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Blueseventy Swim of the Week: Paul Ungur, Utah

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Disclaimer: BlueSeventy Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The BlueSeventy Swim is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.

While both of our monthly posts (Swimmer & Coach of the Month) went toward Florida, we elected to feature a different program with our Swim of the Week. Caeleb Dressel‘s 19.10 was beastly, but how many times can we give the guy Swim/Swimmer of the Month/Week? He’s entering Ledecky territory, where almost every time he swims, something notable goes down.

So, in keeping with the spirit of our Swim of the Week and looking to highlight a swim that may have gotten lost in the shuffle, we’re taking a look at a way-below-the-radar relay meet from out west that could have real-world relay impact on the NCAA.

Last season, Utah didn’t qualify any relays for the NCAA Championships. By far their closest shave was the 200 medley, where the team had a B cut (technically a “provisional standard”) and was exactly four tenths off an A cut (technically a “qualifying standard,” but still a time that would have earned the team a direct NCAA bid in all relays with a provisional standard).

That was after the Pac-12 Championships, where Utah went 1:25.45 with a big 21.39 leadoff for sophomore Paul UngurThe Utes went after a time trial a day after the meet, and though they still didn’t make NCAAs, Ungur blasted a 20.98 leadoff leg that would have been right with the scoring pack at nationals.

Well this week, Ungur picked up where he left off, going 21.69 to lead off a mixed 200 medley relay at the Utah vs BYU relay meet hosted by Utah in Salt Lake City. That came late in the meet, after Ungur had already led off a 3×50 backstroke relay in 21.95.

With three of four legs returning from last year’s relay and Ungur already swimming very well on the leadoff leg, Utah should be in shape to challenge for an NCAA berth this coming season. And if they can get into the meet, it only took a time just three tenths faster than the Utes were last year to score points at 2017 NCAAs. With an improved Ungur, the Utes could scrape their way back onto the NCAA scoregboard come March.

WE MAKE SWIMMERS.

There isn’t a second that goes by when the team at blueseventy aren’t thinking about you. How you eat, breathe, train, play, win, lose, suffer and celebrate. How swimming is every part of what makes you tick. Aptly named because 70% of the earth is covered in water, blueseventy is a world leader in the pool and open water. Since 1993, we design, test, refine and craft products using superior materials and revolutionary details that equate to comfort, freedom from restriction and ultimately a competitive advantage in the water. This is where we thrive. There is no substitute and no way around it. We’re all for the swim.

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About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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