NCAA Men’s Championships: Cal Edges Texas in First Sub-6-Minute 800 Freestyle Relay
Jack Alexy grew fond of the reminder inside the locker room in Berkeley. Every day, the Cal senior would walk by the board displaying last year’s NCAA title and the NCAA record of 6:02.26 that he was part of and “give it a little pound” – a reminder of what he and his Golden Bears had done and a hint as to what they could do.
Wednesday night. Alexy and company pounded that record into oblivion.
Cal went 5:59.75, the first 800 freestyle relay to break six minutes, setting an NCAA record and winning the title at the NCAA Championships at Weyerhauser King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way.
The squad of Alexy, Gabriel Jett, Destin Lasco and Lucas Henveaux burst through the barrier.
Texas nearly joined them in the newly-formed sub-6 club, going 6:00.08. It’s an American record for Luke Hobson, Chris Guiliano, Rex Maurer and Coby Carrozza. The same quartet had gone 6:03.42 at SECs.
The splits from Cal:
1 California 6:06.66 5:59.75N 40
1) Alexy, Jack SR 2) r:0.24 Jett, Gabriel SR
3) r:0.17 Lasco, Destin 5Y 4) r:0.16 Henveaux, Lucas 5Y
r:+0.68 20.61 43.90 (43.90)
1:06.83 (1:06.83) 1:30.02 (1:30.02)
1:50.51 (20.49) 2:13.17 (43.15)
2:36.13 (1:06.11) 2:59.18 (1:29.16)
3:19.65 (20.47) 3:42.68 (43.50)
4:05.70 (1:06.52) 4:28.28 (1:29.10)
4:49.94 (21.66) 5:13.03 (44.75)
5:36.42 (1:08.14) 5:59.75 (1:31.47)
And from Texas:
2 Texas 6:03.24 6:00.08N 34
1) Hobson, Luke SR 2) r:0.02 Guiliano, Chris SR
3) r:0.39 Maurer, Rex SO 4) r:0.28 Carrozza, Coby 5Y
r:+0.73 20.88 43.55 (43.55)
1:06.23 (1:06.23) 1:28.90 (1:28.90)
1:49.26 (20.36) 2:12.23 (43.33)
2:35.41 (1:06.51) 2:59.03 (1:30.13)
3:19.96 (20.93) 3:43.23 (44.20)
4:06.13 (1:07.10) 4:28.94 (1:29.91)
4:49.93 (20.99) 5:13.15 (44.21)
5:36.78 (1:07.84) 6:00.08 (1:31.14)
Six minutes has long been talked about since last season’s triumph, when Cal went from 6:09.31 to the old record. This year’s seed time came in at 6:06.66. Alexy, who was new to the 200 free last year, saw his own potential to improve on the 1:30.50 he split in finals last year.
“I think last year, the 200 free was a new event for me, and being in that 8-free relay was a lot of responsibility,” the Olympian said. “Being that first NCAA swim in that relay and going 6:02, winning and getting the national record last year was pretty, pretty spectacular. …
“We knew we could win. I think going under six minutes was pretty incredible.”
Lasco was the one doing the cheerleading that the six-minute mark was attainable.
“It was definitely during the winter,” he said. “What sparked that was last year’s 8-free relay win. And I would always tell Jack and Gabe, I would just be like, Man, going under six minutes, it’s realistic. And seeing how they train every day fired me up, and it made it a goal for us to chase.”
Texas, which finished a disappointing third in this event last year, led after Hobson delivered the second-fastest 200 free in history at 1:28.90. Jett got Cal into the lead with a 1:29.16, and Lasco consolidated it with a 1:29.10. Henveaux fought off a slip off the block to go 1:31.47 and get them home ahead of Carrozza. Evn so, Henveaux was quicker than Robin Hanson’s anchor of 1:31.87 from last year.
All of those obstacles — knowing Hobson would take it out, not knowing Henveaux’s slip was in the cards — were handled with typical Golden Bears equanimity.
