Men’s NCAA Division I Championships: Day 3 Prelim Live Recap

2022 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 23-26, 2022
• McAuley Aquatic Center, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia (Eastern Daylight Time)
• Prelims 10AM /Finals 6PM
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Live Results
• Official Psych Sheets
• Virtual Championship Program
• SwimSwam Pick Em’s Contest
• Qualified relay teams
• Live stream link

Friday Prelim Heat Sheets

The third day of the men’s NCAA Championships is set to get under way at 10 AM EST this morning, with prelim races in the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast and 100 back on tap. The University of Texas currently holds the lead with 180 points, but by a narrower margin than originally projected on the pre-meet psych sheets. The Florida Gators sit in second in 159, just ahead of Cal’s 158.

Top 10 team rankings after day 2:

1. Texas: 180
2. Florida: 159
3. Cal: 158
4. NC State: 124
5. Arizona State: 111
6. Georgia: 100
7. Stanford: 94
8. Indiana: 78
9. Virginia: 70.5
10. Virginia Tech: 69

The session will kick off with the 400 IM, headlined by Arizona State’s Leon Marchand. The freshman comes in with the top seed after blasting the first ever 1:37 200 IM last night, and may have his sights set on Chase Kalisz‘ NCAA record of 3:33.42.

Stanford’s Andrei Minakov comes in as the only seed under 44 seconds in the 100 fly, but Virginia Tech’s Youssef Ramadan sits just behind him with a 44.08 seed. Grant House holds ASU’s second top seed of the morning in the 200 free, just ahead of Florida senior Kieran Smith. Sitting in the third seed is Georgia freshman Matt Sates, who won the 500 free last night in dominant fashion.

Minnesota’s Max McHugh comes in as the favorite in the 100 breast, seeded at a 50.58, just ahead of Alabama’s Derek Maas and Texas’ Caspar Corbeau. Those three are the only three swimmers seeded under 51 seconds. In the final event of the morning, the 100 back, Indiana’s Brendan Burns leads a tight field of competitors with his 44.31 from Big 10s, though Cal’s Bjoern Seeliger and Destin Lasco, who have been great so far this meet, are lurking.

400 IM

• NCAA Record: Chase Kalisz (UGA): 3:33.42
• NCAA Meet Record: Chase Kalisz (UGA): 3:33.42
• American Record: Chase Kalisz (UGA): 3:33.42
• US Open Record: Chase Kalisz (UGA): 3:33.42
• Pool Record: Josh Prenot (CAL): 3:35.82

Top 8 finishers:

1. Carson Foster (TEX- Sophomore): 3:33.79
2. Hugo Gonzalez (CAL- Senior): 3:34.88
3. Jake Foster (TEX- Junior): 3:37.33
4. Bobby Finke (FLOR- Senior): 3:37.84
5. Leon Marchand (ASU- Freshman): 3:37.97
6. David Johnston (TEX- Sophomore): 3:38.90
7. Brooks Fail (ZONA- 5Y): 3:39.10
8. Sean Grieshop (CAL- 5Y): 3:39.62

Top seed Leon Marchand of Arizona State took care of business in the final heat, cruising to the win in 3:37.97 to have him seeded fifth heading into this evening. He was the lone A final qualifier from his heat.

In the team title race, Texas gets a huge boost with 3 A finalists, while Cal will also have three swims tonight with 2 A’s and a B.

In the second to last heat, Texas’ Carson Foster fired back at Hugo’s massive swim, posting a 3:33.79 to take the top spot with one heat to go. That swim is now the second fastest of all time behind Chase Kalisz‘ American record. We are now all but guaranteed to see a sub-3:40 swim miss the A final.

Cal’s Hugo Gonzalez left no doubt in the first circle seeded heat, putting together a masterful performance to take over the top spot with a 3:34.88. Gonzalez seems to have gotten the proverbial monkey off of his back from last year’s meet, where he posted the top time of the meet in the B final after missing the A final. Texas junior Jake Foster was runner-up behind Gonzalez in 3:37.33 to sit second with two heats remaining.

Texas sophomore David Johnston dominated the second heat in 3:38.90, leading wire to wire to four and a half seconds from his seed. Johnston now sits in second behind Finke.

Last year’s champion, Florida’s Bobby Finke was the lowest seeded swimmer to compete this morning, but dominated the first heat. Finke held the lead after the fly leg and never looked back, touching in 3:37.84, a near 10 second drop from his seed. Texas A&M’s Anze Ersen also impressed in heat one with a 3:41.68, a three second drop from his seed.

100 fly

• NCAA Record: Caeleb Dressel (FLOR): 42.80
• NCAA Meet Record: Caeleb Dressel (FLOR): 42.80
• American Record: Caeleb Dressel (FLOR): 42.80
• US Open Record: Caeleb Dressel (FLOR): 42.80
• Pool Record: Joseph Schooling (TEX): 44.01

Top 8 finishers:

1. Andrei Minakov (STAN- Freshman): 43.77
2. Youssef Ramadan (VT- Sophomore): 44.21
3. Luca Urlando (UGA- Sophomore): 44.24
4. Tomer Frankel (IU- Sophomore): 44.38
5. Nyls Korstanje (NCST- Junior): 44.43
6. Nicolas Albiero (LOU- 5Y): 44.61
7. Umit Gures (HARV- Junior): 44.63
8. Aiden Hayes (NCST): 44.78

Top seed Andrei Minakov of Stanford dominated the final heat to take the top seed with a 43.77, the only swimmer under 44 seconds. Virginia Tech’s Youssef Ramadan qualified second in 44.21, a bit of redemption after being DQ’d in prelims last year.

