By Chris Harrell
Wow! What a meet! With this memorable contest in the books, and some staff consultation, it’s time to hand out some awards:
Swimmer of the Meet: Kevin Cordes, Arizona. Cordes broke three American records in four individual swims in the breaststroke and successfully defended both of his NCAA titles. Easily. Honorable mention: Marcin Cieslak, Florida; Joao De Lucca, Louisville; Ryan Murphy, California.
Diver of the Meet: Michael Hixon, Texas. Hixon was spectacular in his first NCAA meet, successfully defending his home pool even with the reigning champion in the field. The Longhorns have uncovered a secret weapon for their arsenal for years to come. Honorable mention: Kristian Ipsen, Stanford; Nick McCrory, Duke.
Coach of the Meet: Eddie Reese, Texas. Most thought the Longhorns weren’t really considered a threat to win the entire meet entering this week but threaten they did. This meet was in question until midway through the final night. Honorable Mention: Dave Durden, California; Gregg Troy, Florida; Georgia staff.
Freshman of the Meet: Ryan Murphy, California. Murphy sweeps the backstrokes in his first-ever NCAA meet. The NCAA backstroke events could be on lock for quite a long time. Honorable mention: Kristian Gkolomeev, Alabama; Michael Hixon, Texas.
Performance of the Meet: Ryan Murphy 200 Back. We had to go to the USA Swimming Power Point Rankings for this one. While Arizona’s Kevin Cordes was simply spectacular in both breaststrokes, Ryan Murphy’s 200 back proved to be the top performance of the meet. Murphy set a new NCAA record of 1:37.35, going under the old mark of 1:37.58 set by Michigan’s Tyler Clary in the fast suits back in College Station in 2009. Honorable mention: Kevin Cordes, Arizona, 100 Breast; Chase Kalisz, Georgia, 400 IM; California; 200 Medley Relay, California.
Race of the Meet: 50 Freestyle. You can’t get a race any better than one in which two men hit the wall to win at the exact same moment in time. What made it even more special is that the two men that won, Arizona’s Brad Tandy and Alabama’s Kristian Gkolomeev, were swimming their first-ever individual race for their respective schools. Oh the battles we have yet to see out these two amazing talents. Honorable mention: 100 Back; 100 Fly; 100 Free.
Here is the rundown of my picks from earlier this week and who actually grabbed the title:
50 Freestyle – Brad Tandy, Arizona and Kristian Gkolomeev, Alabama (My pick: Tandy)
100 Freestyle – Joao De Lucca, Louisville (My pick: Marcelo, Auburn)
200 Freestyle – Joao De Lucca, Louisville (My pick: De Lucca)
500 Freestyle – Cristian Quintero, USC (My pick: Connor Jaeger, Michigan; 3rd)
1,650 Freestyle – Connor Jaeger, Michigan (My pick: Jaeger)
100 Backstroke – Ryan Murphy, California (My pick: David Nolan, Stanford; 4th)
200 Backstroke – Ryan Murphy, California (My pick: Murphy)
100 Breaststroke – Kevin Cordes, Arizona (My pick: Cordes)
200 Breaststroke – Kevin Cordes, Arizona (My pick: Cordes)
100 Butterfly – Marcin Cieslak, Florida (My pick: Giles Smith, Arizona; 4th)
200 Butterfly – Dylan Bosch, Michigan (My pick: Bosch)
200 Individual Medley – Marcin Cieslak, Florida (My pick: David Nolan, Stanford; 3rd)
400 Individual Medley – Chase Kalisz, Georgia (My pick: Kalisz)
200 Freestyle Relay – California (My pick: Auburn; 3rd)
400 Freestyle Relay – (My pick: Auburn)
800 Freestyle Relay – USC (My pick: Michigan; 4th)
200 Medley Relay – California (My pick: Arizona; DQ in finals)
400 Medley Relay – California (My pick: Arizona; DQ in prelims)
One-Meter Diving – Michael Hixon, Texas (Kristian Ipsen, USC; 2nd)
Three-Meter Diving – Michael Hixon, Texas (My pick: Kristian Ipsen: 4th)
Platform – Nick McCrory, Duke (My pick: McCrory)
I managed to pick 10 winners out of 21 events, one better than the women’s meet. My only two picks not to finish in the top four were the two DQ’s by Arizona, not too bad a feat for a meet in which so many men dropped so much time and improved by leaps and bounds.
Top Ten Recap:
10. Indiana, 141 (My pick: N.C. State) My pick of N.C. State was waylaid by an illness that ravaged a few of their swimmers, one of which landed in the hospital. Give credit to the Hoosiers who stepped up and got the job done to earn that coveted top 10 finish. Cody Miller (200 breast) and Eric Ress (200 back) both earned NCAA runner-up honors while Steve Schmuhl was one of only two Hoosiers to notch top eight finishes (fourth and seventh).
