Texas A&M sophomore Shaine Casas proved he could turn in stellar performances in just about everything he swam during the Art Adamson Invitational.
Casas dominated the 200-yard backstroke to win in 1:38.21, nearly four seconds ahead of the field and the top time in the NCAA this season.
The Aggies won the men’s meet with 1,322 points, followed by USC (675), Hawaii (596), Stanford (554), Air Force (487) and LSU (93).
Stanford won the women’s meet with 1,309, ahead of Texas A&M (1,098.5), USC (688.5), Hawaii (412) and LSU (97).
The NCAA automatic qualifying time was the exclamation point on a spectacular meet for Casas, who also turned in NCAA-leading swims in the 100 back and 200 IM.
But in the 200 back, he was nearly four seconds ahead of runner-up Johannes Calloni (1:42.18), who clocked an NCAA provisional cut.
Casas led off the winning 400 free relay, joining Adam Koster, Kaloyan Bratanov and Mark Theall to win in 2:49.99, an NCAA automatic cut.
Koster won the 100 free in 42.26, finishing ahead of USC’s Nikola Miljenic (43.24). Both were NCAA “B” cuts. Andres Puente won the 200 breaststroke in 1:52.48, an NCAA automatic cut and the fastest time this season in the NCAA. Stanford’s Hank Poppe was second in 1:52.97.
USC’s Victor Johansson won the 1650 free in 14:47.27 to hold off Stanford’s Grant Shoults (14:52.91). Both were NCAA provisional qualifying times.
LSU’s Emmanuel Vazquez won the men’s platform diving with 356.50 points. USC’s Alexei Sancov won the 200 butterfly (1:42.20).
In the women’s meet, Stanford’s Katie Drabot won the 200 butterfly behind an extremely quick first split (25.98). Drabot finished in 1:53.14, an NCAA automatic qualifying time and the fastest time in the NCAA this season. She finished ahead of Texas A&M junior Taylor Pike (1:54.81).
Stanford went 1-2-3-5 in the 200 backstroke as Erin Voss won the event in 1:52.79 to hold off teammates Alex Crisera (1:53.66) and Lucie Nordmann (1:53.84). Allie Szekely finished fifth (1:54.85) behind USC’s Aela Janvier (1:54.01). All were NCAA “B” cuts.
Stanford’s Zoe Bartel won the 200 breaststroke in 2:08.18, edging Texas A&M’s Anna Belousova (2:08.23) and Stanford’s Brooke Forde (2:09.37).
USC’s Laticia Transom raced to a solid win in the 100 free, clocking a 47.83 to hold off Stanford’s Amalie Fackenthal (48.22) and USC teammate Jemma Schlicht (48.29).
Transom, Schlicht, Catherine Sanchez and Tatum Wade won the 400 free relay in an NCAA automatic cut 3:14.00 to close the women’s meet.
Hawaii’s Phoebe Hines won the 1650 free in 15:56.61.
Texas A&M’s Alyssa Clairmont won platform diving with 304.85 points.
But it was Shaine Casas who stamped his stellar meet with another swim college fans will be talking about.
