5 Big Things from Day 2 of the 2015 Men’s Pac-12 Championships

Just an unreal night of racing transpired at the King County Aquatic Center, where the men of the Pac-12 took on the 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle and 200 free relay events. What were the big take-aways on Day 2 of these conference championships?  Our picks below:

#1 Dave Nolan is the new 200 IM King
Mr. Dave Nolan was, without a doubt, the star of the show, as he was crowned the new king of the 200 IM.  His superhuman time of 1:40.07 has re-written the American record, the U.S. Open record, NCAA record and conference record, and, obviously, places him at the top of the NCAA rankings in the event.  Also significant is whom Nolan replaced as the American record holder – none other than Ryan Lochte, one of the best swimmers in the world, and the athlete who had held the previous record since 2007.

Prior to today, Nolan’s lifetime best in the event was 1:41.21 clocked back at the NCAA championships in 2013 to win the title.  His fastest time since was then the 1:41.38 he registered at last year’s NCAA Championships where he came in 3rd place in the event.  Nolan’s fastest time thus far this season was the 1:46.90 he managed to throw down last week in Cal’s duel against Stanford.  So, to drop down to 1:40.07 tonight was simply magical, well-deserved and may just be the igniter needed to set fire to the Stanford Cardinal to hang on to their team’s overall point lead.

#2 Dave Nolan’s 50 freestyle split in 200 free relay
With only three heats of the men’s 50 free individual event between the 200 IM and the final event, the 200 free relay, Nolan was called to report to duty in the Stanford squad’s relay in short order.  But the new American record holder stepped up and scored big for his team, matching Cal sprinter Seth Stubblefield for the fastest split of the entire field (18.63). Nolan’s team would finish in third in the relay tonight, behind winners Cal and runner-up USC.

#3 Cristian Quintero 500 freestyle Pac-12 champion
The Venezuelan senior was positioned as third after this morning’s prelims, clocking a solid 4:16.15 easy-speed swim. He got the job done in the finals tonight, taking things up a notch to win the event in 4:11.25, a new pool record and NCAA A standard.  Quintero is now ranked #2 in the country, only behind Florida’s Mitch D’Arrigo’s 4:10.77 from the SEC Championships.  Quintero swam tonight’s race skillfully, keeping all his splits within 25 mid-to-high range, save for his last 100, where he pulled out a 25.05 and 24.13 to finish hard.  He had no choice, as his teammate Reed Malone was hot on his heels, coming home in 23.84 for his last 50 to touch just 5/100 behind Quintero in 4:11.30.

Also of note for Quintero, is that he also stepped it up on his squad’s 200 free relay, splitting a swift 18.83 for the 3rd-fastest split of the entire field in terms of raw time.  From a 500 Pac-12 title to a sub-19 50 split?  This man has got some major gears.

#4 See #1 – Congratulations again to Dave Nolan on an inspirational swim tonight.

#5 Stanford Leads in Team Standings
As a team, Stanford had just a killer day in the pool. with 3 up in the 500 free, an unreal 5 up in the 200 IM and 1 up/3 down for the 50 free.  They had the most number of swimmers in A-Finals, which game them the edge tonight as they sit in first in team standings with 385.0  It remains to be seen if a 50-point lead heading into day 3 will be enough to hold on, as Friday brings some fairly opponent-heavy events.  The Cardinal will face Cal’s Josh Prenot and Arizona’s Michael Meyer headlining the men’s 400 IM and  USC’s Cristian Quintero will be back at it again in the 200 free tomorrow.  Cal’s backstroke ace Ryan Murphy will be looking to defend his Pac-12 100 back title as well.