INDIANA FIRST CHANCE MEET
- February 22-23, 2020
- Hosted by Indiana
- Short Course Yards
- Results
The Indiana men hosted their annual First Chance Meet in Bloomington this weekend, with a handful of swimmers posting lifetime bests. One of those freshman was Harry Flanders, who took over a second off his best in the 200 fly. clocking a 1:45.42 to win the final. Teammate Gage Hamill dropped nearly 2 seconds, putting up a 1:47.68 for 2nd. Flanders was half a second shy of his lifetime best in the 100 fly with a 47.99 in prelims. Hamill clipped his best there in 49.38. In finals, Flanders was just hundredths away from a best in 47.53. Hamill broke 49 for the first time, touching 2nd in 48.99.
Purdue’s Dale Williams made a huge drop in the 400 IM. He came into the meet with a best of 4:07.08, but lowered it down to a 3:55.87 on Saturday. Teammate Blake Ratliff also swam a best in 3:58.79. Ratliff lowered his best again with a 3:58.13 in finals behind Williams (3:56.65). On day 2, Ratliff broke 1:50 for the first time in the 200 back, posting a 1:49.78 in finals. Wyeth Brock won the race in 1:48.43. That marked his fastest swim in the event since 2018.
Wisconsin’s Brendan Eckerman made a big drop in the 200 breast. Coming into the meet, his best was a 2:01.94 from midseason. Eckerman lowered it to a 1:59.50 in prelims. He then won the final in a lifetime best 1:58.19. Indiana’s Brock Brown clipped a tenth off his best to place 2nd in 1:58.59. On day 1, Brown was a tenth off his best with a 53.52 in the 100 breast prelims.
Indiana freshman Jacob Destrampe knocked over half a second from his best in the 500 free, clocking a 4:25.89 in prelims. He returned shortly after for the 100 free, coming up 3 tenths shy of a best in 44.65. On day 2, he was within tenths of his 200 free best in prelims with a 1:37.66. He matched that time in finals. Destrampe also posted a 20.63 in the 50 free prelims, 2 tenths shy of his collegiate best. Fellow IU freshman Max Scott (20.54) was a tenth off his best to win that race.