The talk of the town in college swimming this past weekend was the upsets (or, at least upsets based on how things looked at the beginning of the season). The #1-ranked Arizona men confirmed their poll ranking by knocking off #2 Texas in Tucson.
A win wouldn’t have been a surprise, based on how well Arizona is swimming this year. But it was the manner by which the Wildcats thumped the Longhorns, 155-88, that really caused a lot of buzzing. There was no exhibitioning to be had in this meet, with Arizona being out for blood, as they nearly doubled up their opponents.
Arizona set the tone for the meet when they went 1-2-3 in the 400 medley relay. The top Arizona squad marked a 3:10.93, including a 46.48 on the butterfly leg from Giles Smith. On the B-relay, Woody Joye, who is competing in his first meet for Arizona after spending a year-and-a-half as a Longhorn, split a 46.98.
Texas didn’t use top sprinters Jimmy Feigen or Dax Hill on this relay, but based on their individual swims, even they wouldn’t have been enough to bump the Longhorn medley into the top 3.
These medleys were expected to be the weak spot for the Longhorns. They’ve got great end pieces in Cole Cragin (48.04 – though even he got beat here) and Feigen on the anchor, but they are hurting for a sprint butterflier and breaststroker.
At the end of the meet, though, the Wildcats went 1-2 over Texas in the 400 free relay as well. Feigen had a great split for Texas on the anchor of 43.38, but he was too far behind to make up ground. Texas appeared to be swimming very tired in this meet, but don’t let that take away from an awesome performance from Arizona.
Adam Small, freshly back on board with the Wildcats for the 2nd semester, made an immediate impact with a win in the 50 free in 19.87. Unlike his Arizona teammates, he didn’t seem to be on a huge rest cycle in December (he swam at Winter Nationals while his teammates were at the Texas Invite) so there shouldn’t be much doubt that he’ll be very fast at NCAA”s.
Besides his contribution to the Arizona B Relay, Joye also swept the 200 free and 200 fly in times of 1:37.18/1:46.51, respectively. That 200 fly time is the 2nd-fastest by a Wildcat this season (behind Matt Barber).
Cory Chitwood had another great time in the 200 back of 1:42.78. That’s already the third time this semester that he’s been a 1:42. For most swimmers, that might be a sign of resting for every dual meet. As compared to his 1:38 in December, when he was rested, it’s almost more of a sign that he’s training hard.
Freshman Kevin Cordes tacked on a win in the 200 breaststroke in 1:56.75.
Where Texas did dominate, not surprisingly, was the distance freestyles. In the 500, they took 1-4, led by a 4:28.53 in the 500 free from Jackson Wilcox and a 4:29.35 from Michael McBroom. The pair flipped in the 1000 free, and McBroom took the win in 9:16.20.
Those were the only two wins for Texas in the lanes; in addition Matt Cooper took a huge win on the 1-meter.
I still think Texas is the favorites to win come NCAA’s, but in this meet Arizona really exposed their weaknesses. Texas still has the best diving group in the top 10 (though All-American Livingston hasn’t been diving great tthis season), which is never bigger than it is at NCAA’s. But Arizona’s relays are looking 2011-Cal-esque in their depth and options, and Woody Joye demonstrated today that he certainly intends to make an immediate impact on the Wildcats.
Arizona was suited for the meet, though in the jammer-era that isn’t as significant of an advantage as it once was.
Other Results
The #4 Texas women topped #9 Arizona 128-115. The Longhorns got nice wins from freshmen Kelsey Leaneave (500 – 4:50.58/1000 – 10:03.31) and Gretchen Jacques (200 IM – 2:02.28). Margo Geer dominated the 50 free for Arizona in 22.52.…
The Florida men topped Tennessee 162-138. Marcin Cieslak won the 100 fly in 47.77 for Florida. Despite the chaos in Knoxville, the Tennessee men fought well to take wins in 8 events, including both relays. Bradley DeBorde swept the sprint freestyles for the Vols in 19.57/44.48…
North Carolina State continued to be on a roll in the ACC and upset #14 UNC 151.5-145.5 in Chapel Hill. That gives them four-straight ACC wins, though in reality they have few point scorers for the ACC Championships. Up next is defending ACC Champ Virginia…
Clemson also lost to NC State, but Eric Bruck scored a 19.47 in the 50 free for the Tigers in their final season…
Louisville had a breakthrough win over the Indiana Hoosiers 165.5-134.5, while the Hoosier women took the victory in the ladies’ meet. Carlos Almeida took a big win for the Cardinals in the 100 breaststroke in 53.95…
In what has become a great rivalry, the SMU men pulled off a mild upset of the Texas A&M men 128-115. SMU had some outstanding swims, including a 3:13.92 400 medley relay, including a split of 46.92 on the fly leg from David Larsson and a 42.61 anchor from Mindaugus Sadauskas. This meet was focused on the “long schedule” this year with lots of 200’s, despite both teams being built around sprints.
Sarah Bateman went 22.13 in the 50 and 49.10 in the 100 for Florida. She is undefeated in the 50 this year.
I couldn’t think of a better way to capitalize on a big dual meet than “suiting up”. Talk about confidence boost to swim fast, busted and broken down. The atmosphere was probably amazing and practicing fast swimming in the type of suits you are going to us at the end of the season seems like a safe idea.
For the record, If I was a college coach I wouldn’t suit my guys up, but there is some validity to it. I’m thinking about some of these times in a championship format with more rest between races and fully shaved, rested and new suits. Even a 3% improvement on some of these guys would still be some fast times.
Don’t know if you missed it, but Arizona went up against Cal and Stanford the previous weekend. What’s interesting is that they suited up against all their big rivals (Cal, Stanford, Arizona, USC), and are consistently swimming fast in the USC style. Their depth is also impressive: Texas has some fast breastrokers, backstrokers, imers, and freestylers, yet Arizona went 1-2-3-4 on some events. If Barber was swimming the same times he went in NorCal, Texas would have lost every event. Ironically, I think this will put both them and Stanford out of the running at NCAA’s: Arizona won’t be able to drop enough time and Stanford will be forced to blow their taper at conference to keep their streak alive.
With zona suiting up for all of their duel meets and clearly putting emphasis on them, I wouldn’t read too much into this. Texas will be ready to go when the time comes
SMU men also beat TAMU in a great and exciting duel meet!
Good call Doug – I knew I missed at least one notable result. Let me know if you think of any others.
Dang, they destroyed them! I didn’t realize Arizona’s relays were sooo much better. Probably because I pay more attention to women’s college swimming…