As reported by Swimswam’s Jared Anderson. Video edit by Coleman Hodges.
USC’s Cristian Quintero won the 500 with his speed, cruising out to an early lead and sitting just off NCAA record pace in the front half, and he never slowed down enough to give the field a meaningful opportunity to reel him in. Quintero went 4:10.02 to win by 1.6 seconds for the Trojans and break the pool record held by former Texas star Michael Klueh at 4:11.42.
Connor Jaeger swam one lane over, sitting at Quintero’s hip for quite awhile, and you half-expected the defending champ to make a big move late. But Quintero had too much to work with and Jaeger actually dropped off some. Florida’s Dan Wallace was lurking in an outside lane and roared past Jaeger over the final 150 or so, going 4:11.62 for second place. Jaeger wound up third with a 4:12.67.
Georgia’s Mathias Koski toko fourth in 4:13.97, beating stud Texas freshman Jack Conger. Conger went out like a lightning bolt, pushing Quintero early from lane 1, but he couldn’t hang with the front of the pack quite yet. Conger still went 4:14.34, just a few tenths off his prelims best in what was a gutsy race for him.
Florida freshman Mitch D’Arrigo dropped off pretty dramatically from his second-seeded prelims effort, going 4:15.75 for sixth. Navy’s Thomas Duvall gained a little time but held steady at 7th place in 4:16.85, and Michigan’s Anders Nielsen wound up 8th overall, the second of four Wolverine points-scorers in this race.
Cal picked up its second straight heat win in the B final, with Jeremy Bagshaw going 4:13.40 to win by a second and a half.
