1:42.37 11
r:+0.61 22.51 48.29 (25.78)
1:15.03 (26.74) 1:42.37 (27.34)
=== Consolation Final ===
9 Khosla, Raunak SR Princeton 1:41.81 1:40.94 9
r:+0.64 23.02 48.94 (25.92)
1:14.80 (25.86) 1:40.94 (26.14)
10 Gonzalez Pinero, Joaq SO Florida 1:41.75 1:41.62 7
r:+0.63 22.76 48.23 (25.47)
1:14.63 (26.40) 1:41.62 (26.99)
11 Miller, Luke JR NC State 1:41.85 1:42.12 6
r:+0.60 22.45 47.92 (25.47)
1:14.18 (26.26) 1:42.12 (27.94)
12 Artmann, Sam SR Texas 1:41.86 1:42.32 5
r:+0.60 22.93 49.41 (26.48)
1:15.93 (26.52) 1:42.32 (26.39)
13 McInerny, Evan JR Auburn 1:42.24 1:42.35 4
r:+0.63 22.79 48.56 (25.77)
1:14.87 (26.31) 1:42.35 (27.48)
14 Fong, Josh SR Virginia 1:41.92 1:42.75 3
r:+0.63 23.45 49.84 (26.39)
1:16.35 (26.51) 1:42.75 (26.40)
15 Gray, Andrew SR ASU 1:41.70 1:42.94 2
r:+0.68 22.42 48.34 (25.92)
1:15.22 (26.88) 1:42.94 (27.72)
16 Espernberger, Martin FR Tennessee 1:41.39 1:43.21 1
r:+0.63 22.91 49.06 (26.15)
1:15.91 (26.85) 1:43.21 (27.30)
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 19
1. California 445 2. Arizona St 398
3. Texas 351 4. NC State 343.5
5. Indiana 317 6. Florida 315
7. Tennessee 173.5 8. Virginia Tech 119
9. Stanford 115.5 10. Auburn 109
11. Georgia 90 12. Ohio St 81.5
13. Louisville 80 14. Texas A&M 76
15. Virginia 70 16. Missouri 62.5
17. Notre Dame 62 18. Lsu 53.5
19. Alabama 47 20. Minnesota 36
21. Michigan 35 22. Southern California 31
23. Wisconsin 27 23. UNC 27
25. Utah 14 26. Princeton 13
26. Siuc 13 26. Kentucky 13
29. Columbia 12 30. Arizona 10
31. Miami 9 32. Pittsburgh 4
32. Penn St 4 34. Georgia Tech 3
35. Towson 2 35. Air Force 2
37. Purdue 1
