By Chris Fantz
Sun and blue skies preside over a 40 degree morning in the Puget Sound region. The cool outside temp gives way to a meet environment that is heating up for day two of the NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving Championships.
200 Medley Relay
Heat 1: In the first heat, Cole Cragin from Texas and Brendon Andrews from Louisville got out first. The Cardinals' Carlos Almeida pulled ahead on breaststroke, but the Sean Grier of Penn State earned his anchor a lead with a 20.71 fly leg. A tight sprint on the end saw Jimmy Feigen—last night’s 50 free champion—bring his team home to win the first heat of the morning for Texas.
Heat 2: Auburn entered heat two in lane 4 with the second-fastest seed of the year. They got out to the early lead through backstroke with Kyle Owens at 21.38. Cal and Michigan tried to move on breaststroke and by mid-way on the fly all three teams were nearly even. Cal would slide ahead of the field on freestyle and edge Auburn to take heat 2.
Heat 3: Arizona got out quick and the breaststroke leg followed suit. Giles Smith on fly rode a magnificent start and turn worth of underwater work and touched first, allowing the Wildcats to take a body length lead into freestyle, but Stanford closed late thanks to Aaron Wayne dropping an 18.58 which made it a tight race, with Arizona just touching first for the fastest time of the morning.
Top seeds going into finals are Arizona, Cal, Stanford, Auburn, Texas, Michigan, Louisville, and Penn State in that order.
400 Individual Medley
This event was presaged by Cal’s parents chanting “Hinshaw Brothers” in unison, honoring brothers Adam and Ben who were Cal’s only two entrants in the 400 IM. They will need this boost because Cal, the leader after day one, has its Hinshaw brothers covering this event and facing an onslaught of five Stanford IMers hoping to move the Cardinal up in the standings tonight.
Heat 1: At 100 yards, Michael Pryor of Louisville led Chad LaTourette of Stanford by a body length in the two-man first heat bout. The pair swam with an empty lane between them vacated by Martin Grodski of Georgia who did not start the race. Pryor held his lead on backstroke and took lengthy pullouts to inch ahead farther on breaststroke. La Tourette was the third place finisher in last night’s 500 freestyle and would make a strong effort to close the gap on Pryor. Louisville’s Pryor held on the take the heat in 3:51.10, winning by a second.
Heat 2: This heat held three men from Florida, including the two fastest times in this heat. It was Sam Rowan of Arizona and Wallace of Florida who got out quick on fly. Rowan took a tiny lead after a 50 of backstroke. With breaststroke complete, a nearly dead heat of five guys entered freestyle and Samuel Trahin of Indiana pulled ahead with a loping crawl stroke, winning in 3:44.49.
Heat 3: Tom Luchsinger of UNC took an early lead through fly, but Austin Surhoff of Texas lit out on backstroke to almost overtake the lead at halfway through the race, turning in 1:47.1, the same as Luchsinger. Kyle Whitaker of Michigan powered into freestyle and led with 50 yards to go. He rode a spectacular underwater off the final turn and took the heat win in 3:44.33.
Heat 4: Arizona’s Austen Thompson, the top seed and last year’s fourth place finisher, commanded the race after butterfly. Matt Johnson, the Stanford backstroker, made his move in the likely spot and pulled ahead through 200 yards. Thompson’s breaststroke was long, smooth, and fast. He broke free of the field in a deceptively effortless way, taking more than a body length lead into freestyle. Michael Weiss of Wisconsin would challenge for second place in the heat. At the wall, Thompson finished first in 3:43.31 and goes into finals the top seed.
100 Butterfly
Heat 1: Six heats of fly began with a three-man race in heat one. Tennessee’s Oystein Hetland got out ahead with a side-breathing fly stroke. Coming into the finish, Mark Weber of Florida State edged his competitors for the victory.
Heat 2: Marcin Cieslak of Florida led from lane 7 through the fly with empty lanes on both sides, touching first in 46.21.
Heat 3: James Cooper of Texas was first to 25 yards in 9.85, but Geoffrey Cheah of Stanford led at the 50. At the wall, it would be Alex Cuci of Alabama for the win in 46.87, edging Cheah.
Heat 4: UNLV’s Cody Roberts got out like lightening for the 50 lead, but Sean Fletcher powered a long kickout from his last turn and touched just ahead in 46.49.
Heat 5: Daniel Madwed, Michigan senior, swam in the center lane. Neil Caskey of Texas led at 50, but Madwed closed to post the best time of the morning so far in 46.04. Caskey followed in 46.29.
Heat 6: Tom Shields set a crushing pace and won the heat in 45.58 for the top seed, just ahead of Giles Smith of Arizona at 45.63. Shields waved a fist and sent water splashing up from a furious splash after he saw his finish time and place. Of his four splits, only his last length was faster than any other competitor’s split, but his whole race proved unmatchable in the morning.
200 Freestyle
Heat 1: Iowa’s Gianni Sesto was the early leader, but Matt Salig of PSU led at 100 yards. He extended this lead, though Eegan Groome of Missouri pulled even late. Groome would touch just ahead of Salig for the win.
Heat 2: John Dalton from Texas A&M led throughout with a long freestyle. He breathed left the whole race and led wire-to-wire for a 1:35.68 winning finish.
Heat 3: A tight race across all lanes finally separate with a 50 to go and Parker Camp and Jonathan Boffa dueled to the finish, with UVA’s Camp taking the win in 1:36.02.
Heat 4: The race took off early with Auburn’s Drew Modrov and Cal’s Samuel Metz breaking loose. Will Hamilton, the top seed, held them in sight. Metz made his break at 100 and eked out a decisive lead. Will Hamilton swam smooth with long walls and nearly ran him down, though teammate Metz would win the morning battle in 1:34.84. But, following a five-minute delay, Metz was listed as disqualified, leaving Hamilton the top finisher in that heat.