“It’s just having faith in your teammates,” Lasco said. “Luke (Hobson) is a great athlete, and he’s a great person inside and outside the pool, so we respect him a lot. But I know that I had faith in Jack, and him leading off in 1:30.0 was absolutely amazing. And I knew Gabe was going back that up, and I was going to back that up. And when you have faith in your teammates, and you see how hard they work day-in and day-out and how they hold themselves, especially under pressure, I had nothing to worry about.”
It took a lot to top last year’s 800 free relay. That one, in Indianapolis, featured Hobson and Leon Marchand trading NCAA records in the 200 free off the front, the former an American record, before Hobson unified the records with his individual swim in winning the 200 free later in the week.
Georgia spun three 1:30s to finish third. Alabama was fourth, and Stanford fifth.
The winners of the first two heats put themselves in contention, Virginia winning the second heat of four in 6:11.30 and Virginia Tech taking the first heat in 6:11.96. Those finished 13th and 14th, respectively.
Indiana was the wire-to-wire winner in the penultimate heat, cutting 4.5 seconds off the time that had them seeded 14th. Owen McDonald put them out front, and he was joined by Rafael Miroslaw and Tomer Frankel in 1:31s, with Kai Van Westering. Coupled with Florida’s 200 medley relay DQ, the Hoosiers going fifth and sixth in Wednesday’s two relays them in solid position after night 1.
NC State and Florida rounded out the top eight. Last year’s runner-up, Arizona State, was ninth.
Event 2 Men 800 Yard Freestyle Relay
==================================================================================
NCAA: N 6:02.26 3/27/2024 California
G Jett, D Lasco, J Alexy, R Hanson
Meet: M 6:02.26 3/27/2024 California
G Jett, D Lasco, J Alexy, R Hanson
American: A 6:03.42 3/22/2023 Texas
L Hobson, C Carrozza, P Larson, C Foster
U. S. Open: O 6:02.26 3/27/2024 California
G Jett, D Lasco, J Alexy, R Hanson
School Seed Finals Points
==================================================================================
1 California 6:06.66 5:59.75N 40
1) Alexy, Jack SR 2) r:0.24 Jett, Gabriel SR
3) r:0.17 Lasco, Destin 5Y 4) r:0.16 Henveaux, Lucas 5Y
r:+0.68 20.61 43.90 (43.90)
1:06.83 (1:06.83) 1:30.02 (1:30.02)
1:50.51 (20.49) 2:13.17 (43.15)
2:36.13 (1:06.11) 2:59.18 (1:29.16)
3:19.65 (20.47) 3:42.68 (43.50)
4:05.70 (1:06.52) 4:28.28 (1:29.10)
4:49.94 (21.66) 5:13.03 (44.75)
5:36.42 (1:08.14) 5:59.75 (1:31.47)
2 Texas 6:03.24 6:00.08N 34
1) Hobson, Luke SR 2) r:0.02 Guiliano, Chris SR
3) r:0.39 Maurer, Rex SO 4) r:0.28 Carrozza, Coby 5Y
r:+0.73 20.88 43.55 (43.55)
1:06.23 (1:06.23) 1:28.90 (1:28.90)