9. Stanford, 155 (My pick: Stanford) Stanford earned this spot almost completely on the backs of David Nolan, Kristian Ipsen, and their 800 free relay. Nolan was terrific, taking third in both the 200 back and 200 IM while placing fourth in the 100 back. Ipsen was nearly as good with second, fourth and sixth place finishes on the boards. The Cardinal also mustered terrific 800 free relay to take the bronze medal late Friday night.
8. USC, 182 (My pick: USC) USC was bolstered by its middle distance freestylers led by Cristian Quintero. Quintero won the 500 free while taking second in the 200 free and third in the 100 free while leading the USC 800 free relay to an NCAA championship as well. The Trojans also earned top eight finishes in both the 400 free and 400 medley relay.
7. Arizona, 198.5 (My pick: Georgia) Arizona was majorly hindered by disqualifying both medley relays, costing them likely 60-70 points and two places at a minimum. It wasn’t all bad news for the ‘Cats as Kevin Cordes was brilliant, breaking individual NCAA and American records in three of his four breaststroke swims. Newcomer Brad Tandy earned an NCAA title in his first ever individual event for Arizona grabbing the 50 free. Diver Rafael Quintero was great too, nearly winning the NCAA title on the platform and placing sixth on the one-meter. If Arizona can get the relays cleaned up, expect them to be a lot better next season.
6. Auburn, 230 (My pick: Auburn) Auburn closed the meet in style with a win in the 400 free relay, their only championship of the meet. That relay was led by Marcelo Chierighini who earned a runner-up finish in the 100 free as well. The Tigers also got good relays out of their 200 and 800 free relays and 200 medley groups with each finishing in the top eight. They also got a great effort from senior Zane Grothe who finished fifth in the 1,650 free despite not even being in the final heat.
5. Georgia, 259 (My pick: Arizona) The Dawgs were led by IM king Chase Kalisz who successfully defended his 400 IM title in grand style, downing the NCAA record by more than a full second. Kalisz also tacked on a runner-up finish in the 200 IM for good measure. Nic Fink was also great for Georgia, earning a runner-up finish in the 100 breast, a bronze in the 200 breast and a seventh-place effort in the 200 IM. Matias Koski also came through in a big way, earning fourth-place finishes in both the 200 and 500 free. A pair of top six finishes in the medley relays also helped pushed Georgia to a top five finish.
4. Michigan, 310 (My pick: Texas) Michigan used solid depth to crack the top four and bring another team trophy back to Ann Arbor. Both Dylan Bosch (200 fly) and Connor Jaeger (1,650 free) won impressive NCAA titles while Bosch and Kyle Whitaker were top seven all three of their individual races. The Wolverines also earned top seven finishes in three of five relays (both medleys and the 800 free) while Richard Funk (100 breast), Jaeger (500 free), and Michael Wynalda (200 free) all tacked on bronze medalist finishes.
3. Florida, 387 (My pick: California) Florida was led by the great Marcin Cieslak who walked away with NCAA titles in both the 100 fly and 200 IM while finishing runner-up in the 200 fly. Dan Wallace was nearly as good, taking silvers in both the 400 IM and 500 free. The Gators were also bolstered by runner-up finishes in both the 400 medley and 800 free relays. Bradley Deborde (50 free) and Arthur Frayler (1,650 free) added bronze medals to a sizable Gator haul.
2. Texas, 417.5 (My pick: Michigan) Texas swam out of their minds all week long, jumping way up from psyche sheet seeds to the surprise of many. The Longhorns might have run out of gas on Saturday night but that shouldn’t take away from a simply incredible week of swims by a pretty young Texas team. Texas was led by NCAA Diver of the Meet Michael Hixon, a freshman who earned golds on both springboards by defeating the defending NCAA champion on both. The Horns were also terrific on the sprint relays, placing second in both while tacking on a bronze in the 400 medley relay and a fourth-place finish in the 400 free relay to close the meet. Texas got top five finishes from underclassmen Kip Darmody (100 back), Tripp Cooper (100 fly), Will Licon (400 IM), and John Murray (100 free). The future is certainly quite bright for Eddie’s boys.
1. California, 468.5 (My pick: Florida) California was excellent all week from start to finish – that being the difference in the meet. Cal won the first three relays (the 200 free and both medleys) and got a command performance by freshman Ryan Murphy. Murphy was the undisputed king of the backstroke this week, winning both and taking the 200 in NCAA record time. Silver-medal winning performances included a surprise 1,650 effort out of the non-final heat by Jeremy Bagshaw, one which may or may not have inspired the Bears on to their convincing team effort on Saturday night, and a meet-closing finish by the 400 free relay. The Bears got great performances from Chuck Katis, Josh Prenot, and Marcin Tarcyznski in big boy finals as well as a host of others who littered themselves throughout the ‘A’ and ‘B’ finals all week long. This was a true team effort as the Bears grab their third NCAA team title in four years and fifth overall. Dave Durden has got something special going on in Berkley.
We can only hope the likely battles between Cal and Texas in coming years will continue to be as exciting as this week’s was in Austin, Texas. That wraps up the NCAA Championships swimming season. We hope you’ve enjoyed our coverage once again this year and look forward to even bigger and better things in 2015!