NCAA Men’s Division I Championships, Day 2 Prelims: Rex Maurer Leads Deep 500 Free Field
Rex Maurer’s American record in the fall labeled him the swimmer to beat in the 500 free come NCAAs. There will be many swimmers who have something to say about that Thursday night.
Maurer led the way in prelims at the NCAA Championships at the Weyerhauser King County Aquatic Center with a time of 4:07.55. It’s three seconds shy of his American mark and one of 10 swimmers under 4:10 in the morning.
Thursday’s night session will also include the 1-meter diving finals and timed finals of the 200 freestyle relay. The scores after two relays from Night 1:
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 2 1. Texas 74 2. California 72 3. Georgia 54 3. Indiana 54 5. NC State 50 6. Arizona St 48 7. Stanford 46 8. Tennessee 34 9. Alabama 30 10. Florida St 24 11. Florida 22 12. Louisville 18 13. Ohio St 16 14. Auburn 14 15. Michigan 12 16. UNC 10 16. Southern Cal 10 18. Texas A&M 8 18. Virginia 8 20. Georgia Tech 6 20. Virginia Tech 6 22. Army 4
500 freestyle
Rex Maurer won the final heat of seven in 4:07.55, slipping under the time of Lucas Henveaux to get the middle lane at night. Henveaux lowered his ACC record to 4:07.98, having set it at the Golden Bears first conference meet. Luke Hobson was third in 4:08.32, just ahead of a monstrous swim by Jovan Lekic of LSU, who dropped 3.75 seconds from SECs to 4:08.55.
USC’s Krzysztof Chmielewski set the early pace in the third heat of seven, going 4:10.16, the fastest time among the non-circle-seeded heats. It landed him 11th.
Hobson won the first circle-seeded heat, jumping on the field early. Tomas Koski surged past Hobson’s Texas teammate David Johnston on the final 50, but Johnston and fourth-place Coby Carrozza got into second swims comfortably, Johnston in ninth and Carrozza 13th. Koski and Jake Magahey give Georgia two A finalists, Magahey never having finished worse than third in this event in four seasons.
Henveaux, part of Cal’s 800 free relay a night earlier, handled the penultimate heat from the start. Noah Millard and Zalan Sarkany both mounted brief charges and ultimately cracked 4:10, but they were more than a second behind Henveaux once he caught his second wind around 350 yards. Sarkany slipped into the A final in seventh, ahead of Charlie Hawke from the last heat. Millard was 10th.
Three swimmers are holdovers from last year’s final – Hobson, Magahey, Hawke – while Sarkany was a B finalist. Gabriel Jett of Cal, fourth last year, was a distant 30th. Maurer was 31st in this event last year, Lekic 27th.
Event 3 Men 500 Yard Freestyle
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NCAA: N 4:02.31 3/28/2024 Leon Marchand, ASU
Meet: M 4:02.31 3/28/2024 Leon Marchand, ASU
American: A 4:04.45 11/20/2024Rex Maurer, Texas
U. S. Open: O 4:02.31 3/28/2024 Leon Marchand, ASU
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Maurer, Rex SO Texas 4:04.45 4:07.55
r:+0.73 22.44 47.36 (24.92)
1:12.48 (25.12) 1:37.61 (25.13)
2:03.08 (25.47) 2:28.40 (25.32)
2:53.49 (25.09) 3:18.58 (25.09)
3:43.21 (24.63) 4:07.55 (24.34)
2 Henveaux, Lucas 5Y California 4:08.83 4:07.98
r:+0.66 22.53 47.19 (24.66)
1:12.20 (25.01) 1:37.48 (25.28)
2:02.97 (25.49) 2:28.36 (25.39)
2:53.79 (25.43) 3:19.02 (25.23)
