2024 Men’s NCAA Champs: Day 4 Finals Preview

2024 MEN’S NCAA SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 27-30, 2024
• IUPUI Natatorium, Indianapolis, Indiana
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Meet Central
• Official Psych Sheets
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• SwimSwam Pick ‘Ems Contest
• How to Watch
• Live Results
• Day 1 Finals Live Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Live Recap | Day 2 Finals Live Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Live Recap | Day 3 Finals Live Recap
• Day 4 Prelims Live Recap | Day 4 1650 Heats Live Recap

DAY 4 FINALS HEAT SHEET

The closing finals session of the 2024 Men’s NCAA Championships will see the fastest timed final heat of the 1650 free, followed by the consolation and championship finals of the 200 fly, 100 free, 200 breast, and 200 fly. The evening will conclude with the timed finals of the 400 free relay.

Kicking off with the last timed finals heat of the 1650 free, top seed ASU’s Zalan Sarkany leads the field by a monstrous 11.99s lead at 14:23.01. Humbly positioned in second is Ohio State’s Charlie Clark at 14:35.00. However, peering in sixth seed (14:39.34) is NC State fifth year Ross Dant, looking to upgrade his silver from last year’s final. Dant placed second in 2023 with his personal best of 14:30.32, still 7.31s off of Sarkany’s 2024 seed.

It is set to be an all-star battle in the 200 back final with returning 200 event medalists and current 100 event medalists. Cal’s Destin Lasco positioned himself to defend his 2023 title with the top seed at 1:36.05. He’s followed by ASU’s Hubert Kos (1:37.05), who earned bronze behind Lasco in the 2023 final. Fresh off a defended 100 back title, Indiana’s Brendan Burns is seeded sixth (1:37.90), right behind NC State’s Kacper Stokowski (1:38.18). Stokowski was runner-up to Burns in the 100 back final yesterday.

Florida’s Josh Liendo has a shot at not just defending his 100 free title, but also a 3-for-3 NCAA title sweep. Liendo has already won the 50 free and 100 fly, both in IU pool record fashion. He comes in this evening’s finals seeded second at 40.73, two-tenths behind top seed Tennessee’s Jordan Crooks (40.54), who placed second to Liendo in the 50 free. Notre Dame’s Chris Guiliano (40.77) and Cal’s Jack Alexy (40.80) narrowly trail the top two to sum up the top four. Previously in the 200 free, Alexy and Guiliano earned silver and bronze respectively.

The 200 breast championship final’s top four will feature 500 free and 400 IM champion ASU’s Leon Marchand and 100 breast champion Cal’s Liam Bell, who are seeded 0.02s apart in 3rd and 4th respectively, 1:50.76 to 1:50.78. Just as in the program’s prior event final, Marchand also has a shot at a 3-for-3 NCAA title sweep. Marchand trumped the 2023 field last year with the current NCAA record of 1:46.91. The duo stand behind ASU’s David Schlicht (1:50.57), who was runner-up to Marchand in the 400 IM, and top seed Penn’s Matt Fallon (1:49.36), who snagged bronze in the 2022 final behind Marchand.

The last individual event, the 200 fly, once again has title-hungry Brendan Burns, who just scathed into the final in 8th at 1:40.40. He joins sub-1:40 top two seeds Cal’s Dare Rose (1:39.52) and ASU freshman Ilya Kharun (1:39.89) along with tied third seeds Cal’s Gabriel Jett and NC State’s Aiden Hayes (1:40.05). Last year at the 2023 final, Hayes upset 2022 champ Burns for the title, with Jett settling for bronze and Rose placing fourth. Another Indiana swimmer, Tomer Frankel, comes in tonight as 7th seed (1:40.38), yesterday’s 100 fly runner-up, and last year’s 5th-place finisher.

The final event will be the timed final heats of the 400 free relay, where ASU is top seed and looking prime to cap off their 2024 NCAA team title. Second seed Florida is coming off an abrupt and unfortunate relay DQ last night. As eyes will be on the Gators to score enough points claim a team trophy, they’re trailed by top four seeds Notre Dame and Tennessee, along with top-three team contender Cal (sixth).