Bluegrass Mountain Conference/ Conference Carolinas Championships – Men and Women
- Dates: Wednesday, February 6-Saturday, February 9, 2019
- Location: Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center – Charlotte, NC
- Defending Champions: BMC – Queens women (3x); Queens men (3x)/CC – Barton women (results)
- Live results on Meet Mobile: “Bluegrass Mtn and Conference Carolinas Champs”
- Live video (finals only): Available here
- Championship Central
- CC teams: Barton (M&W). Converse College (W), Chowan (M&W), King (M&W), Emmanuel (M&W), Lees-McRae (M&W)
- BMC teams: Carson Newman (M&W), Lenoir-Rhyne College (M&W), Queens University (M&W), Salem University (M&W), Savannah College of A&D (M&W), Wingate University (M&W). Catawba College (M&W), Mars Hill (M&W)
Queens University of Charlotte senior Marius Kusch won the 100 fly on Day 3 of Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships with 44.81, laying waste to both the BMC record and the NCAA Division II record with his swim. Kusch wipes out Matt Josa from both record books. In 2015 Josa set the conference meet record with 45.78; a month later he established the NCAA D2 mark with 44.89.
Kusch swam the 100 free, 200 free, 200 fly, and 200 IM at 2018 NCAAs. He split a 44.99 on the record-breaking 400 medley relay but didn’t swim the individual event. He now owns D2 records in the 200 IM (1:41.61), 200 fly (1:42.04), 100 free (42.42), and 100 fly (44.81) and a member of the Queens 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay.
Kusch’s fastest time coming into the meet was 45.06, which he notched at South Carolina Winter Invite in January. Kusch swam the event at the 2017 NCAA Division II Championships, where he finished second to teammate Paul Pijulet with 45.81. Below are some comparative splits:
| Josa, 2015 NCAAs | Kusch, 2017 NCAAs | Kusch, 2019 SC Winter Invite | Kusch, 2019 BMCs | |
| 1st 50 | 20.96 | 21.22 | 21.08 | 20.58 |
| 2nd 50 | 23.93 | 24.59 | 23.98 | 24.23 |
| 100 fly | 44.89 | 45.81 | 45.06 | 44.81 |
Kusch becomes the 13th-fastest performer of all time for the 100 SCY fly. And this, fully-bearded.
- Caeleb Dressel 42.80
- Joe Schooling 43.75
- Tom Shields 43.84
- Austin Staab 44.18
- Jack Conger 44.35
- Jan Switkowski 44.49
- Vini Lanza 44.50
- Albert Subirats 44.57
- Tyler McGill 44.63
- Ian Crocker 44.72
- Giles Smith 44.73
- Ryan Held 44.79
- Marius Kusch 44.81
Video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOUaWd5YmVA
Thank you friend
Didnt le clos swim a 43.xx some while ago? It’s not on the list
It was something around 44 mid
That’s a good catch – 44.25. However, it wasn’t an officially sanctioned meet.
https://staging.swimswam.com/meanwhile-connecticut-chad-le-clos-swims-100-yard-fly/
Is he not ashamed of himself to compete in D2 when he’s a pro(and obviously making money)?
I mean c’mon open your eyes NCAA
It’s not about making money. National team members from all around the world receive compensation for expenses to train. The problem is with the DII rules. Mostly with the male athletes. Not just swimming! Soccer, Tennis, and Golf. They start college or university within one year of graduating from high school. After following the normal track of the school (while getting good grades) they withdrawing because it is too difficult to continue with their education and train for their sport because most colleges and universities don’t support the academic and athletic endeavors like we do in the US. The next sequence is where the real problem starts. Once they withdraw from the school they continue to train, get older, faster,… Read more »
This is fantastic and shouldn’t be something simply stuck in the comments section. Would be nice if someone with some voice *ahem*swimswam*ahem* could help get the ball rolling?
Very similar skill set to Matt Josa too. They just keep getting faster every year…
Did it in a speedo too. Incredible
I find it hard to beleive he wore a speedo at his conference championship, even if he isn’t peaking until NCAAs. Can anyone confirm/dispute?
Speedo tech suit, I was there.
Pro swimmer at D2 yay…
Sehr gut!