Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2022 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

WEDNESDAY NIGHT HEAT SHEET

The final collegiate championship meet of the year is finally upon us, with the Division I Men’s Championships kicking off this evening at the McAuley Aquatic Center on the campus of Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The timed finals session will start tonight at 6 PM EST.

Tonight’s session will be short but action-packed, with the timed finals of the 200 medley relay and the 800 free relay set to kick off the meet.

The Louisville Cardinals come in as the top seed in the 200 medley relay with a 1:21.84, the only team that has been under the 1:22 barrier this year, thanks in large part to a massive 19.50 fly split from Dalton Lowe at ACCs. Louisville took a huge blow yesterday, however, as their anchor, Abdelrahman Elaraby was scratched from the meet. That will leave head coach Athur Albiero with an interesting choice to make, as the Cardinals left his son, 5th year senior Nicolas, off their 200 medley relay at ACCs.

Louisville is the current pool record holder, breaking the record last month at ACCs. A slew of teams sit tightly bunched behind Louisville, with Florida, Ohio State, Texas and Alabama all seeded between 1:22.06 and 1:22.28. Notably, the Cal Bears, who project to contend for the team title, will swim in the second to last heat after coming in as the 12th seed with a 1:23.26.

The Arizona State Sun Devils come in as the top seed in the 800 free relay with their 6:07.51, which earned them the Pac 12 title. They are led by senior Grant House, who also comes in as the top seed in the individual 200 free. Florida, NC State, Stanford and Texas will all be in hot pursuit, coming in seeded with 6:08s. The Longhorns are the defending champions in this event and also hold the NCAA record in 6:05.08 from 2017.

200 medley relay

• NCAA Record: Texas (2017): 1:21.54
• NCAA Meet Record: Texas (2017): 1:21.54
• American Record: Cal (2018): 1:21.88
• US Open Record: Texas (2017): 1:21.54
• Pool Record: Louisville (2022): 1:21.84

Top 8 finishers:

1. Florida- 1:21.13
2. Texas- 1:21.36
3. Cal/NC State- 1:21.69
4. —-
5. Alabama- 1:22.04
6. Arizona State- 1:22.25
7. Lousville- 1:22.29
8. Stanford- 1:22.41

In a thrilling final heat, Florida beat Texas at the touch to take the NCAA title in 1:21.13, the fastest time in history. The Gators were led off by Adam Chaney who split 20.19. He was followed by Dillon Hillis’ 23.20, Eric Friese’s 19.36 fly split and Will Davis’ 18.38 anchor. Friese’s fly split ties him with Joseph Schooling for the fastest 50 fly split of all time.

Texas was also under the old NCAA and US Open Record with their 1:21.36. Anthony Grimm led off in 20.65, and was followed by Caspar Corbeau (22.55), Alvin Jiang (20.08) and Cameron Auchinachie (18.08).

In total, four of the fastest five 200 medley relays in history came from this field tonight.

The first heat went to the University of Virginia, who touched in 1:22.97, with Matt Brownstead leading off in on 20.93 the backstroke leg for the Cavaliers, Noah Nichols splitting 23.23, Matt King splitting 19.94 on the fly and Augustus Lamb closing in 18.87. That is over a full second drop from their seed, and they…