NCAA Men’s Championships: NC State’s Aiden Hayes Stuns With 200 Butterfly Comeback Win

aiden-hayes-ncaa
Aiden Hayes. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

NCAA Men’s Championships: NC State’s Aiden Hayes Stuns With 200 Butterfly Comeback Win

The swimmers geared up for one more showdown individually,, this time in the 200 butterfly on the final night of the 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships from Minneapolis.

Entering the final, Cal had the top two seeds as the Golden Bears were hoping for a 1-2 finish in the final individual swim of the meet, in their march toward a title.

But it was a perhaps unexpected sophomore from NC State that put that celebration on hold.

Aiden Hayes led at the 50, then surrendered that lead to defending NCAA champion Brendan Burns of Indiana. Hayes used a late surge on the final 50 reclaim the lead and to power to the wall in 1:38.79 and claim the NCAA title.

He joins former Wolfpack swimmer Andreas Vazaios, who won the 200 fly five years ago in the same pool.

“When I came to NC State, Braden is the pinnacle of everything I want as a coach. He kept telling me over and over, 2 fly, 2 fly. He had me do a set that Andreas did and beat every single time he did in that set. I am just glad Braden was able to believe in me,” Hayes said. “The amount of faith he puts in his swimmers is special and I don’t think you can find it anywhere else.”

Teammate Ross Dant remembers that set.

“I remember when he did that workout and Braden telling us what he was doing. Braden said he was smoking what Andreas was doing and that he thought Aiden could win a title,” Dant said. “The hard work pays off.”

It was a big session after the Wolfpack went 1-2 in the mile.

“Every single one of our milers torched it,” Hayes said. “Ross destroyed his mile and Will (Gallant) follows that up with a win. This is the session, I was thinking. And it ended up happening. I love to thrive off of nerves.”

Hayes had a plan to start strong, but he still have to come back.

“I knew my competition really well. I know I am the speediest guy out there, so I came in and wanted to play to my strength and dust the first 100. If I could build enough ground between us. That was the first time that on all my turns, I never saw above water level,” Hayes said. “My eyes didn’t go any place but right ahead and that allowed me to stay in the race.”

Burns finished second in 1:38.97, followed by Cal sophomore Gabriel Jett (1:39.40) and junior Dare Rose (1:39.89).

Indiana junior Tomer Frankel was fifth in 1:40.34, followed by NC State senior Noah Bowers (1:40.85), Arizona State senior Alexander Colson (1:41.38) and Michigan sophomore Gal Groumi (1:42.73), who won the swim-off to get to the final.

Princeton’s Raunak Khosla, a senior, won the B final in 1:40.94.

Event 19  Men 200 Yard Butterfly
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:37.35  3/25/2017 Jack Conger, Texas
         Meet: M 1:37.35  3/25/2017 Jack Conger, Texas
     American: A 1:37.35  3/25/2017 Jack Conger, Texas
   U. S. Open: O 1:37.35  3/25/2017 Jack Conger, Texas
         Pool: P 1:38.60  3/24/2018 Andrea Vazaios, NC State
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Final ===                        
 
  1 Hayes, Aiden           SO NC State          1:40.56    1:38.79   20  
    r:+0.64  21.90        47.21 (25.31)
        1:12.72 (25.51)     1:38.79 (26.07)
  2 Burns, Brendan         SR Indiana           1:40.51    1:38.97   17  
    r:+0.68  22.07        46.70 (24.63)
        1:12.13 (25.43)     1:38.97 (26.84)
  3 Jett, Gabriel          SO California        1:39.71    1:39.40   16  
    r:+0.68  22.36        47.04 (24.68)
        1:12.65 (25.61)     1:39.40 (26.75)
  4 Rose, Dare             JR California        1:40.00    1:39.89   15  
    r:+0.64  22.19        47.39 (25.20)
        1:13.16 (25.77)     1:39.89 (26.73)
  5 Frankel, Tomer         JR Indiana           1:40.94    1:40.34   14  
    r:+0.50  22.01        47.34 (25.33)
        1:13.30 (25.96)     1:40.34 (27.04)
  6 Bowers, Noah           SR NC State          1:40.82    1:40.85   13  
    r:+0.62  22.23        47.46 (25.23)
        1:13.60 (26.14)     1:40.85 (27.25)
  7 Colson, Alexander      SR ASU               1:40.43    1:41.38   12  
    r:+0.65  22.19        47.79 (25.60)
        1:13.93 (26.14)     1:41.38 (27.45)
  8 Cohen Groumi, Gal      SO Michigan          1:41.39    1:42.37   11  
    r:+0.61  22.51        48.29 (25.78)
        1:15.03 (26.74)     1:42.37 (27.34)
 
                        === Consolation Final ===                        
 
  9 Khosla, Raunak         SR Princeton         1:41.81    1:40.94    9  
    r:+0.64  23.02        48.94 (25.92)
        1:14.80 (25.86)     1:40.94 (26.14)
 10 Gonzalez Pinero, Joaq  SO Florida           1:41.75    1:41.62    7  
    r:+0.63  22.76        48.23 (25.47)
        1:14.63 (26.40)     1:41.62 (26.99)
 11 Miller, Luke           JR NC State          1:41.85    1:42.12    6  
    r:+0.60  22.45        47.92 (25.47)
        1:14.18 (26.26)     1:42.12 (27.94)
 12 Artmann, Sam           SR Texas             1:41.86    1:42.32    5  
    r:+0.60  22.93        49.41 (26.48)
        1:15.93 (26.52)     1:42.32 (26.39)
 13 McInerny, Evan         JR Auburn            1:42.24    1:42.35    4  
    r:+0.63  22.79        48.56 (25.77)
        1:14.87 (26.31)     1:42.35 (27.48)
 14 Fong, Josh             SR Virginia          1:41.92    1:42.75    3  
    r:+0.63  23.45        49.84 (26.39)
        1:16.35 (26.51)     1:42.75 (26.40)
 15 Gray, Andrew           SR ASU               1:41.70    1:42.94    2  
    r:+0.68  22.42        48.34 (25.92)
        1:15.22 (26.88)     1:42.94 (27.72)
 16 Espernberger, Martin   FR Tennessee         1:41.39    1:43.21    1  
    r:+0.63  22.91        49.06 (26.15)
        1:15.91 (26.85)     1:43.21 (27.30)
 
                 Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 19                  
 
  1. California                        445   2. Arizona St                        398
  3. Texas                             351   4. NC State                        343.5
  5. Indiana                           317   6. Florida                           315
  7. Tennessee                       173.5   8. Virginia Tech                     119
  9. Stanford                        115.5  10. Auburn                            109
 11. Georgia                            90  12. Ohio St                          81.5
 13. Louisville                         80  14. Texas A&M                          76
 15. Virginia                           70  16. Missouri                         62.5
 17. Notre Dame                         62  18. Lsu                              53.5
 19. Alabama                            47  20. Minnesota                          36
 21. Michigan                           35  22. Southern California                31
 23. Wisconsin                          27  23. UNC                                27
 25. Utah                               14  26. Princeton                          13
 26. Siuc                               13  26. Kentucky                           13
 29. Columbia                           12  30. Arizona                            10
 31. Miami                               9  32. Pittsburgh                          4
 32. Penn St                             4  34. Georgia Tech                        3
 35. Towson                              2  35. Air Force                           2
 37. Purdue                              1
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