2017 NCAA DI Men's Swimming & Diving Championships

NCAA Day Two Finals: Texas Assaults 400 Medley Relay Record Book In 2:59.22

NCAA Day Two Finals: Texas Assaults 400 Medley Relay Record Book In 2:59.22

Full recap from day two finals at the 2017 NCAA Division I men's swimming & diving championships featuring the 200 freestyle relay, 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, and 400 medley relay.

Mar 24, 2017 by Maclin Simpson
NCAA Day Two Finals: Texas Assaults 400 Medley Relay Record Book In 2:59.22
Thursday night was packed full of action in Indianapolis at the 2017 NCAA DI Men's Swimming & Diving Championships. After a "disappointing" second place finish in the 800 freestyle relay Wednesday, Texas came out swinging. The Longhorns won four out of the five swimming events contested tonight -- including new NCAA Records from ​Clark Smith​ in the 500 freestyle and the team of ​John Shebat​, ​Will Licon​, Joseph Schooling​, and ​Jack Conger​ in the 400 medley relay. At the end of the day, Texas leads with 225.5 points, California sits second with 143 points, and Florida is in third with 138.5 points.​

Stay tuned tomorrow for the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, and 200 medley relay.

200 FREESTYLE RELAY

NCAA Record: 1:14.08 (Auburn, 2009)
Meet Record: 1:14.08 (Auburn, 2009)
American Record: 1:15.26 (Stanford, 2011)
US Open Record: 1:14.08 (Auburn, 2009)

JOSEPH SCHOOLING! ​The Texas junior just catapulted out of nowhere on the anchor leg for the Longhorns, splitting an 18.34 en route to a winning time of 1:14.59. Texas was great across the board with ​Brett Ringgold​ (18.96), ​Jack Conger​ (18.37), ​Tate Jackson ​(18.92), and Schooling (18.34). Florida looked like they were going to take this one through the first three legs of ​Caeleb Dressel​ (18.23), ​Jan Switkowski​ (18.75), and Enzo Martinez Scarpe​ (18.72). However, their anchor ​Jack Blyzinskyj (19.18) was unable to hold off the hard charging Schooling. California snuck in for third with a 1:15.29 thanks to four solid 18-second splits across the board and NC State took fourth in 1:15.82 thanks to a strong lead-off from ​Ryan Held​ in 18.63. It looked like the Wolfpack had a shot at the title, but their anchor ​Scott Johnson​ had a 0.61 reaction time en route to a 19.57 split.

1.) Texas: 1:14.59
2.) Florida: 1:14.88
3.) California: 1:15.29
4.) NC State: 1:15.82
5.) Alabama: 1:16.52
6.) Auburn: 1:16.62
7.) Indiana: 1:16.78
7.) Missouri: 1:16.78

500 FREESTYLE

NCAA Record: 4:08.60 (Peter Vanderkaay - Michigan, 2006) 4:08.42 (Clark Smith - Texas, 2017)
Meet Record: 4:08.60 (Peter Vanderkaay - Michigan, 2006)​ 4:08.42 (Clark Smith - Texas, 2017)
American Record: 4:08.54 (Peter Vanderkaay, 2008)​ 4:08.42 (Clark Smith - Texas, 2017)
US Open Record: 4:08.54 (Peter Vanderkaay, 2008)​ 4:08.42 (Clark Smith - Texas, 2017)

CLARK SMITH! The Texas senior just scorched the record books, wiping ​Peter Vanderkaay's ​name off the board completely with a blazing fast 4:08.42. Smith jumped on pace around the 250 mark, flipping to the feet in 2:02.43 and sat there pretty consistently to get home for the win and record. His Longhorn teammate, and defending NCAA champion in this event, ​Townley Haas ​grabbed the silver with a blistering 4:08.92 out of lane two thanks to his 23.73 last 50 split. Huge momentum swing for Texas going one-two in this event after taking the win in the 200 freestyle relay as well. ​Felix Auboeck​ of Michigan touched for the bronze in 4:08.95. ​Three guys under 4:09? That is pretty absurd, but a strong testament to progression of the sport.​

1.) Clark Smith (Texas): 4:08.42 (NCAA, Meet, American, US Open Record)
2.) Townley Haas (Texas): 4:08.92  
3.) Felix Auboeck (Michigan): 4:08.95 
4.) Grant Shoults (Stanford): 4:10.23 
5.) Fynn Minuth (South Carolina): 4:10.57  
6.) Akaram Mahmoud (South Carolina): 4:10.87 
7.) Marwan El Kamash (Indiana): 4:10.87 
8.) Anton Ipsen (NC State): 4:11.73

​200 IM

NCAA Record: 1:39.38 (David Nolan - Stanford, 2015)
Meet Record: 1:39.38 (David Nolan - Stanford, 2015)
American Record: 1:39.38 (David Nolan - Stanford, 2015)
US Open Record: 1:39.38 (David Nolan - Stanford, 2015)

