A few years ago, a sub-3-minute 400 medley relay seemed impossible. Texas made that a reality on Thursday night at the 2017 NCAA Men’s Division I Swimming and Diving Championships, breaking the old record that they had at 3:00.68. The Longhorns had all four of their swimmers a year ago with John Shebat (44.58), Will Licon (49.75), Joseph Schooling (43.60) and Jack Conger (41.29) all returning tonight to swim the fastest 400 medley relay in history.
Watch video interviews with Schooling and with Texas head coach Eddie Reese:
Lost in that race was an American Record by California in second place at 3:01.51. Ryan Murphy had the fastest backstroke split with a 44.32, but it wasn’t enough to hold off Texas the last three legs. The last two years, it had been the same story in that race, with Cal’s Murphy giving the Golden Bears a big lead off the backstroke, with Schooling and Conger running down Cal on the back half. Murphy only had a 0.26 lead over Texas’ Shebat as he proved to be the key leg on that relay for the Longhorns. Texas never relinquished the lead after that.
Murphy (44.32), Connor Hoppe (50.97), Matthew Josa (44.59) and Michael Jensen (41.63) swam on the new American Record relay that was held by Cal from 2015. Missouri was third in the race with a 3:01.91. Southern California, Indiana, Louisville, Stanford and Florida also swam in the A-Final.
The Longhorns won their third straight 400 medley relay title and their second relay of the meet. Texas has a big lead going into tomorrow with 225.5 points. California is in second with 143 points, just ahead of Florida (138.5) and NC State (123).
Texas now has 14 NCAA titles in the 400 medley relay, the most of any school. The 2017 team joins the teams from 2016, 2015, 2004, 2003, 2001, 2000, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1984, 1982, 1981 and 1980.
Event 7 Men 400 Yard Medley Relay
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NCAA: N 2:59.22 3/23/2017 Texas
J Shebat, W Licon, J Schooling, J Conger
Championship: C 2:59.22 3/23/2017 Texas
J Shebat, W Licon, J Schooling, J Conger
American: A 3:01.51 3/23/2017 California, California-PC
R Murphy, C Hoppe, M Josa, M Jensen
U. S. Open: O 2:59.22 3/23/2017 Texas
J Shebat, W Licon, J Schooling, J Conger
Pool: P 2:59.22 3/23/2017 Texas
J Shebat, W Licon, J Schooling, J Conger
School Prelims Finals Points
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=== Championship Final ===
1 Texas 3:03.45 2:59.22N 40
1) Shebat, John SO 2) r:0.31 Licon, Will SR
3) r:0.31 Schooling, Joseph JR 4) r:0.23 Conger, Jack SR
r:+0.61 21.16 44.58 (44.58)
1:07.77 (23.19) 1:34.33 (49.75)
1:54.42 (20.09) 2:17.93 (43.60)
2:37.34 (19.41) 2:59.22 (41.29)
2 California 3:04.95 3:01.51A 34
1) Murphy, Ryan SR 2) r:0.04 Hoppe, Connor JR
3) r:0.10 Josa, Matthew JR 4) r:0.25 Jensen, Michael FR
r:+0.54 21.11 44.32 (44.32)
1:07.66 (23.34) 1:35.29 (50.97)
1:55.45 (20.16) 2:19.88 (44.59)
2:39.39 (19.51) 3:01.51 (41.63)
3 Missouri 3:02.53 3:01.91 32
1) Hein, Daniel FR 2) r:0.15 Schwingenschloebian SR
3) r:0.23 Sansoucie, Andrew SR 4) r:0.17 Chadwick, Michael SR
r:+0.50 21.79 45.99 (45.99)
1:09.09 (23.10) 1:36.21 (50.22)
1:56.59 (20.38) 2:21.19 (44.98)
2:40.33 (19.14) 3:01.91 (40.72)
4 Southern Cali 3:04.55 3:02.20 30
1) Tribuntsov, Ralf JR 2) r:0.11 Vissering, Carsten SO
3) r:0.32 Carter, Dylan JR 4) r:0.22 Condorelli, Santo JR
r:+0.65 21.50 44.76 (44.76)
1:08.33 (23.57) 1:35.99 (51.23)
1:56.29 (20.30) 2:20.80 (44.81)
2:39.99 (19.19) 3:02.20 (41.40)
5 Louisville 3:04.05 3:03.96 28
1) Tarasevich, Grigory SR 2) r:0.04 Claverie, Carlos JR
3) r:0.11 Quallen, Josh SR 4) r:0.16 Carroll, Trevor SR
r:+0.56 21.62 44.97 (44.97)
1:08.65 (23.68) 1:36.51 (51.54)
1:57.10 (20.59) 2:21.69 (45.18)
2:41.42 (19.73) 3:03.96 (42.27)
6 Indiana 3:03.84 3:03.98 26
1) Glover, Bob SR 2) r:0.16 Finnerty, Ian SO
3) r:0.02 Lanza, Vini SO 4) r:0.22 Pieroni, Blake JR
r:+0.61 22.00 45.98 (45.98)
1:09.77 (23.79) 1:37.71 (51.73)
1:58.46 (20.75) 2:22.78 (45.07)
2:42.22 (19.44) 3:03.98 (41.20)
7 Stanford 3:04.90 3:04.46 24
1) Dudzinski, Ryan SO 2) r:0.12 Anderson, Matt SO
3) r:0.25 Liang, Andrew JR 4) r:0.22 Perry, Sam JR
r:+0.62 22.44 46.46 (46.46)
1:10.21 (23.75) 1:38.10 (51.64)
1:58.56 (20.46) 2:23.19 (45.09)
2:42.52 (19.33) 3:04.46 (41.27)
8 Florida 3:04.20 3:04.90 22
1) Blyzinskyj, Jack SR 2) r:0.08 Bray, Chandler FR
3) r:0.12 Dressel, Caeleb JR 4) r:0.23 Switkowski, Jan JR
r:+0.60 22.36 46.59 (46.59)
1:10.90 (24.31) 1:39.01 (52.42)
1:59.03 (20.02) 2:23.34 (44.33)
2:43.13 (19.79) 3:04.90 (41.56)
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 7 1. Texas 225.5 2. California 143 3. Florida 138.5 4. NC State 123 5. Indiana 121 6. Stanford 105 7. Southern Cali 75 8. Univ of Georgia 73 9. Missouri 71.5 10. Auburn 69.5 11. Louisville 57 12. South Carolina 40 13. Michigan 39 14. Arizona State 34 15. Purdue 33 16. Alabama 32 17. Texas A&M 23 18. Wisconsin 21 19. Tennessee 19 20. Ohio St 17 21. University of Miami 14 22. Lsu 12 22. Notre Dame 12 24. Arizona 10 25. Florida State 7 26. UNC 6 26. Harvard 6 28. Kentucky 4 28. Virginia Tech 4 28. Northwestern 4 31. Penn St 2 31. Hawaii 2 33. Pittsburgh 1
Texas opens with a big lead after day 1.
Unbelievable
that is crazy fast. Texas continues to get faster.