Arizona senior Ryk Neethling of South Africa won his second title of the meet, taking the 200 free in a U.S. Open record of 1:43.90. Neethling, the 1999 NCAA Swimmer of the Year, had won the 400 free in a U.S. Open record on Thursday, though he said he was disappointed with his time in that event. He said he was "very happy" with the 200 time. Neethling was behind Stanford junior Adam Messner until the last lap, but pulled away and went almost two seconds faster than Messner on the last 50, splitting 25.74.
"Every year my races seem to be carbon copies of each other," said Neethling. "Last year I was also behind with 25 to go and pulled it out at the end. That's what I expected and that's what I wanted."
Messner was second with a 1:45.01, Texas junior Jamie Rauch was third in 1:46.35, Stanford freshman John Waters was fourth in 1:46.72, Texas junior Scot Goldblatt was fifth in 1:46.84, UNLV sophomore Jacint Simon was sixth in 1:47.44, Southern Cal freshman Jeff Lee was seventh in 1:47.63 and Arizona junior Jay Schryver was eighth in 1:47.77. Nebraska's Anthony Rogis won the B final in 1:46.80.