​WHAT. A. RACE. ​Mark Szaranek​ and ​Will Licon ​TIE the 200 IM in 1:40.67. Wow... ​Licon turned at the 100 dead last in 48.34, but launched himself into the picture with a monster 27.96 breaststroke split. ​Ryan Murphy ​was out first in a blazing 46.22 at the 100 and looked like he had a great shot to win with 25 yards to go, but he tightened up inside the flags and Licon and Szaranek overtook the lead from him as he finished third with a 1:40.73 -- only six one hundredths of a second behind. Szaranek charged hard at the end with a 24.25 on the last 50 to get his hand on the wall with Licon. Coming home with the fastest last 50 in the field was ​Gunnar Bentz​ of Georgia with a 24.16 split. It looked like Bentz was going to put himself in contention, but ran out of room to finish fourth with a solid 1:40.90.​

1.) Will Licon (Texas): 1:40.67
1.) Mark Szaranek (Florida): 1:40.67
3.) Ryan Murphy (California): 1:40.73
4.) Gunnar Bentz (Georgia): 1:40.90
5.) Chase Kalisz (Georgia): 1:41.19
6.) Andrew Seliskar (California): 1:41.26
7.) Andreas Vazaios (NC State): 1:41.53 
8.) Jonathan Roberts (Texas): 1:42.56

50 FREESTYLE

NCAA Record: 18.20 (Caeleb Dressel - Florida, 2016)
Meet Record: 18.20 (Caeleb Dressel - Florida, 2016)
American Record: 18.20 (Caeleb Dressel - Florida, 2016)
US Open Record: 18.20 (Caeleb Dressel - Florida, 2016)

​Caeleb Dressel​ has done something that only Caeleb Dressel can do -- make an 18.23 50 freestyle seem pedestrian. Dressel was out 8.80 to the feet at the 25 and blasted home to take the win, matching his time leading off the 200 freestyle relay earlier in the session and only three one hundredths of a second off his all-time record of 18.20. ​Ryan Held ​of NC State crushed his underwaters to take the silver in 18.60, a swim that he seemed very pumped up about post race. ​Joseph Schooling ​of Texas picked up major points for the Longhorns finishing third with an 18.79.​

1.) Caeleb Dressel (Florida): 18.23
2.) Ryan Held (NC State): 18.60
3.) Joseph Schooling (Texas): 18.79
4.) Zachary Apple (Auburn): 18.97
4.) Michael Chadwick (Missouri): 18.97
6.) Pawel Sendyk (California): 19.05 
7.) Dylan Carter (USC): 19.08 
8.) Paul Powers (Michigan): 19.17

400 MEDLEY RELAY

NCAA Record: 3:00.68 (Texas, 2016) 2:59.22 (Texas, 2017)
Meet Record: 3:00.68 (Texas, 2016) 2:59.22 (Texas, 2017)
American Record: 3:01.60 (California, 2015) 3:01.51 (Cal, 2017)
US Open Record: 3:00.68 (Texas, 2016) 2:59.22 (Texas, 2017)

​TEXAS UNLEASHED on this 400 medley relay dropping an absolutely unfathomable time of 2:59.22. The first team to ever break the 3 minute barrier. They shattered their NCAA, Meet, and US Open Record of 3:00.68 from 2016. The Longhorns did not have a weak leg whatsoever -- ​John Shebat​ led off in 44.58 and was followed by ​Will Licon ​(49.75), ​Joseph Schooling​ (43.60), and ​Jack Conger​ (41.29). They certainly flexed their muscles in this race. To put it in perspective, California placed second in a new American Record time of 3:01.51 and finished over two seconds behind Texas. Unreal. The American Record holder in the 100 yard backstroke for Cal, ​Ryan Murphy​, got the Bears out to the lead out of lane eight posting a 44.32, but in the end Texas' dominance was too much and the Golden Bears took second. Touching for the bronze was Missouri in 3:01.91 led by a 50.22 breaststroke leg from ​Fabian Schwingenschloegl ​and 40.72 anchor from ​Michael Chadwick.​​

1.) Texas: 2:59.22 (NCAA, Meet, & US Open Record)
2.) California: 3:01.51 (American Record)
3.) Missouri: 3:01.91
4.) Southern Cal: 3:02.20
5.) Louisville: 3:03.96
6.) Indiana: 3:03.98
7.) Stanford: 3:04.46
8.) Florida: 3:04.90


​TEAM SCORES

1.) Texas - 225.5
2.) California - 143
3.) Florida - 138.5
4.) NC State - 123
5.) Indiana - 121
6.) Stanford - 105
7.) Southern Cal - 75
8.) Georgia - 73
9.) Mizzou - 71.5 
10.) Auburn - 69.5