3:43.81 (24.79) 4:07.98 (24.17)
3 Hobson, Luke SR Texas 4:11.68 4:08.32
r:+0.77 22.61 47.05 (24.44)
1:12.00 (24.95) 1:37.05 (25.05)
2:01.94 (24.89) 2:26.90 (24.96)
2:51.80 (24.90) 3:17.14 (25.34)
3:42.88 (25.74) 4:08.32 (25.44)
4 Lekic, Jovan SO LSU 4:12.26 4:08.55
r:+0.64 22.88 47.64 (24.76)
1:12.82 (25.18) 1:38.16 (25.34)
2:03.63 (25.47) 2:29.00 (25.37)
2:54.42 (25.42) 3:19.68 (25.26)
3:44.54 (24.86) 4:08.55 (24.01)
5 Koski, Tomas SO Georgia 4:08.25 4:09.01
r:+0.63 22.36 47.15 (24.79)
1:12.35 (25.20) 1:37.79 (25.44)
2:03.37 (25.58) 2:28.81 (25.44)
2:54.18 (25.37) 3:19.39 (25.21)
3:44.62 (25.23) 4:09.01 (24.39)
6 Magahey, Jake 5Y Georgia 4:08.61 4:09.19
r:+0.70 22.57 47.61 (25.04)
1:12.98 (25.37) 1:38.42 (25.44)
2:03.85 (25.43) 2:29.17 (25.32)
2:54.37 (25.20) 3:19.42 (25.05)
3:44.46 (25.04) 4:09.19 (24.73)
7 Sarkany, Zalan JR Indiana 4:11.62 4:09.22
r:+0.63 22.74 47.93 (25.19)
1:13.12 (25.19) 1:38.40 (25.28)
2:03.74 (25.34) 2:28.92 (25.18)
2:54.12 (25.20) 3:19.39 (25.27)
3:44.75 (25.36) 4:09.22 (24.47)
8 Hawke, Charlie SR Alabama 4:09.75 4:09.52
r:+0.69 22.83 47.88 (25.05)
1:13.23 (25.35) 1:38.63 (25.40)
2:03.87 (25.24) 2:29.16 (25.29)
2:54.39 (25.23) 3:19.67 (25.28)
3:44.72 (25.05) 4:09.52 (24.80)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
9 Johnston, David SR Texas 4:09.41 4:09.54
r:+0.68 22.80 47.52 (24.72)
1:12.56 (25.04) 1:37.62 (25.06)
2:02.75 (25.13) 2:27.90 (25.15)
2:53.22 (25.32) 3:18.51 (25.29)
3:44.11 (25.60) 4:09.54 (25.43)
10 Millard, Noah JR Yale 4:07.68 4:09.94
r:+0.70 22.76 47.67 (24.91)
1:13.02 (25.35) 1:38.26 (25.24)
2:03.43 (25.17) 2:28.92 (25.49)
2:54.23 (25.31) 3:19.98 (25.75)
3:45.42 (25.44) 4:09.94 (24.52)
11 Chmielewski, Krzyszto SO USC 4:16.25 4:10.16
r:+0.63 22.56 47.23 (24.67)
1:12.41 (25.18) 1:37.84 (25.43)
2:03.38 (25.54) 2:28.52 (25.14)
2:53.70 (25.18) 3:19.22 (25.52)
3:45.07 (25.85) 4:10.16 (25.09)
12 Hick, Carson SO Kentucky 4:10.89 4:10.27
r:+0.73 23.35 48.18 (24.83)
1:13.44 (25.26) 1:38.79 (25.35)
2:04.28 (25.49) 2:29.51 (25.23)
2:54.91 (25.40) 3:20.32 (25.41)
3:45.69 (25.37) 4:10.27 (24.58)
13 Carrozza, Coby 5Y Texas 4:10.70 4:10.62
r:+0.77 22.81 47.85 (25.04)
1:13.42 (25.57) 1:38.94 (25.52)
2:04.61 (25.67) 2:30.05 (25.44)
2:55.55 (25.50) 3:20.65 (25.10)
3:45.74 (25.09) 4:10.62 (24.88)
14 Linscheer, Gio JR Florida 4:11.03 4:12.17
r:+0.70 23.46 48.54 (25.08)
1:13.75 (25.21) 1:39.23 (25.48)
2:04.62 (25.39) 2:29.95 (25.33)
2:55.57 (25.62) 3:21.08 (25.51)
3:46.74 (25.66) 4:12.17 (25.43)
15 Kopp, Tyler 5Y California 4:12.46 4:12.84
r:+0.64 23.62 48.83 (25.21)
1:14.25 (25.42) 1:40.03 (25.78)
2:05.33 (25.30) 2:30.87 (25.54)
2:56.54 (25.67) 3:22.17 (25.63)
3:47.95 (25.78) 4:12.84 (24.89)
16 Matheson, Daniel SR ASU 4:14.37 4:13.15
r:+0.66 23.30 48.51 (25.21)
1:14.15 (25.64) 1:39.91 (25.76)
2:05.67 (25.76) 2:31.84 (26.17)
2:57.75 (25.91) 3:23.62 (25.87)
3:49.05 (25.43) 4:13.15 (24.10)
200 individual medley
Hubert Kos won the final heat in 1:38.89 to set the pace, one of five swimmers to break 1:40. Destin Lasco used a torrid final 50 of 23.44 seconds to win the penultimate heat, the reigning champion going 1:39.23 to take second place overall. All five of the top times came from the last two heats, with the winner of heat 6 of 8, Will Modglin, seventh in 1:40.45.
