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 Heat Sheets (with relay lineups)
Arizona State got their second win and Pac-12 Record of the night on Wednesday when their 800 free relay swam 6:06.30. That knocked half-a-second off Stanford’s old record set at the 2022 NCAA Championships, as well as more than a second off the Pac-12 Championship Record.
The group was led off by a 1:30.77 in the 200 free from Frenchman Leon Marchand, which is the fastest time in the NCAA so far this season. He entered conference season with the best time in 7 events, of which the 200 free was not one, and while some of those have been beaten by swimmers at earlier conference championship meets, he remains the top swimmer in the NCAA in five races:
- 200 free – 1:30.77
- 500 free – 4:07.81
- 200 IM – 1:38.89
- 400 IM – 3:31.84
- 200 breast – 1:48.82
With his individual swims still to go, and with other conferences having been concluded, still holding five #1 individual times is an unheard-of feat in modern NCAA swimming.
He was joined on the relay by Grant House, Patrick Sammon, and Julian Hill.
Splits Comparison:
| Arizona State | Stanford | Arizona State | |
| 2023 Pac-12s | 2022 NCAAs (old Pac-12 Record |
2022 Pac-12s (old Meet Record)
|
|
| 1st leg | Marchand – 1:30.77 | Minakov – 1:31.49 | House – 1:30.54 |
| 2nd leg | House – 1:31.61 | Maurer – 1:32.60 | Swift – 1:33.61 |
| 3rd leg | Sammon – 1:32.06 | Polonsky – 1:31.38 | Hill – 1:32.20 |
| 4th leg | Hill – 1:31.86 | Forst – 1:31.36 |
Marchand – 1:31.16
|
| Total Time | 6:06.30 | 6:06.83 | 6:07.51 |
All four members of Stanford’s relay that held the old Pac-12 Record returned this season, though they swapped out Andrei Minakov for Andres Dupont. That group finished 3rd on Wednesday in 6:11.08, with only about 2 seconds accounted for in the personnel change, so that might be a sign that they’re gearing up a big taper for NCAAs.
The swim is a second-straight Pac-12 title in the event for Arizona State, and the first time they’ve ever successfully defended a relay title. With three out of the four swimmers returning, the team dropped 1.2 seconds off their time from last year.
Cal’s 200 Medley Relay got DQ’d and then their 800 Free Relay got 2nd. Could ASU pull off the upset?
I’m betting now that ASU breaks the NCAA record in a few weeks.
If the 400m Free wasn’t booked the day before the 400IM at the Olympics, Leon would be prime to focus on that as well. Very wide open now that the Sun has set
“still holding five #1 individual times is an unheard-of feat in modern NCAA swimming.”
I know you’re being hyperbolic but Dressel did the same the year he broke the IM and breast records.
Was it before the individual events at conference ?
Yes, Dressel had the top time in 5 events for about 12 hours in 2019. He didn’t have the best 100 fly time in the NCAA until he swam it in prelims at NCAAs. Joseph Schooling had it at 44.68 from the Texas Invite. So Dressel swam 43.71 in the 100 fly prelims, which then became the best time, and he still had the 50 free, 100 free, 200 IM, and 100 breast. But in finals of the 100 breast, Ian Finnerty took that #1 time away from him.
If I’m not mistaken, Marchand briefly held the top time in the 100 Fly after going 45.68 at the ASU intrasquad meet in September. Also, while not a collegiate event, I believe Marchand’s time of 46.63 in the 100 IM is still the fastest time this year. With those two events included, he would have held the top time at some point during the year in 10 different events. Impressive to say the very least.
🧹🧹🧹 ASU
Imagine Marchand getting 8 Olympic gold medals, all in individual events.
It won’t be for the USA
Why?
Any idea how many times has someone ever had 5 top times (or greater)heading into NCAA championships? Seems like a pretty exclusive list
Somewhere Bobo is smiling!