Texas A&M’s Mark Theall has experienced a breakout meet at the NCAA championships, splitting under 1:32 on the Aggies’ 800 free relay, qualifying for the 500 free final and then making the consolation final of the 200 free. Theall transferred to Texas A&M as a sophomore and has reaped the benefits, dropping more than 30 seconds in two years in the 500 free.
In an interview at the end of Friday’s finals session, Theall described what has made his experience at Texas A&M so successful and how coaches Jay Holmes and Jason Calanog have helped him improve so much. Theall also discussed why this meet has been a “dream come true,” and he pointed out flaws he wants to improve on moving forward.
Full recap from 500 free final:
Going for his third straight NCAA title in the 500 free, Texas senior Townley Haas took the race out at a never-before-seen pace, splitting 1:35.69 at the 200 and almost swimming the first half in under 2:00. At one point, Haas was nearly three seconds under pace for the American record, which belongs to Zane Grothe at 4:07.25.
Haas was still under record-pace at the 450, only to fade slightly on the last 50. He finished in 4:08.19, breaking Clark Smith’s NCAA record of 4:08.42 set in 2017. Haas’ performance made him the second-fastest swimmer in history.
In Haas’ wake for much of the race, Cal’s Sean Grieshop ended up putting up a stellar swim for second, with a time of 4:10.29. Arizona’s Brooks Fail finished third in 4:10.77.
Michigan’s Ricardo Vargas Jacobo finished fourth in 4:12.21, ahead of Georgia’s Walker Higgins (4:12.65) and South Carolina’s Fynn Minuth (4:12.72). Also in the A-final were Texas A&M’s Mark Theall (4:16.05) and Harvard’s Brennan Novak (4:21.72).
In the B-final, Cal’s Trenton Julian crushed the field with an impressive time of 4:11.30, better than all but the top three in the A-final.