Heat 5: Vladimir Morozov swam the fastest first 100 of the day, but Clay Youngquist of Texas then pulled ahead. On the last length, Frank Dyer drove forward in lane 4 to move into the lead and give Notre Dame the best time of the day in 1:33.94.
Heat 6: Overall No. 2 seed Dimitri Colupaev held strong and took the lead by 150 yards after two lead changes. The USC swimmer appeared to tighten, but held on for a close finish in 1:34.12.
Heat 7: Joao De Lucca of Lousiville entered the day the top seed. He began relaxed and turned at 50 in 4th place. Dax Hill of Texas took the race out with the fastest split at the 50 and still led at 100 yards in. De Lucca tried to run him down and the two were well ahead of the field. Hill poured on big legs and stayed out front for the win in 1:33.43 and the best time of the day.
100 Breaststroke
Heat 1: Thomas Gutman of Arizona turned first at 50, but Brandon Fischer of Wyoming pulled ahead to win in 54.66.
Heat 2: Longhorn Eric Friedland roared to life in lane 2 for a powerful win in 52.46. He erupted at the wall and so did the Texas fans.
Heat 3: Arizona’s Carl Mickelson took a high-tempo stroke out for the early lead and Carlos Almeida of Louisville was the only person to keep pace. Almeida would pull just ahead to win in 51.85, the top time so far.
Heat 4: A tight heat stayed close all the way through the race and Cody Miller of Indiana earned the win in 52.78.
Heat 5: Top seed Kevin Cordes of Arizona showed why he holds that seed as he went out in 24.02. This set the crowd ablaze through the final lap of breaststroke. Cordes won in 51.32 and set a new American record in his prelim swim. He bumped off Michael Alexandrov’s record by .02, marking what was easily the swim of the morning.
100 Backstroke
Heat 1: Once the aura of Cordes' big race died down, the opening heat went to Chase Bloch of USC in 48.10.
Heat 2: Kevin Darmody of Texas got out early and rode his lead home for a solid 46.28 win.
Heat 3: In the first circle-seeded heat, Cory Chitwood of Arizona looked to hold onto his top spot in the heat, but slipped on the start and had a huge deficit to make up. Brendon Andrews from Louisville took advantage and broke out in the lead. Not to be left behind, Cal’s Marcin Tarczynski came on strong the last length with a huge underwater effort and won in 46.45.
Heat 4: Auburn's Kyle Owens got out with a 50 lead, but the win at the wall went to Cole Cragin of Texas in what would end up the top time overall (45.95).
Heat 5: This close heat stayed in a bunch until the midway point of the race. Stanford’s David Nolan gained a small lead at 75, though former champion Tom Shields made a late push. Nolan would hold on to win the heat in 46.21. The previous heat, number 4, would prove to be the toughest though with the top three seeds coming from that heat.
Three-Meter Diving -
Round 1 - Texas A&M's Grant Nel takes the opening round lead with a score of 74.4. Kentucky's Greg Ferruci, who closed the one-meter with a bang yesterday, carried over that momentum, jumping to a second place start of 73.5. Stanford's Kristian Ipsen starts the day in third (69.75) while IU's Zach Nees, Miami's Samuel Dorman and Missouri's David Bonuchi sit in a tie for fifth at 69.75.
Round 2 - Ipsen (152.6) climbs into the lead while one-meter champ Drew Livingston goes from outside the top 10 all the way up to second (146.55). Nees (146.25) is hanging tight with the leaders at this point while Longhorn Matt Cooper joined his teammate in the top four (141.90). Brandon Watson of BYU (141.60), like Livingston, also climbed from outside the top 10 to inside the top five.
Round 3 - Ipsen (232.5) stretches out his lead though his closest pursuer is now Logan Shinholser of Virginia Tech (220.15). Nees (215.05) stays in the third spot followed by Bonuchi (208.65), who climbed from sixth to fourth, and Shane Miszkiel of Ohio State (204.90).
Round 4 -The grows for Ipsen (314.10) while Shinholser (277.90) remains in second. Nees (276.50), Livingston (275.75) and Bonuchi (273.4) all remain hot on his heels however. Miszkiel (264.90) slides one spot into sixth followed by Ferruci (264.70) and Cooper (262.70).
Round 5 - Ipsen (389.35) continues to stretch his lead over the field. Nees (356.40) climbs into second for the first time all day while Livingston (349.25) jumps from fourth to third. Shinholser (340.90) slips from second to fourth while Miszkiel (334.65) climbs a spot to fifth. Bonuchi (332.80), Ryan Helms of Tennessee (327.55) and Nel (318.55) round out the top eight heading into the final round. Tom Neubacher of Florida State (318.05) sits on the outside looking in.
Round 6 - This round was shaken up seven dives in as Ohio State's Michael DellOrco hit the board with his leg on the way down. A lifeguard dove in after the collision but DellOrco was able to get out of the pool under his own power. Stanford's Kristian Ipsen (464.15) ended prelims with his biggest lead of the day with Indiana's Zach Nees (432.40) a comfortable second. Drew Livingston of Texas (421.25) rebounded from a slow start to take third while Virginia Tech's Logan Shinholser (408.40) excelled in the back half of the competition to grab the fourth qualifying spot. The final four qualifiers were Shane Miszkiel of Ohio State (402.65), Ryan Helms of Tennessee (402.35), Darian Schmidt of Indiana (396.95) and David Bonuchi of Missouri (395.80). Arizona's Ben Grado (387.30) was odd man out in ninth position.