2022 Men’s Big Ten Championships: Day 4 Finals Live Recap

2022 MEN’S B1G SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• February 23-26, 2022
• Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center, West Lafayette, IN
• SCY (25 yards)
• Prelims at 10AM Eastern, Finals at 5:30PM Eastern
• Defending Champions: Michigan (2x)
• Championship Central
• Live Results
• Live Stream: DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4
• B1G Men’s Record Book
• 2021 Men’s B1G Champs Results
• Day 4 Prelims Recap
• Day 4 Finals Heat Sheets

The final day of competition at the 2022 Big Ten Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships will come down to the wire for the team title.

Indiana holds a 32-point lead over Ohio State heading into the day. Indiana has more A finalists in the session than the Buckeyes do, and both have strong contingents in diving.

With Indiana expecting a little more scoring out of the mile, the meet is theirs to lose, but it’s close enough that they’ll need to fire in finals to hold off the upset-minded Buckeyes.

Saturday’s finals session will include the 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, platform diving, and the 400 free relay.

A win for Indiana would be their 28th overall team title and 4th in 6 seasons.

Men’s 1650 Freestyle – Timed Finals

• Big Ten Record – Felix Auboeck, Michigan – 14:22.88 (2017)
• Big Ten Championship Record – Felix Auboeck, Michigan – 14:29.25 (2017)
• 2021 NCAA Invite Time – 15:01.33

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Charlie Clark, So., Ohio State – 14:36.02
2. Jake Mitchell, So., Michigan – 14:44.22
3. Yigit Aslan, Fr., Wisconsin – 14:46.23
4. Michael Brinegar, Jr., Indiana – 14:46.53
5. Fabio Dalu, Jr., Ohio State – 14:51.41
6. Warren Briggs, So., Indiana – 14:58.03
7. Josh Dannhauser, Sr., Wisconsin – 14:58.54
8. Bar Soloveychik, Fr., Minnesota – 15:00.14

For Ohio State to fight back and win this meet, they would need a close-to-perfect last session, and they got off to a big start when Charlie Clark won the men’s 1650 free to open the night in 14:36.02.

That undercuts his previous best time of 14:40.70 from last year’s NCAA Championship meet as the school record in the event.

The runner-up in the race was Michigan sophomore Jake Mitchell, a Tokyo 2020 Olympian in the shorter 400 free. His time of 14:44.22 was about two seconds away from his lifetime best at last year’s Big Ten meet, where he finished 2nd.

Wisconsin rookie Yigit Aslan was 3rd in 14:46; he already has his NCAA invite confirmed thanks to a mid-season 14:40 in the race.

As far as the team battle, Ohio State not only got big points from a 1-5 finish from Clark and Fabio Dalu (14:51.41), but Indiana junior Michael Brinegar slid to 4th place in 14:46.53. He was the Big Ten Champion last year, but is already locked-in for NCAAs this season with a mid-season 14:40.

In total, the Buckeyes outscored Indiana 71-50 in the event, though they needed three scoring swims to get there versus just two for the Hoosiers. Still, that closed the lead to just 11 points heading into the Hoosier-dominated 200 backstroke.

Of note, Wisconsin’s Josh Danhauser raced the event for the first time this season after rounding-down to the 100 free at the Minnesota Invite in December. Racing out of an early heat with a no-time seed, he jumped to 7th place in 14:58.54 – about 12 seconds off his best time.

Men’s 200 Back – Finals

• Big Ten Record – Tyler Clary, Michigan – 1:37.58 (2009)
• Big Ten Championship Record – Eric Ress, Indiana – 1:38.89 (2014)
• 2021 NCAA Invite Time – 1:41.81

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Brendan Burns, Jr., Indiana – 1:39.34
2. Jake Newmark, So., Wisconsin – 1:39.50
3. Gabriel Fantoni, 5Y., Indiana – 1:40.26
4. Wesley Jekel, Jr., Wisconsin – 1:40.89
5. Michael Daly, Sr., Penn State – 1:41.29
6. Jacob Steele, 5Y., Indiana – 1:42.03
7. Jared Daigle, Sr., Michigan – 1:42.05
8. Manuel Martos Bacarizo, Sr., Northwestern – 1:42.96

A 1-3-6 finish from Indiana, and no A-Finalists from Ohio State, poured a large vat of cold water on the Buckeyes’ momentum from an event earlier. Indiana’s lead after the race ballooned to 83 points.

