Simon Fraser’s Collyn Gagne Lowers NCAA Division II Record in 400 IM to 3:42.49

2022 NCAA Division II Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• Dates: Wednesday, March 9 – Saturday, March 12, 2022
• Location: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC (Eastern Time Zone)
• Times: Prelims 10:00 AM / Finals 6:00 PM
• Defending Champs: Queens women (6x) & Queens men (6x) – (Results)
• Live Results
• Psych Sheet – Men
• SwimSwam Fan Guide – Men
• Thursday Finals Heat Sheets

Men’s 400 IM – Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 3:43.84 – Nick Arakelian, Queens (NC) (2015)
• Meet Record: 3:43.84 – Nick Arakelian, Queens (NC) (2015)
• 2021 Champion: Fabio Dalu, McKendree – 3:45.84

Podium:

1. Collyn Gagne, Simon Fraser – 3:42.49
2. Cedric Buessing, Indy – 3:48.40
3. Jarryd Baxter, Nova S’eastern – 3:48.49
4. Yannick Plasil, Queens (NC) – 3:50.14
5. Erikas Kapocius, NMU – 3:50.48
6. Keegan Hawkins, Grand Valley – 3:51.10
7. Mohamed Hegazy, Queens (NC) – 3:52.91
8. Andreas Marz, Queens (NC) – 3:55.95

Collyn Gagne of Simon Fraser University crashed through the NCAA Division II and meet records, winning the men’s 400 IM with 3:42.49 to slash 1.35 seconds off the mark set by Nick Arakelian in 2015. The junior from Oakville, Ontario in Canada also lowered his own school record by 5 seconds. (Simon Fraser is the only Canadian university in the NCAA.)

Gagne’s strength is in the second half of the race, and he was untouchable on Thursday night. Yannick Plasil of Queens set the pace early on, leading the field on the butterfly leg (51.00) with Nova S’eastern’s Jarryd Baxter just behind (51.15). Gagne was just a tick behind the leaders (51.21). Baxter took over the lead on the backstroke leg (56.27) and Gagne moved into second place (57.11).

It was then that Gagne clicked into another gear. He blew away the field away with a 1:02.3 breaststroke leg, the fastest by about three seconds, and he headed into the freestyle with a three body-length lead. Gagne came home in 51.8, again the fastest split, to finish nearly six seconds in front of Indy’s Cedric Buessing, who had overtaken Baxter on the final 50 yards.

Side-by-side split comparison:

In 2019, Gagne was fourth in the 400 IM at the NCAA Division II Championships in 3:51.08.