Editorial coverage sponsored by SpeedoUSA
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, March 28. STANFORD's David Nolan returned to form as he clocked a lifetime best to win the men's 200-yard IM at the NCAA Division I Men's Championships.
Nolan, currently a super sophomore for Stanford, came into the NCAA as a freshman last year as one of the top high school recruits of all time. He clocked a national high school record of 1:41.39 as a senior at Hershey High in Pennsylvania in 2011. As a freshman, he was unable to approach that performance.
Tonight, he finally cracked that time with a sizzling 1:41.21 to win the NCAA title. He split the race 22.53, 24.85, 29.43, 24.40. That gave Stanford an NCAA-leading 10th title in the event's history. Previous members of the Cardinal to win this event are George Harrison (1959), Dick Roth (1967), Pablo Morales (1985, 1986, 1987), Jeff Rouse (1992), Tom Wilkens (1998), Markus Rogan (2002) and Austin Staab (2011).
While Nolan beat his former personal best, he did not move up from his fourth-ranked position. Ryan Lochte (1:40.08), Bradley Ally (1:40.49) and Michael Phelps (1:40.58) own the top three spots, all in the 1:40 range.
Florida's Marcin Cieslak gave Nolan a run for his money, but wound up taking second in 1:41.45. That swim jumped him to fifth all time in the event's history, up from 14th all time. Indiana's Cody Miller, meanwhile, took third in 1:41.99 — just off his eighth-ranked time of 1:41.85 from last month.
Texas' Austin Surhoff, the 2010 champion, placed fourth in 1:42.45. California's Josh Prenot (1:42.62), Michigan's Dylan Bosch (1:43.17), Michigan's Kyle Whitaker (1:43.26) and California's Marcin Tarczynski (1:43.28), the defending champ, also competed in the finale. Stanford's Tom Kremer won the B final in 1:43.15.
Michigan remained in first with 93 points, while California jumped to second with 65 points. Texas (62), Stanford (61) and Florida (59) rounded out the top five.
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