By Chris Harrell
The NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships return to deep in the heart of Texas, Austin to be exact, for the first time in 11 years this weekend. That year saw David Marsh’s Auburn steamroller score the second highest point total in NCAA history in downing the host Longhorns, 609.5 to 413. The men’s title was Marsh’s, and Auburn’s, second overall and the first of five year run by the Tiger program.
This marks the sixth time that the University of Texas has hosted the NCAA men’s meet with the first coming way back in 1981 when Eddie Reese’s Longhorns won their first-ever title over the now defunct UCLA Bruins. Stanford’s Skip Kenney claimed the next two titles in Austin, handily beating Florida in 1985 then USC in 1987. The meet returned to Austin in 1991 with the hometown Longhorns capping a four-year run as NCAA champs with a victory over Kenney and Stanford. Eddie’s boys won the next home NCAA meet too, topping Auburn in 1996.
Though it has been the longest gap in-between NCAA men’s meets in Austin since the first way back in 1981, not too much has changed for the host school. Like 1981, Reese, the godfather of NCAA men’s swimming coaches, is still at the helm of the Texas program. The Longhorns have won nine more titles since that original one with the most recent coming just four years ago. The Longhorns should be in the thick of it again as they try to ward off the champions of recent years in Michigan and California while others such as Florida and Arizona will also try to spoil the party in their home pool. Which team will be the biggest and brightest deep in the heart of Texas? We shall soon find out…
Day 3:
1,650 Freestyle: Defending champion Connor Jaeger of Michigan (14:34.19) is back for the final race of his collegiate career, bringing a nearly four second advantage over the rest of the field with him. He will likely be chased by glut of talented sophomores as well as three of the four men who finished directly behind him in 2013. The only other competitor within nearly nine seconds of Jaeger is Florida sophomore Arthur Frayler (14:38.06). Frayler, who didn’t even score at last year’s meet (21st) has made massive improvements since last season, clipping nearly 12 seconds off his lifetime best. Last year’s bronze medalist, sophomore Matias Koski of Georgia (14:45.91; sixth) returns to NCAA’s for a final shot against Jaeger. Koski finished nearly 15 seconds back a season ago and will need to drop significant time to give the Michigan star a race. Northwestern sophomore Jordan Wilmovsky (14:42.99) and Florida’s Andrea D’Arrigo (14:43.15) are the only swimmers in the field, other than Frayler, to be within even 10 seconds of the defending champ. Wilmovsky was 24th of 36 swimmers in the field a year ago with a time barely under 15 minutes while D’Arrigo will be getting his NCAA 1,650 initiation to open the final session on Saturday night. Wilmovsky slayed his prior best of 14:58.80 in finishing second to Jaeger at Big Tens a few weeks ago in Ann Arbor. Other returning finalists include Jaeger’s teammate Sean Ryan (14:58.27) who was fifth last season as well as Georgia’s Andrew Gemmell (14:46.95) who was fifth.
The Pick: Connor Jaeger, Michigan. Jaeger proved a cut above a season ago and the only swimmer that could stay within 14 seconds of him a season ago has moved on to greener pastures. Barring a big surprise, Jaeger’s final shot will be his best shot. (Last year’s pick: Michael McBroom, Texas; last year’s champ: Connor Jaeger, Michigan).
Swimmer to Watch: Daniel Thomson, Stanford. Thomson (15:01.41) finished eighth a season ago in 14:49.62 but barely made the meet in the event, ranking 25th in the field of 30 qualified swimmers (Five non-qualifiers will also join the party; I don’t know whether to admire these five guys’ guts or question their sanity). Should Thomson dial up another big time drop, he could very well be in the top eight once again to give the Cardinal a much-needed point boost.
200 Backstroke: The 200 back has plenty of stories to go around. On one hand, you have the defending champ in Wisconsin’s Andrew Teduits (1:39.84). Teduits had an almost unheard of meteoric rise a season ago, going from not even qualifying for the NCAA meet as a freshman to winning the NCAA title in this event as a sophomore. How does that even happen??? I need to get this guy to buy me a lottery ticket. Teduits took a back seat to Indiana’s Eric Ress (1:38.89) at Big Ten’s last month however. Ress is the national leader and a former NCAA runner-up (2011) who finished fifth a season ago. Also joining the party is superstar freshman Ryan Murphy (1:39.21). Murphy won PAC-12’s by more than a second, taking down the likes of Jacob Pebley (1:40.38) and David Nolan (1:40.60) en route to the victory. Those with keen memory banks will remember Pebley as the silver and bronze medalists at NCAA’s from a season ago. Another freshman to keep your eye on is Jack Conger (1:40.56) of Texas. The Longhorn freshman broke Longhorn legend Aaron Piersol’s Big 12 record en route to beating senior teammate Patrick Murphy for what looks to be the first of many conference titles in his future. Also watch for SEC champ Sean Lehane of Tennessee (1:39.54; third) to be a major player on Saturday night as well.