There were four 44-second swims that did not make the A final, with IU’s Brendan Burns leading that group with a 44.81 to qualify 9th. Neither Texas nor Cal had any A finalists, though Texas has 2 in the B final while Cal has one B finalist.

Georgia sophomore Luca Urlando used a dominant back half to win the first circle seeded heat in 44.24, a new lifetime best and the field’s top time with two heats to go. Ohio State’s Alex Quach was the heat’s other sub 45 second swim with a 44.93.

The third heat saw Indiana’s Brendan Burns also drop a sub-45 before the circle seeded heats, touching in first in 44.81, just behind Hayes’ top time.

NC State freshman Aiden Hayes blasted a 44.78 out of the second heat, a new lifetime best that may threaten to score.

200 free

• NCAA Record: Dean Farris (HARV): 1:29.15
• Meet Record: Dean Farris (HARV): 1:29.15
• American Record: Dean Farris (HARV): 1:29.15
• US Open Record: Dean Farris (HARV): 1:29.15
• Pool Record: Townley Haas (TEX): 1:30.46

Top 8 finishers:

1. Drew Kibler (TEX- Senior): 1:30.91
2. Matt Sates (UGA- Freshman): 1:31.11
3. Grant House (ASU- Senior): 1:31.63
4. Trenton Julian (Cal- 5Y): 1:31.71
5. Luke Miller (NCST- Sophomore): 1:31.78
6. Kieran Smith (FLOR- Senior): 1:31.90
7. Murilo Sartori (LOU- Freshman): 1:31.99
8. Brooks Curry (LSU- Junior): 1:32.00

Texas’ Drew Kibler earned the top seed heading into tonight’s final, touching in 1:30.91 to be the only swimmer under 1:31. Georgia freshman Matt Sates, who won the 500 free last night, qualified second in 1:31.63, while top seed Grant House qualified third in 1:31.63.

Cal will also have a swimmer in the A final with 5th year Trenton Julian qualifying fourth. Texas will also have two swimmers in the B, while Cal will have 1.

The Texas men moved way up from their seeds in heat four, with freshman Luke Hobdon hitting a 1:32.31 to take over the top spot. Luke Maurer of Stanford and Texas’ Coby Carrozza tied for 2nd in the head with a 1:32.58, just behind Gaziev.  After qualifying for the A final, IU’s Tomer Frankel DFS’d the 200 free. Had he competed, he would have had 11 minutes and 29 seconds from the end of his 100 fly to the start of his 200 free heat.

Heat three saw Ohio State’s Ruslan Gaziev post a 1:32.56, a .7 second drop from his seed and putting him in the top position with four heats remaining.

100 breast

• NCAA Record: Ian Finnerty (IU): 49.69
• NCAA Meet Record: Ian Finnerty (IU): 49.69
• American Record: Ian Finnerty (IU): 49.69
• US Open Record: Ian Finnerty (IU): 49.69
• Pool Record: Evgenii Somov (LOU): 51.13

Top 8 finishers:

1. Max McHugh (MINN- Senior): 49.95
2. Liam Bell (CAL- Junior): 50.66
3. Caspar Corbeau (TEX- Junior): 50.77
4. Reece Whitley (CAL- Senior): 50.87
5. Derek Maas (BAMA- Junior): 51.15
6. Dillon Hillis (FLOR- Senior): 51.27
7. Trent Pellini (USC- 5Y): 51.33
8. Jarel Dillard (TENN- Senior): 51.40

Top seeded Max McHugh of Minnesota took care of business this morning, qualifying first in 49.95, the only person in the field under 50 seconds. McHugh also becomes the second fastest performer ever behind only Ian Finnerty.

Bell qualified second, while his senior teammate Reece Whitley qualified fourth in 50.87. In between the Bears was Texas junior Caspar Corbeau, who was third in 50.77.

There will also be swim-off for 16th between Virginia Tech’s AJ Pouch and Louisville’s Denis Petrashov, who both finished in 51.92 this morning.

Cal’s Liam Bell posted a massive swim for the Bears in heat 4, touching in 50.66 in lane 8 to take the top spot with two heats remaining.

100 back

• NCAA Record: Ryan Murphy (Cal): 43.49
• Meet Record: Ryan Murphy (Cal): 43.49
• American Record: Ryan Murphy (Cal): 43.49
• US Open Record: Ryan Murphy (Cal): 43.49
• Pool Record: Ryan Murphy (Cal): 43.49

Top 8 finishers:

1. Brendan Burns (IU- Junior): 44.36
2. Adam Chaney (FLOR- Sophomore): 44.39
3. Kacper Stokowski (NCST- Junior): 44.44
4. Destin Lasco (CAL- Sophomore): 44.54
5. Nicolas Albiero (LOU- 5Y): 44.54
6. Dean Farris (HARV- Senior): 44.55
7. Bjoern Seeliger (CAL) Sophomore: 44.58
8. Hunter Armstrong (OSU- Junior): 44.72

Not long after his 100 fly prelim, Indiana’s Brendan Burns took the top seed heading into the finals with a 44.36, right on his seed time. Florida sophomore Adam Chaney took the second seed in 44.39, a drop of over a tenth, while NC State Kacper Stokowski held his seed to qualify third in 44.44.

The Cal Bears earned another pair of A finalists with sophomore classmates Destin Lasco and Bjoern Seeliger qualifying 4th and 7th, respectively. Louisville 5th year Nicolas Albiero earned his second A final of the day, qualifying 5th in 44.54.

Cal made huge gains on Texas in this event by also placing 2 swimmers in the B final. The Longhorns have no A finalists but will have Alvin Jiang and Cam Auchinachie in the B final.