This was a significant race in the team battle for Texas’ Cole Cragin, as he and fellow sophomore Kyle Owens of Auburn dueled for the last spot in tonight’s A-final of the 200 backstroke. In the original prelim, they tied in 1:42.04. In the swim-off, Cragin came up huge and won in 1:42.38 by about two seconds over Owens. Cragin was clearly the superior swimmer underwater, staying down a good 7-8 yards longer off of each wall, and that’s what won this race for him.
Though the points between 8th and 9th aren’t significantly different, there’s a huge psychological difference between being at the top of the B-final and the bottom of the A-final. At the bottom of the A-final, you can really let loose and go out with early speed to see what happens, because you know you’re getting 11 points one way or the other. This is a style that really suits Cragin as a front-half swimmer, so this is a big swim-off win for the Longhorns. At the top of the B-final, however, there’s a lot of pressure to hold onto that seed and maintain those 9 points.