Also in the A final is Indiana’s Owen McDonald, who went 1:39.81, and Carles Coll Marti of Virginia Tech. Florida’s Julian Smith, the top seed entering the meet, in 1:39.85.
In addition to reigning champ Lasco, McDonald, Jos and Gal Groumi (eighth) all repeat as A finalists. Baylor Nelson dropped from eighth last year to the B final in 11th. Nate Germonprez of Texas, seventh last year, finished 31st.
The B final includes Indiana’s Luke Barr in 10th, Cal’s Mewen Tomac in 12th and fellow Olympian Luca Urlando of Georgia in 14th.
Event 4 Men 200 Yard IM
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NCAA: N 1:36.34 3/23/2023 Leon Marchand, ASU
Meet: M 1:36.34 3/23/2023 Leon Marchand, ASU
American: A 1:37.91 3/28/2024 Destin Lasco, California
U. S. Open: O 1:36.34 3/23/2023 Leon Marchand, ASU
Name Year School Seed Prelims
==================================================================
=== Preliminaries ===
1 Kos, Hubert JR Texas 1:40.51 1:38.89
r:+0.63 20.63 44.74 (24.11)
1:13.98 (29.24) 1:38.89 (24.91)
2 Lasco, Destin 5Y California 1:41.68 1:39.23
r:+0.68 21.92 47.12 (25.20)
1:15.79 (28.67) 1:39.23 (23.44)
3 McDonald, Owen JR Indiana 1:39.89 1:39.81
r:+0.60 21.08 45.30 (24.22)
1:15.10 (29.80) 1:39.81 (24.71)
4 Coll Marti, Carles 5Y VT 1:40.95 1:39.82
r:+0.60 21.54 46.42 (24.88)
1:15.38 (28.96) 1:39.82 (24.44)
5 Smith, Julian SR Florida 1:39.38 1:39.85
r:+0.65 21.04 46.07 (25.03)
1:14.64 (28.57) 1:39.85 (25.21)
6 Polonsky, Ron SR Stanford 1:41.66 1:40.03
r:+0.69 21.58 46.53 (24.95)
1:15.18 (28.65) 1:40.03 (24.85)
7 Modglin, Will SO Texas 1:40.64 1:40.45
r:+0.65 21.96 46.88 (24.92)
1:16.27 (29.39) 1:40.45 (24.18)
8 Groumi, Gal SR Michigan 1:40.34 1:40.52
r:+0.57 21.44 46.52 (25.08)
1:16.15 (29.63) 1:40.52 (24.37)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
9 Geer, Colin SO Michigan 1:40.65 1:40.77
r:+0.61 21.90 46.66 (24.76)
1:16.05 (29.39) 1:40.77 (24.72)
10 Barr, Luke SR Indiana 1:40.62 1:40.93
r:+0.61 21.83 46.54 (24.71)
1:15.60 (29.06) 1:40.93 (25.33)
11 Nelson, Baylor JR TAMU 1:41.43 1:41.14
r:+0.62 21.92 47.22 (25.30)
1:16.34 (29.12) 1:41.14 (24.80)
12 Tomac, Mewen 5Y California 1:42.96 1:41.40
r:+0.73 21.54 46.41 (24.87)
1:16.04 (29.63) 1:41.40 (25.36)
13 Taylor, Camden SO Texas 1:41.58 1:41.58
r:+0.66 21.90 47.74 (25.84)
1:17.25 (29.51) 1:41.58 (24.33)
14 Urlando, Gianluca 5Y Georgia 1:41.46 1:41.61
r:+0.64 21.27 46.08 (24.81)
1:16.66 (30.58) 1:41.61 (24.95)
15 Jankovics, Tristan JR OSU 1:41.09 1:41.73
r:+0.66 21.98 47.46 (25.48)
1:16.73 (29.27) 1:41.73 (25.00)
15 Dramm, Louis JR UNC 1:41.84 1:41.73
r:+0.67 21.92 47.19 (25.27)