1:49.26 (20.36) 2:12.23 (43.33)
2:35.41 (1:06.51) 2:59.03 (1:30.13)
3:19.96 (20.93) 3:43.23 (44.20)
4:06.13 (1:07.10) 4:28.94 (1:29.91)
4:49.93 (20.99) 5:13.15 (44.21)
5:36.78 (1:07.84) 6:00.08 (1:31.14)
3 Georgia 6:05.43 6:06.02 32
1) Koski, Tomas SO 2) r:0.22 Urlando, Gianluca 5Y
3) r:0.22 Magahey, Jake 5Y 4) r:0.38 Branzell, Reese SR
r:+0.63 20.93 43.93 (43.93)
1:07.31 (1:07.31) 1:30.90 (1:30.90)
1:51.73 (20.83) 2:14.47 (43.57)
2:37.69 (1:06.79) 3:01.49 (1:30.59)
3:22.10 (20.61) 3:45.14 (43.65)
4:08.68 (1:07.19) 4:32.19 (1:30.70)
4:52.97 (20.78) 5:16.28 (44.09)
5:40.83 (1:08.64) 6:06.02 (1:33.83)
4 Alabama 6:06.77 6:06.59 30
1) Hawke, Charlie SR 2) r:0.34 Alves, Kaique SR
3) r:0.33 Hagar, Tommy SO 4) r:0.38 Dragoja, Toni JR
r:+0.71 21.10 44.19 (44.19)
1:07.57 (1:07.57) 1:30.95 (1:30.95)
1:51.34 (20.39) 2:14.19 (43.24)
2:37.73 (1:06.78) 3:02.23 (1:31.28)
3:23.30 (21.07) 3:46.92 (44.69)
4:10.83 (1:08.60) 4:35.53 (1:33.30)
4:56.72 (21.19) 5:19.99 (44.46)
5:43.37 (1:07.84) 6:06.59 (1:31.06)
5 Stanford 6:08.70 6:06.69 28
1) Minakov, Andrei SR 2) r:0.98 McFadden, Henry SO
3) r:0.62 Polonsky, Ron SR 4) r:0.99 Dupont Cabrera,dres JR
r:+0.68 21.21 44.81 (44.81)
1:08.31 (1:08.31) 1:32.71 (1:32.71)
1:53.67 (20.96) 2:16.74 (44.03)
2:40.23 (1:07.52) 3:03.65 (1:30.94)
3:24.28 (20.63) 3:47.67 (44.02)
4:11.40 (1:07.75) 4:35.41 (1:31.76)
4:56.17 (20.76) 5:19.43 (44.02)
5:43.03 (1:07.62) 6:06.69 (1:31.28)
6 Indiana 6:11.39 6:06.76 26
1) McDonald, Owen JR 2) r:0.34 Miroslaw, Rafael SR
3) r:0.39 Van Westering, Kai JR 4) r:0.20 Frankel, Tomer 5Y
r:+0.59 20.58 43.62 (43.62)
1:07.31 (1:07.31) 1:31.14 (1:31.14)
1:51.87 (20.73) 2:15.03 (43.89)
2:38.61 (1:07.47) 3:02.44 (1:31.30)
3:23.39 (20.95) 3:46.92 (44.48)
4:10.96 (1:08.52) 4:35.23 (1:32.79)
4:55.99 (20.76) 5:19.06 (43.83)
5:42.61 (1:07.38) 6:06.76 (1:31.53)
7 NC State 6:09.18 6:06.95 24
1) Winkler, Kaii FR 2) r:0.24 Diehl, Daniel SO
3) r:0.13 Miller, Luke 5Y 4) r:0.27 Hoover, Sam SR
r:+0.68 20.79 44.06 (44.06)
1:08.15 (1:08.15) 1:33.33 (1:33.33)
1:54.06 (20.73) 2:17.08 (43.75)
2:40.52 (1:07.19) 3:04.39 (1:31.06)
3:24.50 (20.11) 3:47.73 (43.34)
4:11.58 (1:07.19) 4:35.90 (1:31.51)
4:56.69 (20.79) 5:19.99 (44.09)
5:43.75 (1:07.85) 6:06.95 (1:31.05)
8 Florida 6:02.50 6:06.96 22
1) Painter, Alexander 5Y 2) r:0.25 Smith, Julian SR
3) r:0.20 Mitchell, Jake 5Y 4) r:0.28 Lindholm, Oskar SR
r:+0.59 20.93 44.30 (44.30)
1:08.12 (1:08.12) 1:32.14 (1:32.14)
1:52.25 (20.11) 2:15.06 (42.92)
2:38.66 (1:06.52) 3:02.06 (1:29.92)
3:23.22 (21.16) 3:46.64 (44.58)
4:10.51 (1:08.45) 4:34.42 (1:32.36)
4:55.38 (20.96) 5:19.03 (44.61)
5:43.28 (1:08.86) 6:06.96 (1:32.54)
.jpg "2025 NCAA Division I Men's Championships - logo"){kind=logo}