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Florida Blitzes 2:58.32 400 Medley Relay As Three Teams Go Under NCAA Record

2023 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

An electric finale to Friday night’s finals session at the Men’s NCAA Championships resulted in three teams going under the NCAA and U.S. Open Record in the 400 medley relay—a mark that had been on the books for six years.

The University of Florida broke its second straight relay record at the championships, soaring to a time of 2:58.32 to lower the previous NCAA and U.S. Open Record of 2:59.22 by nine-tenths of a second. That old record belonged to the University of Texas, set at the 2017 NCAA Championships.

The Gator squad, comprised of Adam Chaney (44.28), Dillon Hillis (50.23), Josh Liendo (42.91) and Macguire McDuff (40.90), all stepped up with big splits across the board to earn the victory, with Liendo pulling the team into the lead with the fastest fly leg ever before McDuff got the job done with a scintillating anchor.

Florida had neared the record earlier this season, clocking 2:59.48 at SECs.

Split Comparison

TEXAS, 2017 NCAAs FLORIDA, 2023 SECs FLORIDA, 2023 NCAAs
John Shebat – 44.58 Adam Chaney – 44.17 Adam Chaney – 44.28
Will Licon – 49.75 Dillon Hillis – 50.63 Dillon Hillis – 50.23
Joseph Schooling – 43.60 Josh Liendo – 43.35 Josh Liendo – 42.91
Jack Conger – 41.29 Macguire McDuff – 41.33 Macguire McDuff – 40.90
2:59.22 2:59.48 2:58.32

Also going under Texas’ previous record was Indiana and Arizona State, who both had jaw-dropping splits of their own.

Brendan Burns followed up his 100 backstroke victory with a 43.82 lead-off for the Hoosiers, and then Josh Matheny (50.31), Tomer Frankel (43.70) and Rafael Miroslaw (41.26) closed things out to place the team second in 2:59.09.

Led off by Jack Dolan in 44.62, under his 100 back best time set in this morning’s prelims (44.78), ASU had Leon Marchand take over on the breaststroke leg, as he dropped the fastest split in history in 49.23 to put the Sun Devils in the lead. Max McCusker (44.55) and Jonny Kulow (40.78) closed things out as they took third in 2:59.18.

Split Comparison

FLORIDA INDIANA ARIZONA STATE
Adam Chaney – 44.28 Brendan Burns – 43.82 Jack Dolan – 44.62
Dillon Hillis – 50.23 Josh Matheny – 50.31 Leon Marchand – 49.23
Josh Liendo – 42.91 Tomer Frankel – 43.70 Max McCusker – 44.55
Macguire McDuff – 40.90 Rafael Miroslaw – 41.26 Jonny Kulow – 40.78
2:58.32 2:59.09 2:59.18

The top five teams were under the existing American Record of 3:01.51, set by Cal in 2017, but none of the squads were eligible with at least one international swimmer in their lineup. NC State (3:00.22) placed fourth with a new ACC Record, while Cal took fifth in 3:00.38.

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chickenlamp
1 year ago

If McDuff splits another sub-41 on the 400 free relay tomorrow Florida will be real close to that record. Although I still think Cal is a bit more likely to get it

Mozart
1 year ago

Indiana did that without even using van Mathias

Andrew
Reply to  Mozart
1 year ago

using van mathias wouldn’t have changed their position and he’s needed more in the other 4 relays

Dolph Kick
1 year ago

It looked like the breaststroke surface after dive was past 15 meters for Florida and ASU.

Jackson Hall
Reply to  Dolph Kick
1 year ago

You are allowed to do that.

"We've got a boilover"
Reply to  Dolph Kick
1 year ago

Don’t matter on breast. As long as 1 dolphin kick in effect.

Marchand DQ?
1 year ago

How many dolphin kicks did Marchand do when he dove in? There is no way he crushed the whole field on the first pullout with that floppy dive without throwing in a couple extra.

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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