1:16.95 (29.76) 1:41.73 (24.78)
50 freestyle
The only active inhabitant of the sub-18 club nearly added another entry, with Jordan Crooks going 18.00 in prelims to defend his top seed. Liendo took care of the final heat with his usual composed swim. He’s looking to reclaim this title after Florida’s Josh Liendo won it last year in 18.07.
Liendo is the second seed this year, having gone 18.30. Crooks’ mate Gui Caribe was second in 18.34. Arizona State has a pair of A finalists in Ilya Kharun (fourth in 18.44) and Jonny Kulow (18.56).
It took 18.92 to make it back.
Cal has an A finalist in Jack Alexy, fifth in 18.48, plus Bjorn Seeliger in 15th. Texas got Chris Guiliano into the A final in eighth in 18.73, .03 over Jere Hribar. Indiana has two B finalists, including a massive drop by Finn Brooks to 10th.
The A final includes six holdovers from last year, plus Seeliger. The top eight seeds entering the meet all made the A final.
Event 5 Men 50 Yard Freestyle
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NCAA: N 17.63 3/22/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
Meet: M 17.63 3/22/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
American: A 17.63 3/22/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
U. S. Open: O 17.63 3/22/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
Name Year School Seed Prelims
==================================================================
=== Preliminaries ===
1 Crooks, Jordan SR Tennessee 17.85 18.00
r:+0.59 8.67 18.00 (9.33)
2 Liendo, Josh JR Florida 18.26 18.30
r:+0.64 8.86 18.30 (9.44)
3 Caribe, Guilherme JR Tennessee 18.42 18.34
r:+0.56 8.68 18.34 (9.66)
4 Kharun, Ilya SO ASU 18.51 18.44
r:+0.61 9.06 18.44 (9.38)
5 Alexy, Jack SR California 18.58 18.48
r:+0.69 8.88 18.48 (9.60)
6 Kulow, Jonny JR ASU 18.64 18.56
r:+0.63 8.97 18.56 (9.59)
7 McCarty, Quintin SO NC State 18.63 18.62
r:+0.61 8.99 18.62 (9.63)
8 Guiliano, Chris SR Texas 18.61 18.73
r:+0.62 9.00 18.73 (9.73)
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9 Hribar, Jere SO LSU 18.65 18.76
r:+0.68 9.09 18.76 (9.67)
10 Brooks, Finn SR Indiana 19.12 18.86
r:+0.61 8.97 18.86 (9.89)
11 King, Matthew JR Indiana 18.92 18.87
r:+0.60 9.11 18.87 (9.76)
12 Klinge, Matthew FR OSU 18.78 18.89
r:+0.67 9.21 18.89 (9.68)
13 Salls, Drew JR NC State 18.96 18.90
r:+0.63 9.05 18.90 (9.85)
14 Foote, Connor JR TAMU 18.67 18.91
r:+0.63 9.17 18.91 (9.74)
15 Painter, Alexander FR Florida 18.80 18.92
r:+0.59 9.00 18.92 (9.92)
15 Seeliger, Bjorn 5Y California 18.86 18.92
r:+0.64 8.99 18.92 (9.93)
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