SMU Last Chance
- March 6-8, 2025
- Dallas, Texas
- SCY (25 yards)
Highlighting competition through Saturday was Frank Applebaum of Cal. Applebaum swam to a 1:40.39 in finals of the men’s 200 butterfly on Saturday night. That swim moves him up to #14 in the NCAA this season.
Applebaum arrived with the Cal men this fall for his fifth year after spending his undergrad career at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. He notably won the Division III title in the 200 fly in 2022 and 2023 and arrived at Cal with a best time of a 1:43.39. With the cutline falling around line 30, Applebaum now earns a likely invite at NCAAs. This will mark the second season in which a former Division III swimmer has taken their fifth year at the Division I level and earned an invite to NCAAs.
Also moving up the rankings in the 200 fly was Missouri’s Jan Zubik as he posted a 1:41.14 during a time trial. That time sits at #28 in the NCAA this season and below the 1:42.10 it took to make NCAAs last year. Fellow teammate Grant Bochenski posted a 45.12 during a time trial in the 100 back to sit at #22 in the NCAA this year.
The Stanford men had numerous men move up the rankings. Rick Mihm swam to a 1:42.24 in the 200 IM, and he is now tied at #23 in the NCAA this season. That move sits him on the right side of the cutline as it took a 1:43.05 to make the meet in the event a year ago.
Zhier Fan swam to a lifetime best in the 100 breaststroke with a 51.28, a time that sits at #18 in the NCAA this season. Fan will look to return to NCAAs after finishing 27th in the 100 breast a year ago.
Andres DuPont swam the 100 free in prelims and finals posting a 42.06 in finals but swam even faster with a 41.72 during a time trial. That swim moves him up to #22 in the NCAA this season. It took a 42.19 to make the meet a year ago but the event has gotten much faster this season as 38 men have been sub-42 seconds.
USC’s Chris O’Grady swam to a 1:52.07 in prelims before scratching the event in finals. That swim moved him up to #18 in the NCAA this season and below the 1:53.12 it took to make NCAAs last year. Cal’s Hank Rivers swam a 2:05.94 in prelims before posting a 1:51.23 in finals to move up to #12 in the NCAA this season.
The 1650 free saw two men improve their season best times. Matthew Chai of Cal posted a 14:49.02 to sit at #29 in the NCAA this season while Stanford’s Gabe Machado swam a 14:50.37 to sit at #36. The swims are on the bubble as they are close to line 30. Both are faster than the 14:54.92 it took to make the meet last year.
SMU’s Jack Berube swam to another school record, posting a 1:40.37 in the 200 backstroke. That sits at #38 in the NCAA this season, likely on the wrong side of the cutline but it is close to call. The cutline fell at a 1:40.62 last year.
Andrew-
“Leave it to cal to have a 19.0 50 free guy as a junior in high school (fastest 50 free high schooler OAT) not even make NCs his freshman year
I had high hopes for battaglini but he couldn’t overcome Durden’s bumish coaching exploits.”
He dislocated or severely injured his shoulder at ACC’s (will most likely require surgery from what I’ve heard) then again at this meet and is now in the care of physicians. Real cool “Andrew.” Learn to think before you post man.
Injury is probably from Cal training. Definitely unfortunate but point stands.
He was nowhere near his pbs at all this year and full strength wouldn’t have even made NCs
Let’s see how low Andrew can go
Dude needs to find a new hobby
ANDREW could have been so much more. Unfortunately he… and is now relegated to wading in his own pool of toxic renderings. Might you have made the mistake of unmasking yourself at ACC’s?
I know his sister Bonita is happy right now
LOL
This dude dropped 3 seconds in a 2 fly in one year at Cal. A message to those who say Cal can’t develop swimmers.
Cal can develop swimmers to the moon!
Leave it to cal to have a 19.0 50 free guy as a junior in high school (fastest 50 free high schooler OAT) not even make NCs his freshman year
I had high hopes for battaglini but he couldn’t overcome Durden’s bumish coaching exploits. Should’ve gone to NCSU
I think he made the right choice, it’s probably hard to go from a perennial top 2 NCAA team to one that just got 3rd in their own conference.
He dislocated his shoulder at ACC’s….then again at this meet and is now in the care of physicians. Real cool “Andrew.” Learn to think before you post man.
You need to take a deep breath, go outside, and come to terms with your hatred, Andrew.
Applebaum’s story is an All-American story of encouragement. His story — multi-D-III National Champion decides to go to a much bigger pond (Cal – Top 2 program when he came) and finds success there — is Netflix worthy.
Frank came out of the smallish town of Cleveland Heights, Ohio. His story has similarities to Jack Wadsworth, an athlete from Windsor, Vermont, a New England town of about 3,500.
Jack spent his Freshman year at Ithaca College in south-central New York where he was D-III 100 Back National Champion at :46.45. (also 3:49+ for 400 IM Silver and 1:44+ for 200 Back Bronze) For his sophomore year he sought out a bigger pond, choosing Arizona State, which was a… Read more »
As someone who lived in Shaker Heights and swam at LESD, this statement is pretty funny. It is not like a 30k small town but a suburb of Cleveland. Plus Cleveland has some pretty good swimming roots as well.
100% sean! LESD is legit swimming pedigree & frank’s school has had about a 15 year run as a really good swimming school in Ohio, which is also a pretty good swimming state!
And WTF with the “smallish town of Cle Heights” — that’s friggin morinic of mds. just asinine.
Proud of this dude for taking on the commitment to putting the work in at Cal.
Not sure where to post this and this went completely under the radar but NJCAA swimmer Olivér Nell of Indian River became the 2nd non D1 swimmer to break 19 seconds in the 50 free in 18.95!
This is just the beginning.
Cool. Keep the stories coming.
🎵 Frankie got them Applebaum jeans, boots with the fur. 🎵
I ALWAYS thought it was APPLE bottom. I’m a Dumb Dumb (facepalm emoji)
It is!
GO BEARS
2x haters so far GOOD JOB YOU TWO!!