There’s no argument about which of the NCAA’s three divisions, top-to-bottom, is the fastest. Division I, the body that encompasses most of the schools that are a part of the national college sports vernacular, would take the cake by most measures.
But increasingly, more-and-more good swimmers are going to Division II and Division III schools, which are closing the gap on the majors, and in some cases have virtually the same quality.
Thus it was in the biggest meet of the college season so far: the All-Florida Invite last weekend, where Anton Lobanov from nearby Nova Southeastern won the race in 55.30, and in the process beat out the top breaststrokers from major Division I programs at Florida (Caeleb Dressel – 55.30) and Florida State (Jason Coombs – 55.47).
Lobanov is the defending NCAA Division II Champion in the 100 and 200 yard breaststrokes, and in the process set the Division II Records in both races.
The full lineup for the final:
Lane 1 Jeremy Liu – Towson (7th – 58.91)
Lane 2 Rafa Van Leeuwaarde – FSU (4th – 56.87)
Lane 3 Anton Lobanov- NSU (1st – 55.30)
Lane 4 Caleb Dressel – UF (2nd – 55.34)
Lane 5 Jason Coombs – FSU (3rd – 55.47)
Lane 6 Stanley Wu – UF (6th – 57.83)
Lane 7 Ross Palazzo – UF (5th – 56.93)
Lane 8 Joel Todd – Towson (8th – 59.60)
Why did Caleb Dressel just swim the 100 breast? …
And Andrew Wilson at DIII Emory may be faster than all of them.
Florida always invites one team from out of state for their All-Florida invite. Last year the Cal women swam in the meet
My question is why was Towson at the All-Florida Invite?