The Pick: Ryan Murphy, California. For many reasons, rarely do I pick a freshman to win an NCAA title, especially when there folks with prior NCAA medals in the field. This kid is not only an exception but the real deal. (Last year’s pick: David Nolan, Stanford; last year’s champ: Andrew Teduits, Wisconsin).
Swimmer to Watch: Kip Darmody, Texas. Darmody was the sixth-place finisher a season ago but did not even come close to qualifying for this event on an individual basis. Darmody ranks 45th of 48 swimmers in the field – fourth from the bottom – and behind three swimmers on his own team. It will be interesting to see if he can conjure up the ghost of 2013 to find a way back into the big boy final in his home pool.
100 Freestyle: This race, and the 50, was supposed to be a rematch of last year’s epic battle between Vlad Morosov of USC and Marcelo of Auburn. Morosov won both battles a year ago then elected to take the money and run. With Morosov gone, Marcelo (41.46) does indeed come into this meet in the catbird seat, having won the SEC title and earning the right to be one of only three swimmers under 42 this season. The Auburn star will have his hands full with 200 free champ Joao De Lucca of Louisville. De Lucca finished third a season ago – behind Morosov and Marcelo – and will likely be looking to win his second race of the meet by this point in time. Other returning finalists include Alabama’s B.J. Hornikel (42.75, 20th), Cal’s Seth Stubblefield (42.63, 14th), and Michigan’s Bruno Ortiz (42.67. 16th). While none of these three rank among the top 10 entering the meet, you can be assured they won’t all be on the outside looking in once we get this party started. Up-and comers Shane Ryan of Penn State (42.08), Luke Percy of Tennessee (42.22), and Kyle Darmody of Auburn (42.40) will likely make their voices heard as well.
The Pick: Marcelo Chierighini, Auburn. An individual NCAA championship has eluded Marcelo for his entire collegiate career. It eludes him no more. (Last year’s pick: Vlad Morosov, USC; last year’s champ: Morosov).
Swimmer to Watch: Tyler Messerschidt, California. Messerschmidt was a finalist here as a freshman in 2012 then sat out last season. The year out of the collegiate scene appears to have had no ill effects as he ranks ninth in a time faster than that which earned him eighth place in his first crack at it (42.44). If he can continue to improve he will be as good a threat as any to Marcelo’s title aspirations.
200 Breaststroke: Defending champion Kevin Cordes of Arizona (1:49.38) brings a more than two full second advantage into this race over second-ranked Anton McKee of Alabama (1:51.59). Taking down the Big Cat is going to be quite a tall order. McKee looms as the future of this event after having won a talented SEC final as just a freshman. Last year’s top returning finisher not named Cordes comes in the form of one Cody Miller. Miller, a senior at Indiana, was fourth a season ago and ranks in that excat same spot entering this year’s meet (1:52.58). Georgia junior Nic Fink (1:51.95) finished second to McKee at SEC’s and is ranked third in the country coming in. He will be looking to make his first big boy final after 10th and ninth place finishes in his first two collegiate seasons, respectively. Another big threat for a medal will be Auburn’s Eduardo Solache-Gomez (1:52.77. S-G was third behind McKee and Fink at SEC’s and ranks fifth coming into Austin. Other returning finalists include Matthew Elliott, Florida (1:54.95), Richard Funk, Michigan (1:53.49), and Nejc Zupan, Dartmouth (1:54.29).
The Pick: Kevin Cordes, Arizona. It will take an act of God for Cordes not to win this thing. The guy is simply in another league than the rest of the country in this event. Expect him to defend his title and win his fifth individual NCAA title in six tries in the breaststroke. (Last year’s pick: Kevin Cordes, Arizona; last year’s champ: Cordes).
Swimmer to Watch: Josh Prenot, California. Prenot (1:54.37) was fifth a season ago as a freshman but ranks 14th coming into Austin. Prenot has been the PAC-12’s best breaststroker not named Cordes this season. Can he say the hold the same distinction at the NCAA level?
200 Butterfly: Only four of the top eight swimmers from a season ago return and all of them are from either Florida and Michigan. Senior Marcin Cieslak of Florida (1:41.75) is the top returning swimmer, having earned the silver medal behind Cal legend Tom Shields a season ago. This year’s top-ranked swimmer comes in the form of Michigan sophomore Dylan Bosch (1:40.37). Bosch leads the country by seven-tenths of a second over another Florida senior, Sebastien Rousseau (1:41.07). Rousseau was fourth behind Cieslak and Bosch a season ago. Kyle Whitaker completes the Florida-Michigan quad, having finished eighth a season ago. Whitaker (1:41.90) is currently ranked fifth entering the big show. IM star Chase Kalisz of Georgia (1:41.74) is trying out a new event this year after a 33rd place finish in the 200 breast a season ago. The decision seems to have paid off as Kalisz is ranked No. 4 in the country – ahead of Cieslak and Whitaker. N.C. State sophomore Christian McCurdy (1:41.72) has dropped has dropped nearly three seconds from his best time of a season ago, more than enough to swing with the big boys in this race.
