NCAA Men’s Championships: Brendan Burns Takes 100 Back Title

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

NCAA Men’s Championships: Brendan Burns Takes 100 Back Title

The top four swimmers in the 100 backstroke Friday night at the University of Minnesota were the top four from last year. For 75 yards, it looked like the outcome might be the same, too.

But Brendan Burns had other ideas, the Indiana senior surging past reigning champ Kacper Stokowski on the final leg to win in 43.61. It resets the pool record that had gone down in the morning.

“It’s just what I train for,” Burns said. “It’s Luke (Ryan) and Ray (Looze) and all the coaches back home, it’s what they push me to do, it’s what they believe in me to do and what they think I’m capable of. I’m just grateful that they had more belief in me than I did.

Stokwoski was second in 43.86. Cal’s Destin Lasco finished third, and Adam Chaney of Florida was fourth.

It’s a finals field that had a little of everything. For one, the top four from a season ago are all back – finishers, in order, in 2022 were Stokowski, Burns, Chaney and Lasco. Lasco won the 200 back last year, Burns the 200 fly, and Chaney relays each of the last two years, meaning no shortage of medal-winning pedigree. In 2021, Lasco was second, Stokowski third, Burns fifth with Chaney 10th. So there’s plenty of familiarity there, especially with very different styles, Lasco and Burns as the 200-strokers and Chaney and Stokowski as the fast men. “Those guys push me to be my best,” Burns said.

Burns won the B final of the 100 fly earlier in the night, an event in which Stokowski made the A final in the morning then took it easy at night to finish eighth in 48.27, 3.5 seconds behind the rest of the heat. Burns pushed it though yet still was disappointed to have not made the final eight; he came out of an early heat in the morning and believed he could’ve been in the A final had he been in a circle-seeded heat for pace in the first 50, consummate back-halfer that he is.

He would later add the lead-off leg on the second-place Hoosiers 400 medley relay, the kind of busy program that has become his hallmark.

“I really wish I had some secret sauce,” he said. “It’s just, once that first race is done, shut it down, go to the warm-down pool, get some water, shake out the legs and mentally refocus and try to do it again.”

Fifth went to Utah’s Andrei Ungur, the Romanian lowering his school record to 44.58. Owen McDonald and Jack Dolan of Arizona State finished sixth and seventh, respectively, to keep the Sun Devils in touch with Cal in the team race. Nathaniel Stoffle of Auburn was eighth.

Ruard van Renen of the mighty Southern Illinois Salukis won the B final in 44.67, the South African surging in the final 25 to best Cal’s Bjorn Seeliger, who went 45.00. Giovanni Izzo went 45.03 for third in the B final.

Event 12  Men 100 Yard Backstroke
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 43.35  3/25/2022 Luca Urlando, Georgia
         Meet: M 43.35  3/25/2022 Luca Urlando, Georgia
     American: A 43.35  3/25/2022 Luca Urlando, Georgia
   U. S. Open: O 43.35  3/25/2022 Luca Urlando, Georgia
         Pool: P 43.93  3/24/2023 Destin Lasco, California
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Final ===                        
 
  1 Burns, Brendan         SR Indiana             44.28      43.61P  20  
    r:+0.70  21.26        43.61 (22.35)
  2 Stokowski, Kacper      SR NC State            44.02      43.86P  17  
    r:+0.71  20.97        43.86 (22.89)
  3 Lasco, Destin          JR California          43.93      43.94   16  
    r:+0.66  21.21        43.94 (22.73)
  4 Chaney, Adam           JR Florida             44.28      44.42   15  
    r:+0.73  21.05        44.42 (23.37)
  5 Ungur, Andrei          SR Utah                45.05      44.58   14  
    r:+0.70  21.57        44.58 (23.01)
  6 McDonald, Owen         FR ASU                 44.97      44.85   13  
    r:+0.55  21.54        44.85 (23.31)
  7 Dolan, Jack            SR ASU                 44.78      44.93   12  
    r:+0.55  21.57        44.93 (23.36)
  8 Stoffle, Nate          SO Auburn              44.93      45.38   11  
    r:+0.67  22.09        45.38 (23.29)
 
                        === Consolation Final ===                        
 
  9 Van Renen, Ruard       FR SIUC                45.17      44.67    9  
    r:+0.67  21.58        44.67 (23.09)
 10 Seeliger, Bjorn        JR California          45.33      45.00    7  
    r:+0.83  21.29        45.00 (23.71)
 11 Izzo, Giovanni         5Y NC State            45.20      45.03    6  
    r:+0.81  21.58        45.03 (23.45)
 12 Stoffle, Aidan         SR Auburn              45.22      45.09    5  
    r:+0.69  21.75        45.09 (23.34)
 13 Dunham, Bradley        SR Georgia             45.13      45.22    4  
    r:+0.75  21.71        45.22 (23.51)
 14 Janton, Tommy          FR Notre Dame          45.54      45.43    3  
    r:+0.72  21.66        45.43 (23.77)
 15 Simons, Nick           FR Tennessee           45.50      45.45    2  
    r:+0.66  21.92        45.45 (23.53)
 16 Samuels, Brady         SO Purdue              45.17      45.50    1  
    r:+0.77  21.73        45.50 (23.77)
 
                 Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 12                  
 
  1. California                        287   2. Arizona St                        270
  3. Texas                             250   4. NC State                        216.5
  5. Florida                           211   6. Indiana                           174
  7. Tennessee                         105   8. Stanford                        100.5
  9. Auburn                             80  10. Virginia Tech                      72
 11. Louisville                         71  12. Georgia                            53
 12. Texas A&M                          53  12. Virginia                           53
 15. Alabama                            38  16. Lsu                                37
 17. Ohio St                          34.5  18. Notre Dame                         34
 19. Missouri                         32.5  20. Wisconsin                          23
 21. Minnesota                          20  22. Michigan                           18
 22. UNC                                18  24. Utah                               14
 24. Southern California                14  26. Arizona                            10
 27. Siuc                                9  27. Miami                               9
 29. Princeton                           4  29. Penn St                             4
 31. Georgia Tech                        3  32. Pittsburgh                          2
 32. Air Force                           2  32. Towson                              2
 35. Purdue                              1

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