2023 Men’s Pac-12 Swimming and Diving Championships: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

2023 MEN’S PAC-12 SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, March 1- Saturday, March 5, 2023
• Weyerhauser King County Aquatic Center – Federal Way, WA
• SCY (25 Yards)
• Defending Champions: Cal (5x)
• Championship Central
• Event Schedule
• Diving Results
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Fan Guide
• Psych Sheets
• Day 1 Finals Recap

The first prelims session of the 2023 Men’s Pac-12 Championships is underway in Federal Way, WA. It’s going to be a quick session, featuring heats of the 500 free, 200 IM, and 50 free.

In a rare occurrence, all three champions from last year return in their events this year. Stanford’s Preston Forst, the 500 free champion from last year, won the event in 4:12.06 last year. He comes in as the fourth seed this morning. Notably, Leon Marchand is the top seed in the 500 free, but we don’t yet know if he’s going to swim the 500 or the 200 IM this morning.

Marchand is the 200 IM defending champion, having won the event in a meet record of 1:39.65 last year. He’s already been faster than that mark this season, entering as the top seed with a 1:38.89. Whether Marchand swims the 500 or the 200 IM, he’ll be likely to down the Pac-12 Record, and maybe even the NCAA Record, in either race.

Cal’s Bjorn Seeliger won the 50 free in 18.84 last year, narrowly missing the meet record by 0.04 seconds. He comes into these championships as the top seed, already having swum an 18.87 this season. ASU’s Jack Dolan has also been under 19 seconds in the event this season, coming in as the second seed with an 18.92.

500 FREESTYLE – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 4:06.32, Kieran Smith (2020)
• Pac-12 Record: 4:07.81, Leon Marchand (2023)
• Championship Record: 4:09.49, Trenton Julian (2021)
• 2022 Champion: Preston Forst (Stanford) – 4:12.06
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 4:11.40
• 2022 NCAA Invite: 4:14.96

TOP EIGHT QUALIFIERS:

1. Lucas Henveaux (California) – 4:11.06
2. Patrick Callan (California) – 4:13.21
3. Gabriel Jett (California) – 4:13.43
4. Julian Hill (Arizona State) – 4:14.38
5. Daniel Matheson (Arizona State) – 4:15.47
6. Preston Forst (Stanford) – 4:15.66
7. Andrew Gray (Arizona State) – 4:16.18
8. Zalan Sarkany (Arizona State) – 4:17.90

Cal grad students Lucas Henveaux and Patrick Callan took over the final heat of the 500 free prelims this morning, clocking the top two times of the morning. Henveaux, a native of Belgium who joined Cal this semester, posted a new personal best of 4:11.06 to grab lane four finals tonight.

Callan took nearly five seconds off his personal best, finishing second in the heat and overall in 4:13.21. That swim comes in very close to Callan’s lifetime best, which sits at 4:12.53 from the 2019 Big Ten Championships.

Cal sophomore Gabriel Jett clocked a lifetime best of 4:13.43 to finish this morning. His previous best was a 4:13.90, set at the 2021 Minnesota Invite in November of 2021.

Defending champion Preston Forst made it into the ‘A’ final tonight, clocking the Sixth-fastest time of the morning. Forst swam a 4:15.66 this morning, marking a season best by a little over a second, but coming in 3.60 seconds off his winning time from last year.

While Cal took the top three spots for finals tonight, Arizona State had a massive performance as well. The Sun Devils put four swimmers into the ‘A’ final tonight, led by Julian Hill, who was fourth this morning in 4:14.38. Hill has been 4:13.69 already this season.

Other notable swims this morning include Cal sophomore Trent Frandson, who swam a 4:19.36. It was a massive performance for Frandson, taking 11 seconds off his season best. It was also a lifetime best by about a second, marking Frandson’s first time under 4:20 in the event. He swam exhibition this morning, making him ineligible for finals tonight.