Indiana junior Brendan Burns successfully defended his title in the men’s 200 backstroke, winning in 1:39.34 – just barely faster than his winning time from last season.

This is the front-half of a tough double for Burns, who will have a break of about 48 minutes before racing the 200 fly final. He successfully won both events at last year’s championship, though with a 5 day format, they weren’t on the same day in 2021.

The win marks a sixth-straight Big Ten title for Indiana. Before Burns, Gabriel Fantoni won in 2020 and 2019, Mohamed Hassan won in 2018, and Bob Glover won in 2017.

Fantoni was the top seed coming out of Saturday’s prelims session in this 200 back, but added two-tenths of a second to place 2nd in 1:40.26.

In between them was Wisconsin sophomore Jake Newmark, who finished 2nd in 1:39.50. He won the 500 free earlier in the meet and was 3rd in the 200 free. His 87 individual points at this meet make him the Badgers’ top scorer. His best time coming into the season was 1:42.39 from last year’s Big Ten Championships.

Newmark’s Time Drops, 2022 Big Ten Championships

• 500 Free: 4:17.72→4:12.43
• 200 Free: 1:33.89→1:33.15
• 200 Back: 1:42.39→1:39.50

The Badgers picked up big points to further-secure their 4th place position when Wesley Jekel finished 4th in 1:40.89.

Northwestern’s Tyler Lu won the B Final in 1:41.79, another 1.1 seconds better than his best time in prelims.

Men’s 100 Free – Finals

• Big Ten Record – Bowe Becker, Minnesota – 40.83 (2019)
• Big Ten Championship Record – Blake Pieroni, Indiana – 41.43 (2018)
• 2021 NCAA Invite Time – 42.88

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Hunter Armstrong, Jr., Ohio State – 41.78
2. Ruslan Gaziev, So., Ohio State – 42.07
3. Sem Andreis, Sr., Ohio State – 42.17
4. Rafael Miroslaw, Fr., Indiana – 42.24
5. Brady Samuels, Fr., Purdue – 42.41
6. Nikola Acin, Sr., Purdue – 42.52
7. Bruno Blaskovic, 5Y., Indiana – 42.58
8. Victor Baganha, Fr., Penn State – 42.73

The Buckeyes made another big statement with their second win in three races in the 100 free: this one coming via a 1-2-3 finish.

Hunter Armstrong, a US Olympian in the 100 backstroke, has made huge strides in his sprint freestyles since returning from Tokyo. At last year’s Big Ten meet, he placed 3rd in 42.37. This year, he was six-tenths better and finished in first place, and now ranks 8th in the NCAA this season.

He won the 50 free and finished 2nd in the 100 back earlier in the meet, so it will likely now come down to Brendan Burns‘ 200 fly placement to determine Swimmer of the Meet honors.

Ruslan Gaziev placed 2nd in 42.07 and Sem Andreis finished 3rd in 42.17. Andreis won last year’s Big Ten title in this event, and while he was actually faster this year, the time was only good for 3rd place. That’s a big improvement-over-seed for him, as he was just the 12th-best 100 freestyler in the conference coming into the meet.

The result still locked up maximum points in the evening for the Buckeyes. That included a B-Final win by James Ward in 43.29.

While Ohio State scored a ton of points in this final (107), Indiana was able to counterpunch a little: freshman Rafael Miroslaw was 4th in 42.24, dropping time from prelims, and Bruno Blaskovic was 7th in 42.58.

That cut the Indiana lead to 56 points.

