COLLEGE SWIMMING ROUNDUP

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🏊‍♀️ SWIMS OF THE WEEK 🏊🏽‍♂️

This week featured the Pac-12 (M), MAC Swimming (M), and a flurry of last-chance meets swimming for conference titles and NCAA spots.

Go inside the hottest team in college swimming with Grant House, who has been there for over half a decade.

Pac-12 Action

It should come as no surprise to ANYONE that the swimmer of the meet was Leon Marchand. We knew he was going to be fast - especially after thrashing records in a duel meet only a few weeks ago.

Here is the FULL breakdown of the Pac-12 Championships:

Day 1:

Night one finals started with the 200 medley relay where ASU was expected to win, and they did. 1:21.69 (Jack Dolan: 20.65, Leon Marchand: 22.98, Max McCusker: 19.66, Jonny Kulow: 18.40). That time puts them second in the NCAA behind Tennessee (1:21.43) and just ahead of Florida (1:21.73). Cal had an early take-off and was disqualified allowing the University of Arizona to claim second in 1:23.74.

ASU continued their dominance in sweeping night one relays with a win in the 800 Freestyle Relay in a new Pac-12 record of 6:06.30 (Leon Marchand: 1:30.77, Grant House: 1:31.61, Patrick Sammon: 1:32.06, Julian Hill: 1:31.86). Cal was second in 6:09.65 and Stanford was third in 6:11.08.

Day 2:

On night two, the 500 free finals was better for Cal as they went first, second, and fourth. Gabriel Jett swam a 4:09.66 which ranks him #2 in the country behind Marchand's 4:07.81. Though Cal earned 57 points in the 500 free, ASU scored 67 points. The depth is insane as they had two swimmers in the B-Final and FOUR in the A-Final.

In the 200 IM, all eyes were on Leon Marchand, though Destin Lasco and Hugo Gonzalez were also seeded well for Cal. In the end, Marchand dropped a 1:37.81 (just off his own record of 1:37.69 from last years' NCAA champs). The big surprise (though maybe not so big) was Gonzalez getting second with a massive best time of 1:38.72. Once again though, ASU's depth was overpowering with another four swimmers in the A-Final to Cal's two.

The 50 Free final was very exciting as Bjorn Seeliger's (Cal) prelim time was his season best by a mile. However, it was ASU's record holder and senior, Jack Dolan taking the W in 18.86. Seeliger was a quick 18.91, and Andrei Minakov of Stanford was 19.07.

The final event of the night was a relay - the infamous 200 freestyle relay. In the words of a legend, "I guess ASU isn't completely invincible". Cal took the win in 1:15.40 (Bjorn Seeliger: 18.87, Jack Alexy: 18.54, Destin Lasco: 18.81, Gabriel Jett: 19.18)- #5 in the country. ASU was second at 1:15.75, and Arizona was third at 1:15.97.

Day 3:

On night three of finals, the meet began with an NCAA record from Leon Marchand in the 400 IM. His final time was 3:31.57. Second was Hugo Gonzalez at 3:37.65 and third was ASU FRESHMAN Hubert Kos at 3:37.68. Also noted is that ASU ONCE AGAIN put four men in the A-Final o Cal's three.

In the 100 Fly we got to see the return of Andrei Minakov who won in 44.51. Big note here that Stanford went first, second, third (tie), and eighth. Stanford University (of Butterfly?). Sophomore Aaron Sequeira finished second in 45.09 and Max McCusker of ASU and Rafael Gu of Stanford tied for third in 45.13.

After a couple of good swims the previous two nights, ASU Senior and legend, Grant House took the W in a nation-leading time of 1:30.67. Patrick Sammon (ASU) took second (1:31.82), and Julian Hill (ASU) took third in 1:32.27.

In the 100 Breast, it was Cal veteran breaststroker and giant, both in heart and body, Reece Whitley winning in a time of 51.12 (good for #6 in the nation). This is where Cal got some points back as Matt Jensen (Cal) was second, Liam Bell (Cal) was third, Luke Rodarte (Cal) was sixth, and Jacob Soderlund (Cal) was seventh. 78 points to Cal just from the A-Final. John Heaphy of ASU was the lone finalist finishing twelfth.

In the 100 Back final, Cal Junior Destin Lasco won in a time of 44.57 (#3 in the NCAA). Senior Andrei Ungur of Utah tied second with ASU Freshman Owen McDonald at 45.00

The final "final" of the evening was the 400 medley relay. And what a relay it was. ASU took control from Cal thanks to Leon Marchand's 49.73 breaststroke split and the sun devils never looked back. Winning in a time of 3:01.39 (#3 in the NCAA). Cal was second in 3:02.46 with a 40.8 anchor split from Bjorn Seeliger.

Day three ended with ASU having an over 100-point lead over Cal.