200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 1:37.69, Leon Marchand (2022)
• Pac-12 Record: 1:37.69, Leon Marchand (2022)
• Championship Record: 1:39.65, Leon Marchand (2022)
• 2022 Champion: Leon Marchand (Arizona State) – 1:39.65
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:41.22
• 2022 NCAA Invite: 1:43.36

TOP EIGHT QUALIFIERS:

1. Leon Marchand (Arizona State) – 1:40.32
2. Hugo Gonzalez (California) – 1:41.53
3. Destin Lasco (California) – 1:41.83
4. Grant House (Arizona State) – 1:42.32
5. Owen McDonald (Arizona State) – 1:42.94
6. David Schlicht (Arizona State) – 1:42.97
7. Ron Polonsky (Stanford) – 1:43.16 (Tie)
8. Jonny Affeld (Stanford) – 1:43.16 (Tie)

Arizona State has jumped out to an incredible start this morning, putting another four swimmers into the ‘A’ final of the 200 IM after putting four into the ‘A’ final of the 500 free. The Sun Devils were, of course, led by NCAA Record holder Leon Marchand, who swam a 1:40.32. It was a solid morning swim for Marchand, who has already been 1:38 this season and has a lifetime best of 1:37.69. He really jumped out to an early lead this morning, throwing down a blistering 45.57 on the first 100 of the race.

Cal fifth-year Hugo Gonzalez appears to be back in form after rejoining the Golden Bears in January. Gonzalez was second this morning with a 1:41.53, taking a little over a second off his season best. Destin Lasco came in third with a 1:41.83, and, like Marchand, we can expect a faster swim tonight, the question is just how fast.

Arizona State freshman Owen McDonald had a massive swim this morning, taking fifth overall with a 1:42.94. McDonald’s personal best was a 1:45.43 which he swam earlier in the season. He was also out fast, splitting 46.87 on the first 100 of the race. His 31.23 breast split from this morning could pose a problem for McDonald tonight, however, if he’s able to get out even faster he may be able to withstand having the slowest breast split in the field.

50 FREESTYLE – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 17.63, Caeleb Dressel (2018)
• Pac-12 Record: 18.33, Ryan Hoffer (2021)
• Championship Record: 18.80, Brad Tandy (2014)
• 2022 Champion: Bjorn Seeliger (Cal) – 18.84
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 18.88
• 2022 NCAA Invite: 19.28

TOP EIGHT QUALIFIERS:

1. Bjorn Seeliger (California) – 18.87
2. Jack Dolan (Arizona State) – 19.13
3. Jonny Kulow (Arizona State) – 19.15
4. Andrei Minakov (Stanford) – 19.16
5. Jack Alexy (California) – 19.22
6. Max McCusker (Arizona State) – 19.32
7. Ryan Perham (Arizona) – 19.33 (Tie)
8. Patrick Sammon (Arizona State) – 19.33 (Tie)

For the third event in a row, Arizona State has put four swimmers into the ‘A’ final for tonight, bringing their total for the day to 12 ‘A’ finalists. Jack Dolan came in as the second seed and finished second overall this morning, swimming a 19.13. Meanwhile, Sun Devil freshman Jonny Kulow had a massive performance, throwing down a huge lifetime best of 19.15 for third. On top of that, Kulow’s time this morning will be fast enough to earn the freshman an invite to NCAAs later this month.

ASU also put Max McCusker and Patrick Sammon into the top eight this morning, earning them lanes in the ‘A’ final tonight.

Cal’s Bjorn Seeliger tied his season best of 18.87 to claim the top seed for tonight’s final. Seeliger’s 18.87 leads the conference this season as well. He won the event last year with an 18.84.

Cal also saw sophomore Jack Alex make the ‘A’ final with a 19.22.

Arizona also earned their first ‘A’ finalist of the day, seeing Ryan Perham tie for seventh this morning with a 19.33. The Wildcats had two swimmers just on the outside of the top eight, seeing freshman Tommy Palmer finish ninth in 19.44 and junior Seth Miller touch tenth in 19.46.