2021 MEN’S PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Sunday, February 28 – Wednesday, March 3
- Houston, TX (Central Time Zone)
- Defending Champion: Cal (3x) (results)
- Prelims: 11:00 AM Central Time (Days 2-4); Finals: 6:00 PM Central Time (Days 1-4)
- Championship Central
- Live Results
- Live Stream
- Day 4 prelims heat sheets
Cal junior Hugo Gonzalez will swim the 200 back over the 200 breaststroke on the final day of the 2021 Pac-12 Championships.
After cruising to victories in the 200 IM (1:41.05) and in an effortless-looking 400 IM (3:37.31) on days 2 and 3 of the meet, Gonzalez has opted for the 200 backstroke over the 200 breaststroke as his individual event on the final day of competition.
Gonzalez excels in both disciplines, though his international focus more lately has been on the backstroke events. He did swim a 1:53.53 200 breaststroke time trial on Sunday, so now with this 200 back swim he’ll get a shot at both events while suited this week.
When stacked against his Cal teammate Reece Whitley, one of the fastest 200 breaststrokers in history, and US national Teamer Daniel Roy, the choice to shift to the 200 back seems more obvious. He’ll still run into a Cal teammate there, freshman Destin Lasco, who won the 100 back on Tuesday, but the two swimmers’ best times are only .06 seconds apart.
Cal has the top 4 seeds in the 200 back.
Cal so far has won every swimming event of the Pac-12 Championships, with the exception being Alexei Sancov’s win for USC in the 200 free. They have the top seed in each of Wednesday’s races as well, most by a significant margin before they hit another team, so odds are the meet will end that way too.
Other Noteworthy Event Choices for Wednesday:
- New USC Trojan Harry Homans, who transferred in mid-season this year, will swim the 200 fly rather than the 200 back on Wednesday. At last year’s SEC Championships, competing for Georgia, he swam both races in a brutal double, but placed higher in the 200 fly (3rd vs. 6th).
- Leon McAlister, part of an electric Stanford freshman class, has chosen the 200 back over the 100 free. His season best in the 200 back (1:43.33) seeds him 9th, while his season best in the 100 free (43.63) would have put him 6th.
- Arizona’s Brooks Fail is lined up to swim his usual 1650 free/200 fly double on the final day of the meet. He finished 3rd in his first individual event this week, the 500 free, in 4:11.29.