Day 4: The Finale:

The night kicked off with the mile. An event that was dominated by ASU. Freshman Zalan Sarkany won in a time of 14:41.65 (#8 in the NCAA). Second was ASU Sophomore Daniel Matheson at 14:48.52 ahead of Cal's Lucas Henveaux (14:48.84).

In the 200 Back, Destin Lasco and Hugo Gonzalez took control and went 1-2 respectively (Lasco 1:36.94 to Gonzalez 1:37.19). Third was ASU's Owen McDonald at 1:39.01. Team Scores: ASU 724.5 // Cal: 637.

In the 100 Free, Cal Junior Bjorn Seeliger won in a nation-leading time of 40.90 ahead of teammate Jack Alexy (41.42), and ASU's Grant House (41.69). Team Scores: ASU: 780.5 // Cal: 697

With Cal somewhat narrowing ASU's team lead, it was about time for Leon Marchand to drop the hammer. And he did. In the 200 Breast, Marchand broke Will Licon's legendary 200 breast record (1:47.91 from 2017) going 1:47.67. Reece Whitley from Cal was second in 1:51.30, and Jason Louser (Cal) was third in 1:51.41. Team Scores: ASU: 830.5 // Cal: 744.

With the team title locked and the key thrown into the abyss, it was all about swimming fast now. In the 200 fly, Cal's 500 champion, Gabriel Jett won the 200 fly in a nail-biter race with ASU's Alex Colson. Jett's final time was 1:39.27 (#1 in the NCAA). Colson's time of 1:39.55 was good for third in the NCAA behind IU's Brendan Burns (1:39.51). Team Scores: ASU: 863.5 // Cal: 779

The final race of the night, the 400 freestyle relay was for pride, and it was a dogfight. Cal had two whales in Seeliger and Alexy (both splitting 40.8s), while ASU had four sharks in Marchand (41.6), House, (41.8), Sammon (41.1), and Dolan (41.4). In the end, it was Cal winning in a time of 2:45.67 - a new Pac-12 record and nation-leading time. ASU was second in the race and in the NCAA with a time of 2:46.14.

FINAL TEAM SCORES: ASU: 897.5 // Cal: 819

ASU won their first Pac-12 title in program history and upset the defending NCAA champions on common ground. Let's see where this takes us in a few weeks at the NCAA championships.

Mid-Majors Round Three: The MAC

Day 1:

In Oxford, Ohio, the Mid-American Conference kicked off Wednesday with afternoon time trials where we got to see Southern Illinois Freshman, Ruard Van Renen, blast a 44.89 in the 100 backstroke. Though it would've been a MAC record, the NCAA doesn't allow records to be set during time trials. However, it set him up for a great meet.

The two-time defending champions, Miami University had a big challenge ahead fighting off a much improved Ball State University, Southern Illinois, and Missouri State. Ball State took the first relay in a time of 1:26.35 (Ethan Pheifer: 22.75, Joey Garberick: 23.10, Bryce Handshoe: 21.20, Owen Chaye: 19.30), Miami was second, and Missouri State was third.

In the 800 Free Relay, after an earlier disqualification, Souther Illinois to the win over Missouri state in a time of 6:29.51 (Selim Hassan: 1:38.11, Alex Cimera: 1:37.78, Adam Cernek: 1:37.62, William Chavez: 1:36.00).

Day 2:

The 500 free saw Pawel Krawczyk take the win for Missouri State in 4:22.85. Teammate Jonathan Hill was second in 4:25.10. Third was Miami's Uros Djokovic in 4:25.70.

In the 200 IM, Miami made a huge charge with FIVE men in the A-Final. The win went to Miami's Henju Duvenhage in 1:44.09. Second was Miami's Ian Van Gorp in 1:46.59 and in third was Missouri State's AJ Huskey in 1:47.55.

In the 50 free, Southern Illinois shot back with Donat Csuvaraszki winning in 19.60 (just off the conference record of 19.57). Teammate Alex Santiago was second in 19.78 and Ball State Senior, Owen Chaye was third in 19.89.

The last final of the night was the 200 freestyle relay. After time trialing the event earlier the previous day and swimming 1:19, the Southern Illinois men won in a time of 1:18.06 (Ruard Van Renen: 20.08, Nicolas Lanuza: 19.92, Alex Santiago: 19.21, Donat Csuvaraszki: 18.85)! Second was Ball State in 1:19.35 and third was Miami in 1:19.78.

Day 3:

In the men's 100 fly, newly minted Southern Illinois superstar, Ruard Van Renen won in a time of 46.10 over Miami's 200 IM champion Henju Duvenhage (46.16). Ball State's Bryce Handshoe was third in 48.13.

Missouri State's AJ Huskey won the 400 IM in a time of 3:52.85 over Miami Sophomore Zach Bann's 3:55.21 and Missouri State senior Tyler Lewis in 3:55.68.

Pawel Krawczyk of Missouri State won the 200 free in 1:36.10 ahead of The Univesity of Evansville's Riccardo Do Domenico (1:36.72). Third was Brunno Suzuki from Missouri State in 1:37.05.

