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COLLEGE SWIMMING ROUNDUP
The College Swimming Roundup is brought to you by The CG Sports Company, the representation behind some of your favorite swimmers like Elizabeth Beisel, Beata Nelson, and Kieran Smith.
πββοΈΒ NOTES AND STUFF ππ½ββοΈ
With very few meets this week, here's a bit more retrospective on the first week of midseason invites, recent news, and upcoming invites...
California Men - Hugo's back.
That scary addition, coupled with continued improvements from Gabriel Jett and fifth-year transfer additions Olympian Pat Callan + D3 100 Breast Champion Luke Rodarte and what's looking like a bit of a down year for Texas make the Golden Bears a large favorite in March even before their trip to Minnesota for their midseason invite.
Stanford Women - You thought this was Virginia's year and no one else's? The Cardinal women might have a bone to pick with that. At the NC State/GAC Invite, they unleashed a sprint crew that might go toe to toe with the Hoos. Claire Curzan, Torri Huske, and Taylor Ruck were all faster than their midseason performances last year. All they need is a breaststroker to flex and bust out and the Medley Relays could be all π²π² .
D2 Men 500 Free - For whatever reason, as D2 has gotten better as a division, the 500 Free has lagged a bit. D2 has only seen four men under 4:20 and times at or around 4:30 are still in the mix for second swims at NCAA's. It isn't a lack of pedigree in the discipline - D2 has had mid-D free Olympians (Fernando Costa, Dion Dreesens), World Championships swimmers (Joan Casanovas), National Champions (Conrado Chede), and top recruits (Nick Arakelian). This year, the tides have changed. With only some of the midseason meets done, there's already 4 guys under 4:23 and 15 under 4:30, and that's without 2022 Champion Ward Lockhart - who hasn't competed yet this season.
Colorado Mesa Women - 2022 NCAA D2 champs was a meet of tiers. The Queens women, with 537 points, finished over 100 points over runner-up Indy. Nova Southeastern and Drury kept it fairly close with UIndy, and then 100 points behind them was Colorado Mesa. With Queens gone to D1, it looks like the Maverick women are ready to jump up to the next tier, one competing for a national title. Their strongest group is their middle distance free - they are #1 in the country (altitude adjusted) in the 400 and 800 Free Relays, with 5 of the Top 10 200 freestylers and 3 of the Top 5 500 freestylers.
Bryan Sullivan, Doing Everything - Millsaps as a team isn't going to make a whole lot of noise at the national level, but they have one swimmer who could show up in nearly any short event in March. The fifth-year sprinter made a splash in every stroke at the Delta State Fall Invite, going PRs in the 50 Free (20.05), 100 Breast (55.43), and 100 Fly (47.74), while also posting solid times in the 100 Back (49.32) and 100 Free (45.98). The way he splits races makes me think he's not going to make a 200 IM appearance anytime soon, but he's a utility sprinter.
ππΌΒ RELAY(S) OF THE WEEKππΌ
La Salle Men's 200 Medley Relay - 1:31.11
Alex Kuriawa - 23.30
Jason Rosales - 25.52
Zack Wolbert - 21.80
Tarik Gusic - 20.46
La Salle took on Villanova in a pre-Thanksgiving dual last Tuesday. The Explorers took the meet handily, leading things off with a 200 Medley Relay less than two tenths off their conference meet performance from last year. Backstroker Kuriawa almost hit his best 50 Back, and freshman anchor Gusic popped that 20.4 split off of a 21.12 PR flat start time. Zack Wolbert is the star for the Explorers and one of the best swimmers in the Atlantic-10 with PR 48.49/1:45.23 flys and 1:46.94/3:49.57 IMs.
ππ½ββοΈ WEEKEND PREVIEW ππΌ
Another round of midseason invites are on tap this weekend. This one's headlined by the Minnesota Invite. The Golden Gophers welcome Texas, Cal, Wisconsin, Arizona, Harvard, Pittsburgh, and UNLV. Some storylines I'm watching here:
The Texas women with their deep fly and breast groups making their first meet appearance after knocking off the defending champ Virginia and being Ranked #1 by CSCAA.
How Texas men set up a full invite lineup with their apparent sprint back, fly, and free depth issues.
Cal spent spent the fall playing with pentathlons, off events, and triple-distance meets...I bet they are chomping at the bit to race and in a very fast pool.
Wisconsin men's team that should be much improved with the return of Andrew Benson and a very solid freshman class. The women's team has perhaps the best distance squad in the nation led by NCAA mile champ Paige McKenna and freshman Blair Stoneburg.
Lots of good mid-major invites as well - Ivy League teams Brown and Princeton host their yearly invites (Bruno Invite and Big Al Invite, respectively), while the state of Ohio is home to the Akron Zippy Invite and the Miami Invite.
One of my favorite meets of any season is the Army/Navy dual. These teams go all-out for this one and each have some real star swimmers that could challenge for NCAA spots. Look for absurd relay splits from Army's Owen Harlow, who has already split sub-19 in a dual this year, and freshman Kohen Rankin, who was a 24.43 50 Breast flat start out of high school.
The fastest swimming in D2 will happen up north, with Grand Valley State, Northern Michigan, and Findlay going to the Calvin Invite in Grand Rapids. We'll also be watching for some solid times from championship contenders Abe Townley (50 Free) and Raf Hendricks (200 Back) of St. Cloud State at the Rochester Invite in Minnesota.
It's the biggest weekend for D3 invites as well. Besides the aforementioned Calvin Invite, Denison hosts Johns Hopkins, Emory, and WashU, while NCAA top ten teams Tufts, Rowan, and MIT will also be in action in various locales.
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