Men’s 200 Breast – Finals

• Big Ten Record – Max McHugh, Minnesota – 1:49.02 (2021)
• Big Ten Championship Record – Max McHugh, Minnesota – 1:52.92 (2019)
• 2021 NCAA Invite Time – 1:54.28

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Max McHugh, Sr., Minnesota – 1:49.45
2. Josh Matheny, Fr., Indiana – 1:50.65
3. Caleb Aman, Sr., Wisconsin – 1:53.86
4. Daniel Raisanen, Jr., Penn State – 1:54.05
5. Max Reich, So., Indiana – 1:54.18
6. Marcus Mok, Jr., Northwestern – 1:54.36
7. Connor Morikawa, So., Northwestern – 1:54.53
8. Luke Barr, Fr., Indiana – 1:56.05

Defending NCAA Champion in the 200 breaststroke Max McHugh won his second-straight title in Championship Record fashion, touching in 1:49.50.

That is the top-ranked time in the NCAA this season, leaping ahead of a group that includes now-#2 Matt Fallon, a freshman at Penn.

McHugh’s previous season best was 1:51.27, and he swam 1:59.02 to win last year’s NCAA title. This is the third-best performance of his career and 14th-best performance in NCAA history.

More broadly, in the team competition, the race was a huge win for Indiana. Freshman Josh Matheny finished 2nd to lead three A-finalists (all underclassmen) in the event. His runner-up time of 1:50.65 is the best of his career, improving his 1:51.38 from December 2020 when he was still in high school.

The highly-touted freshman has gotten better as this meet has gone on, and this swim pairs with his 51.6 in the 100 breaststroke (3rd place) as his first two breaststroke best times since joining the Hoosiers.

The hot night for the Wisconsin men continued with senior Caleb Aman placing 3rd in 1:53.86. That’s a second improvement off his prelims time, which in turn was a second improvement off his lifetime best entering the meet.

Of note: Indiana’s Jassen Yep, who was on the Hoosiers’ non-scoring lineup, swam 1:53.86 in prelims. That would have tied him for 3rd place and should earn him an NCAA Championship invite.

Ohio State’s top scorer in the event was Hudson McDaniel in 16th. That pushed Indiana 74 points ahead with just three events remaining: in context, barring a DQ, that’s probably enough for Indiana to finish off the win.

Men’s 200 Fly – Finals

• Big Ten Record – Brendan Burns, Indiana – 1:39.22 (2021)
• Big Ten Championship Record – Brendan Burns, Indiana – 1:39.22 (2021)
• 2021 NCAA Invite Time – 1:43.47

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Brendan Burns, Jr., Indiana – 1:39.81
2. Gal Cohen, Fr., Michigan – 1:40.59
3. Alex Quach, Fr., Ohio State – 1:41.81
4. Federico Burdisso, Jr., Northwestern – 1:41.82
5. Corey Gambardella, 5Y, Indiana – 1:42.12
6. Connor Lamastra, Sr., Northwestern – 1:42.93
7. Chachi Gustafson, Jr., Ohio State – 1:43.01
8. Tomer Frankel, So., Indiana – 1:43.06

Indiana junior Brendan Burns pulled off the big double on Friday evening, winning the 200 fly within the same hour as winning the 200 back. He finished in a time of 1:39.81, which ranks him 4th in the NCAA this season (among actual, not converted, yards times).

Burns was a little bit faster when he won both races at last year’s Big Ten Championships, but that might be the effect of the two races being on the same day this year instead of different days last year.

Michigan freshman Gal Cohen was 2nd in 1:40.59. That is the fastest time ever by a Big Ten freshman, a tenth better than his countrymate Tomer Frankel went for Indiana at last year’s NCAA Championship meet.

In prelims, it was Ohio State’s Chachi Gustafson who made the big leap to qualify for the A-Final. While he faded from 3rd seed to 7th place in the A-Final, his freshman teammate Alex Quach rose to pick him up, placing 3rd in 1:41.81. Quach won the 100 fly on Friday. The Australian swam both butterfly distances at the 2019 World Junior Championships.

Northwestern’s Federico Burdisso finished 4th. That’s one spot lower than he placed at last summer’s Olympic Games in the long course 200 fly, but the same position where he finished at his last Big Ten Championship in 2020.

