Last night’s B1G Championships Finals session saw the Michigan Wolverine men dominate both the 200y medley and 800y freestyle relays, positioning themselves as the top team in the country in both events. Today’s prelims are jam-packed with high-profile swimmers all vying for the top spots for tonight’s finals to inch their teams along in the point standings.
2015 B1G MEN’s CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, February 25th to Saturday, February 28th
- University of Iowa Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium, Iowa City, IA
- Defending Champions: Michigan (results)
- Live Results
- Live Video
- Championship Central
- Thursday morning timeline/heat sheets
EVENT ORDER
Thursday
- 500 Free
- 200 IM
- 50 Free
- 1 mtr Diving
- 400 Medley Relay (Finals Only)
THURSDAY HEAT SHEET PREVIEW
500 Free – Top seed Anders Nielsen (4:15.90) out of Michigan has a stronghold on this event, having the quickest time in the B1G by just under three full seconds. That certainly doesn’t mean, however, that someone lurking in his heat 7 or those before won’t throw down a surprise swim to challenge Nielsen for the center lane for tonight’s finals. Wisconsin’s Matthew Hutchins, Indiana’s Jackson Miller and Ohio State’s Brayden Seal appear primed and ready to take their best shot.
200 IM – Last year’s B1G runner-up, Dylan Bosch (Michigan), looks to have this race as his to lose, sitting in the top seed position with a 1:44.27, the 15th-fastest time in the country as of today. With Jack Conger’s recent 200 fly American record smack-down, though, it will be interesting to see how much Bosch may hold back (if anything) in the IM event in order to try to offer a terrifying 200 fly time later in the meet as an answer to the Texas sophomore’s historic swim.
50 Free – Michigan has two exciting underclassmen sprinters in freshman Paul Powers and sophomore Vinny Tafuto who will swim side-by-side in the 9th heat this morning. However, senior teammate Bruno Ortiz is armed with the second-seeded time of 19.57 and, based on his extraordinary 50 breast medley relay split last night (22.77), may have the determination to keep his time-slaying tear on track. With several different racing options – 100 breast? 100 free? even 100 fly? – we will keep our eye on the other events Ortiz plans to target later in the meet.