The Pick: Dylan Bosch, Michigan. I expect a great battle between Bosch and Cieslak but I think the younger Bosch has the higher ceiling. We’ll see it on Saturday night. (Last year’s pick: Tom Shields, California; last year’s champ: Shields).
Swimmer to Watch: Will Hamilton, California. Hamilton surprised many with an NCAA title win in his freshman season over his superstar teammate Tom Shields. Hamilton fell back to earth last season, finishing 11th. Hamilton still seems a little of his game as he enters this season ranked 20th with a season-best time of 1:43.13. Can he rediscover the magic that saw him drop a 1:40.94 two seasons ago?
Platform Diving: Not one senior qualified for the NCAA championship final a season ago which makes for quite the experienced field a season later. The two names at the top of the leaderboard are quite familiar: Kristian Ipsen of Stanford and Nick McCrory of Duke. Both divers have three NCAA titles entering this meet but the tower is McCrory’s lair. McCrory is looking to become the first diver in NCAA history to win the national title four times. McCrory is already in elite company as only one other diver, Miami’s Tyce Routson (1995, 1997, 2000), has ever won the tower three times since it was added to the NCAA championship slate in 1990. Last year’s bronze medalist Conor Murphy of Indiana is the only diver in last year’s big boy final not to make the meet this year after finishing fifth at the Zone C meet. One new diver to watch out for is Hawai’i’s Armund Gismervik. The 10-time Norwegian national champion finished 24th on the tower at the London Olympics and beat the talented Ipsen by more than 30 points two weeks ago at the Zone E meet. Another new name to look out for is that of Matt Bernard from Minnesota, a favorite to win the World Junior Meet last year finished second at the Zone D meet with a pretty prolific score.
The Pick: Nick McCrory, Duke. When a guy is three-for-three in an event and a fifth-year senior it’s going to take an otherworldly talent for me to pick against him. (Last year’s pick: Nick McCrory, Duke; last year’s champ: McCrory, Duke).
Diver to Watch: Mark Anderson, Texas. Anderson won the Zone D meet over his fifth-place finishing teammate from a season ago, Will Chandler. Two weeks earlier he won the Big 12 title by nearly 100 points. While we might not see power change hands, we may get a glimpse into the future of this event in the form of Anderson.
400 Freestyle Relay: Auburn (2:47.49) is a prohibitive favorite here as the Tigers have the ability to trot out four men who can drop sub-42-second legs on a relay. Marcelo and Kyle Darmody both rank among the top seven in the country in the 100 free, an advantage Auburn will use to its full advantage. Four other teams have managed sub 2:51 times this season though they might not be ones you’re used to hearing from. Alabama (2:50.78), Louisville (2:50.41), N.C. State (2:50.06) and Florida (2:50.51) will all be chasing a talented Auburn quartet as best they can. Louisville (fourth) and Florida (seventh) are the only two returning finalists from a season ago while N.C. State was 10th. Alabama has enjoyed a meteoric rise this season after not even qualifying this relay for the meet a season ago. From the ‘usual suspects’ file, look for Michigan (sixth; second a season ago), California (eight; ninth a season ago) and Texas (10th; sixth a season ago) to be among the list of likely candidates to give these new upstarts a run for their money.
The Pick: Auburn. The Tigers are almost one second clear of second place N.C. State in this race – one second per leg. (Last year’s pick: USC; last year’s champ: USC)
Relay to Watch: Arizona. The meet could very well be in question when this relay rolls around and the ‘Cats very well could be right smack in the middle of it. Would they be able to summon up a big performance when/if they need it most?
Due to a crazy 94 hours of traveling and providing comprehensive coverage of the women’s meet in Minnesota mere days ago, a ‘real’ job that actually wants me to work in-between all these ‘vacation’ days I’ve been taking at the end of this month, and a pretty special girlfriend that would prefer I don’t spend what’s left of my time in front of a laptop, I won’t be able to go into all the detail I would’ve preferred regarding my top 10 team picks. I offer them up here, without comment. Good luck boys. It’s time to see what you’ve got.
10. N.C. State
9. Stanford
8. USC
7. Georgia
6. Auburn
5. Arizona
4. Texas
3. California
2. Michigan
1. Florida