That win by Burns, along with a 5th place swim from Corey Gambardella (1:42.12), 8th place swim from Frankel (1:43.06), and B-Final win from Van Mathias (1:44.23) pushed Indiana’s lead to 151 points, which is runaway territory, even with Ohio State having three A-finalists in platform diving.

Men’s Platform Diving – Finals

• Big Ten Championship Record – David Boudia, Purdue – 557.90 (2011)
• 2022 Zone Qualifying Score – 300.00

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Andrew Capobianco, R-Sr., Indiana – 469.90
2. Jordan Rzepka, Fr., Purdue – 443.10
3. Carson Tyler, Fr., Indiana – 440.90
4. Jacob Fielding, Sr., Ohio State – 431.15
5. Tyler Downs, Fr., Purdue – 428.70
6. Jacob Siler, Sr., Ohio State – 424.10
7. Ross Todd, Sr., Michigan – 406.20
8. Clayton Chaplin, Fr., Ohio State – 396.75

Coming into this season, Indiana’s Andrew Capobianco had as many NCAA titles (2x) as Big Ten titles (1x). But the Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medalist wrapped up a sweep of the diving events on Saturday with a win on platform.

Capobianco scored more than 70 points on all six dives, including getting one 10 on his 2nd dive.

Indiana had two divers finish in the top three, as the next generation, freshman Carson Tyler, finished 3rd in 440.90.

There is a youth movement coming to Big Ten diving: Purdue freshman Jordan Rzepka finished 2nd. He and Tyler were among four freshman in the platform final.

Men’s 400 Free – Timed Finals

• Big Ten Record – Indiana – 2:47.11 (2018)
• Big Ten Championship Record – Indiana – 2:48.29 (2017)
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut – 2:51.11
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut – 2:52.46

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Ohio State – 2:47.16
2. Indiana – 2:47.96
3. Purdue – 2:50.09
4. Michigan – 2:50.33
5. Northwestern – 2:53.56
6. Wisconsin – 2:53.91
7. Minnesota – 2:54.12
8. Penn State – 2:58.15

The Ohio State men won the final battle of the 2022 Big Ten Swimming & Diving Championships, but Indiana had enough to hold on for the title.

Ohio State broke the Big Ten Championship Record with a 2:47.16. That missed Indiana’s 2018 Conference Record by just .05 seconds.

The team of Hunter Armstrong (41.60), Sem Andreis (41.82), Alex Quach (42.03), and Ruslan Gaziev (41.71) combined for the win. Armstrong’s swim was another personal best, lowering his time from the event final earlier in the evening.

That relay included one freshman, one sophomore, one junior, and one senior, including the top three finishers in the individual 100 free.

Indiana finished 2nd in 2:47.96, which was also faster than the old Meet Record. Their two best splits came at the back end of the relay from Bruno Blaskovic (41.70) and Van Mathias (41.86).

Purdue finished a surprise 3rd in 2:50.09, anchored by a 41.78 from freshman Brady Samuel, and Michigan was 4th in 2:50.33.

Final Team Scores

Indiana wound up winning by 93 points, which is pretty average by Big Ten standards – the margin of victory has been under 100 points in three of the last five championship meets.

The Michigan men, who won the last two titles, slid to third. After a lot of transfers and breaks this season, the Wolverines lacked the depth to compete with the top two.

Wisconsin had a very good meet with a lot of best times to jump Purdue (and their diving crew) for 4th – even without Andrew Benson, who was injured in the fall. That will be positive momentum for them.

Northwestern had a lot of good individual performances, but still need a few more years of recruiting to build the talent depth to jump into the top 5.

Minnesota and Penn State rounded out the meet in 7th and 8th. It was close, but ultimately, Minnesota’s two relay disqualifications early in the meet didn’t cost them any spots in the final standings.

1. Indiana – 1499.5
2. Ohio State – 1406.5
3. Michigan – 1056.5
4. Wisconsin – 869.5
5. Purdue – 821
6. Northwestern – 796
7. Minnesota – 637
8. Penn State – 626