Overall Impressions of Prelims
We can start to see a few trends on day 2 of this meet. Florida is really struggling, and the assertion that one of our posters posed (that they tapered for SEC’s to try and send their seniors out with a Championship) seems to be fairly accurate. Texas and Cal both look good, but neither has looked the necessary “blow you away” good that would take control of this meet. Cal is doing just enough to remain in firm control of the team battle, and though they have been dominant (with the top seed in 4 out of tonight’s 7 swimming events), it’s not the absolute blood-bath that it could have been.
Texas’ breaststrokers, which always count on huge drops at NCAA’s, had those big drops, but still have some work to do tonight. Dax Hill, on the other hand, is a monster in that 200 free. Georgia has had an up-and-down meet, as has Ohio State. If they can flatten that out (towards the higher end), they’ll both do themselves a huge favor. Virginia continues to impress and well outswim their seeds, and could be in contention for a 6th-place finish with the struggles of USC and Florida.
200 medley relay
Nobody took a whole lot of chances in the prelims of this 200 medley relay (unlike yesterday’s 400 medley), and in a very tight race, all of the usual suspects made the A-final. Cal was fastest in the morning in 1:24.39 (as expected without Nathan Adrian, who they’ll likely use on the 800 free relay instead). That time is right around where you’d expect them to be, based on the swap of Adrian for Josh Daniels. They’ll hit right around a 1:23-high tonight, which is the target that Texas and Auburn (seeded 2nd and 3rd) will be shooting for. Texas definitely found themselves a 50-butterflier, which was their biggest relay concern today, with Woody Joye swimming a great 20.75. Though it was 2nd-slowest amongst the top 8, it’s definitely a mark that the Longhorns can work with for a top 3 finish (especially if Cragin improves his backstroke split, which he should). Stanford and Ohio State round out the top 5, with Arizona, Florida, and Tennessee just behind.
A couple of non-traditional powers will headline the B-final, with Penn State, Minnesota, and UNLV holding the middle 3 lanes there.
400 IM
And then the bomb dropped. Conor Dwyer, the top seed, All-world, shot at the NCAA Record 400 IM’er didn’t qualify for the A-final. He added 8 seconds from his SEC mark to post the 9th-fastest time and will head the B-final.
That opens this race up big time. Georgia’s Bill Cregar looked great in the 200 IM yesterday, and this is his better event of the two. He wasn’t spectacular in prelims (6th, 3:44.03), but he was slow in prelims last year before stepping up for 3rd in finals. He’s by far the fastest returning 400 IM’er from last season (along with Texas’s Collins-4th, 3:43.91- and Carolina’s Harris-2nd, 3:42.48) he’s one of only 3 returning A-finalists. Cregar was a 3:41.0 at NCAA’s last year, and I think probably only Harris has the potential to get their at this meet based on what we’ve seen so far.
Austen Thompson of Arizona posted a 3:42.37 to take the top seed overall, with Whitaker of Michigan 3rd in 3:43.82. UNC (of all schools) were the only ones to get two 400 IM’ers into the A-final, including Tom Luchsinger in 8th. Mike Joyce, a junior who we highlighted in our preview as being a huge surprise this year after not even making Florida’s SEC lineup last season, actually outshone his much more famous teammate by placing 7th and making the A-final. Cal and Texas each have a swimmer in the B-final.
100 yard fly
Shields and Staab were in different heats of the 100 fly, and knowing that the other would be watching, both appeared to try and not show too much in prelims. Neither was particularly fast (44.96 for Shileds, 45.45 for Staab), based on our new calibration of “fast” from these two anyways. Expect both to be at 44.5 or better in finals.
As a team, Cal began their onslaught in this race. They had 3 A-finalists, and almost a 4th with Mathias Gydesen placing 9th in prelims. Nathan Adrian is showing some real chops in his 2nd-stroke with a 45.89 for the 6th seed, and Graeme Moore is pure speed in 45.78 for the 4th. Stanford also did well for themselves to get two into the A-final (Staab and Bobby Bollier, who was 2nd in the 500 on day 1). LSU’s Hannes Heyl had a breakout swim in this 100 fly as well to take the 3rd seed in 45.77 (after finishing 17th at NCAA’s last season). In one of their weaker races, Texas managed only 1 scorer with a 46.50 from sprinter Jimmy Feigen in his 2nd-stroke. His teammate Cole Cragin, with whom he tied at Big 12’s, scratched this race to focus on backstroke later in the session.