Ball So Hard State's Joey Garberick won the 100 breast in a 52.17 which beat his PB set in January by over three seconds! Second from the Evansville Purple Aces was Alon Baer in 53.18 and third was Nick Schuster of Missouri State in 53.91.

All eyes were on Southern Illinois' Ruard Van Renen in the 100 back final to see if he could improve on his time trialed 44.8 from earlier in the meet. Though he didn't he still handedly won and obliterated the MAC Record (46.66) in a time of 45.05 over Miami Junior Owen Blazer (47.55) and Missouri State Junior, Robbi Hill (47.61).

The final event of the night was won by Southern Illinois in 3:09.47 (Ruard Van Renen: 45.03, Tiago Faleiros: 53.80, Trey Smith: 47.71, Donat Csuvaraszki: 42.93). Second was Miami at 3:10.20 and third was Ball State at 3:12.42.

Day 4:

In the mile, Missouri State junior, Dylan Moffatt won by 37 seconds in a season-best of 15:08.58 - just missing the pool record of 15:05.14. Second was Miami Freshman Evan Kindseth in 15:38.02 over Evansville's Jackson Caudill (15:39.12).

Ruard Van Renen of Southern Illinois continued his assault on the backstroke events with a near five second win in the 200 back. The freshman's final time was 1:40.64 breaking the pool record by over a second and a half and missing just the MAC record of 1:39.87. Second was Miami's Owen Blazer at 1:45.48 and third was Southern Illinois' Adam Cernek at 1:45.83.

Donat Csuvaraszki of Southern Illinois won the 100 free in 43.16. Owen Chaye of Ball State was second in 43.58 and Alex Santiago of Missouri State was third in 43.69.

Evansville fought for a win in the 200 breast with Alon Baer taking the event in 1:56.16. Joey Garberick of Ball State was second and Miami's Adrian Dulay was third in 1:57.95.

In the final individual event of the meet, the 200 fly, Miami University got only their second win of the meet with Henju Duvenhage (the 200IM Champ) taking the win in 1:44.08 narrowly over Missouri State's Pawel Kawczyk (1:44.28) and AJ Huskey (1:46.10).

Southern Illinois took the W in the last event of the meet, the 400 freestyle relay in a pretty quick time of 2:52.45 (Alex Santiago: 43.56, Alex Cimera: 44.01, Ruard Van Renen: 42.33, Donat Csuvaraszki: 42.55). Ball State was second at 2:57.53 and third was Missouri State at 2:57.89.

Final Results:

So, who won the meet? Despite only having two wins throughout the week, the Miami University men won their third consecutive MAC championship 🥇 (the first time in program history) with 755 points. Second was Missouri State 🥈with 713.50 and third was Southern Illinois 🥉with 611.5. If there is any lesson here, it is that team depth can outscore the fastest swimmers any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

The MAC Men's Swimming Coach of the Year was Miami Head Coach Hollie Bonewit-Cron. She became the first female coach to win a consecutive men's MAC conference title in any sport.

Last Chance Meet Top Swims:

OSU Last Chance:

• Chachi Gustafson (OSU): 200 Fly: 1:42.24(B-Cut)

• Mason Edmund (OSU): 1650: 14:53.54 (B-Cut)

Boiler-Make-It Qualification:

• Will Goodwin (Mizzou): 200 Breast: 1:52.29 (B-Cut)

• Eduardo Moraes (Michigan): 500 Free: 4:17.91 (B-Cut)

• Eitan Ben Shitrit (Michigan): 200 IM: 1:42.90 (B-Cut)

Virginia Tech Last Chance: 

• Ethan Maloney (VTech): 100 Breast: 52.25 (B-Cut)

• Forest Webb (VTech): 200 Back: 1:40.91 (B-Cut)

Minnesota Last Chance:

• Will Myhre (Wisconsin): 100 Breast: 51.84 (B-Cut)

• Wes Jekel (Wisconsin): 100 Back: 45.70 (B-Cut)

• Kaiser Neverman (Minnesota): 1:42.56 (B-Cut)

American Short Course Champs:

• Cooper Van Der Laan (Pitt): 100 Breast: 51.26 (A-Cut)

• Colin Feehery (SMU): 200 Breast: 1:52.06 (A-Cut)

• Braden Vines (Texas): 400 IM: 3:41.86 (B-Cut)

• Louis Dramm (UNC Chapel Hill): 400 IM: 3:42.24 (B-Cut)

Pac-12 Invite:

• Joshua Zuchowski (Stanford): 200 Back: 1:40.47 (B-Cut)

• Luke Rodarte (Cal): 100 Breast: 52.46 (B-Cut)

• Andres Dupont (Stanford): 100 Free: 42.17 (B-Cut)

Next Week Preview:

• Special Addition of the Round-Up featuring the NAIA National Champ breakdown

• NCAA Division II National Championships

• CSCAA National Invitational

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