Swimming out of lane 8, the California Golden Bears took down the American Record from SwimMAC Carolina in the opening event of night two, the 200 medley relay. Ryan Murphy, Chuck Katis, Tony Cox, and Tyler Messerschmidt touched first in 1:22.83, lowering SwimMAC’s record of 1:23.02.
The original second-place team, the Arizona Wildcats, were disqualified for a jump from flyer Giles Smith. The Texas Longhorns ended up taking second in 1:23.30.
The splits comparisons between the new record, old record, and Cal’s 2013 American Record-setting relay:
Cal – 2014 NCAA:
Murphy: 20.90
Katis: 23.29
Cox: 19.99
Messerschmidt: 18.65
SwimMAC Carolina – 2013 AT&T Winter Nationals
Nick Thoman: 20.69
Eric Knight: 23.83
Tim Phillips: 20.02
Cullen Jones: 18.48
Cal – 2013 NCAA:
Cox: 21.24
Hoyt: 23.58
Shields: 19.71
Stubblefield: 18.64
The front half (Murphy and Katis) made the difference for the Bears in the race and in the record hunt. Shields’ fly split from a year ago was one of the best ever, but Tony Cox nearly matched it with a field-leading 19.99.
Great job California! Looks like this race needed two “other” spots in the pick em contest.
2 – Texas, 3 – Auburn
Maybe the relays could have 12 choices up front. (and bonus points with an added “DQ” selection)
Ladies and Gentlemen, here’s the race video! 😎
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cb1GN6FTXo
Arizona is breaking my heart this weekend. I can’t imagine how they must be feeling right now. Hopefully they’ll get it together for day 3.
The Bears rolled over them all!!
Yea buddy