As an indicator of how fast the country has gotten this season, it took a 46.00 to A-final in this race. Compare that to last season, when Tyler McGill had the 3rd-best time in prelims with a 46.00.
200 free
After his teammate Matt McLean pulled off a huge victory in the 500 free yesterday, Scot Robison appears to not want to be outdone. He posted a great 1:33.27 in the 200 free prelims to take the top overall seed. Robison wasn’t great in the 50 yesterday, but in the 100 (which he’s better at) he was awesome on the medley relay. Texas’ Dax Hill went out under American Record pace (as he is wont to do), and touched just behind Robison in 1:33.30 to just barely knock off his personal best from Big 12’s.
A pair of Trojans sit 3rd and 4th (1:33.38 from Lefert and 1:33.56 from Colupaev, respectively) to top off the top tier of times. Matt McLean sits 5th in the 2nd grouping of times (1:34.05), but I wouldn’t dare count him out after a 4:10 yesterday in the 500. Heck, his best 200 yards in that 500 were a 1:23, which wouldn’t have been last in the prelims.
Cal has a no-scorer in this 200 free, which was not unexpected, as the mid-to-distance freestyles are their biggest weakness. Florida got two into the A-final, though probably not as high as they would’ve liked, and Stanford had the 8th-10th fastest times in prelims. Look out for the 800 free relay. Florida got a little cute and rearranged their lineup, but with how well Virginia is swimming, this race is no longer a slam-dunk for them. Georgia’s Jameson Hill, who’s been having a great rookie campaign, seems to have finally hit his wall. Unlike some of his teammates (like Cregar and Dylla) who are swimming pretty well, Hill failed to make the B-final in the 200 after being seeded 11th.
100 breast
This was not expected to be the most exciting race of the meet (Dugonjic is easily better than the rest of the field and is swimming well in this meet), but with Cal having the top 4 seeds it was probably the most intriguing. They almost held true to that with the top-3 (with a tie for 3rd) in finals. Dugonjic was 1st in an “easy” 51.70, Nolan Koon was 2nd in 52.10, and Martti Aljand was tied for 3rd at 52.39. He was tied with Louisville’s Carlos Almeida, who’s had a great meet so far. Texas’ Scott Spann snuck into the A-final by the skin of his teeth at 53.07. He’ll need to turn it on in finals, which he is capable of based on a great relay swim yesterday. Stanford also has one in the A-final with Curtis Lovelace qualifying 5th in 52.82
Texas’ Eric Friedland and Ohio State’s Elliott Keefer both went season-best times of 53.11 to tie for 9th. The 6th-through-15th place qualifiers were separated by only .15 seconds. This was one of those races where all of the coaching lectures about every half of every inch counting will haunt several swimmers.
100 yard backstroke
Tom Shields appeared to have found a double that’s going to work out just fine for him. After taking the top seed in the 100 fly, he came back 40 minutes later and took the top seed in the 100 back in 45.67. Surprisingly, despite what should have been a fatigued swim, he closed harder than anybody else in the field. Texas’ Cole Cragin was 2nd, after a swift leadoff 50, in 45.69, and Indiana’s Eric Ress (broken hand and all) was 3rd in 45.74.
A pair of Arizona Wildcats are 4th and 5th. Cory Chitwood (45.99) was quite expected, but Mitchell Friedemann (46.09) has been a big surprise all year. Auburn also got 2 in the A-final. Cal was hoping maybe to have as many as 3 in the A-final of this race, but instead had to settle for only one, plus two in the B-final. This is still a big improvement off of seeds though, so don’t get nervous Cal fans.
I didn’t get to see the women’s meet, don’t think I’ll get today’s action either which is too bad. But I’ll try to find some link to it.
Caio, I think so. You can check around to the video restreaming sites, though I’m not sure any would bother refeeding the swim meet. Don’t think Minnesota is streaming it tonight either. Did you not get the women’s meet? They haven’t started coverage yet (starts in 30 minutes).
Is the only livestream available today the ESPN one? I’m not able to see it.
Interesting observation Brint. I was curious, so I just went and checked it out, and it’s striking how similarly they are doing to last year. When you get a year older, and only really lose one big piece (Mahoney, who has been well-replaced), it can do wonders. It also shows how complete Texas was last year. Eddie Reese really got a TON of versatility out of his 9.9 scholarships.
The funny thing is Cal is basically swimming exactly the same as they did last year-same number of A-finalists, one additional B-finalist. Texas just has two fewer in the A and as a result are in a much deeper hole.