Though the final score wouldn’t indicate as such, Cal’s 175.5-120.5 win (with a one-relay exhibition) featured some great, hard-fought races. We’ll fast forward to the end of the meet, and the men’s 400 free relay.
There, USC’ Vlad Morozov, the defending 100 free Short Course World Champion, led off the Trojans in 42.64, giving USC well over a two-second lead. That first leg highlights the depth issues Cal’s sprint group is having this year now that Tyler Messerschmidt is officially redshirting. At the same time, it showed how good their top-end is to overcome those depth problems. A 43.2 from Seth Stubblefield on the 2nd leg cut the lead down by a second; he’s showing no lingering effects from an early-season injury.
(Edit: a previous version of this article incorrectly identified Shayne Fleming as the redshirted swimmer.)
Then a 43.6 from freshman Nick Dillinger made up another half-second for the Golden Bears ahead of USC’s Christian Quintero (44.1). Then, the only man who could possibly steal Vlad’s thunder at NCAA’s Tom Shields hit the water. He was up against German Olympian Dimitri Colupaev, and both swam very fast. At the final touch though, Shields’ 42.2 was just a fingernail better than Colupaev’s 43.15, as Cal took a .01 second victory in 2:54.41.
Shields, despite travelling around the globe for the FINA World Cup during the majority of the fall semester, is ready to be back and focused on his last NCAA Championships, and he showed that off at this meet. He won the 200 free in 1:34.68: a time that ranks him 5th in the country this year. He then swam a 45.85 to blow away USC freshman Maclin Davis (47.81) in the 100 fly. That swim for Shields is the 2nd fastest in the country this season, just .04 behind Arizona’s Giles Smith. That’s also a new Pool Record for Shields.
That relay wasn’t the only time Cal had a knack for just getting to the wall first. Jeremy Bagshaw won the 500 free in 4:24.50, gunning down USC’s Christian Quintero (4:24.59) in the last 25 yards.
His freshman teammate Josh Prenot also had a big meet, taking a win in the 200 breaststroke in 1:57.37 and the 200 IM in 1:47.35.
Morozov had very good swims outside of that relay, as he was the only Trojan to take more than one individual event victory. He won the 50 free in 19.32 and the 100 in 42.83. He also split an almost-surreal 18.34 at the back end of USC’s 200 medley relay. Still, another big Shields swim (a 20.19 on the butterfly) was too much for the Trojans as Cal was a 1:26.88 for the win.
The Trojans’ only other victory on the day came from freshman Morten Klarskov. He won the 100 breast in 54.99.
Olympic 100 free champion Nathan Adrian gave maybe the biggest thrill of the meet. He’s far from being ready to taper for World Championship Trials, but swam an 18.75 on exhibition during the diving break. That’s just a tenth of a second off of the time that won him the 2011 NCAA Championship in the event (18.66).
18.3 O.o jesus
18.3 in a speedo, is just ridiculous. Nathan’s 18.7 flat start was definitely most impressive swim in the break, but that was in a suit. Who knows what Vlad could do in a suit on that relay.
Shayne Fleming is red-shirting?
Odd, since he did swim a few events at the meet today. Perhaps Braden is referring to Messerschmidt.
No he is not Tyler Messerschmidt is redshirting.
Sorry all, I did mean Messerschmidt. Fleming swam last night, including a 19.5 anchor on the medley. Should be corrected now.
Josh Prenot went 1:57 after swimming the thousand! Wow. I can’t wait to see what he does with some rest.
18.3 wat even is sprinting
Some fast swimming at that meet. Shields, Adrian and Morozov were all flying. Hopefully Braden in referring to Tyler Messerschmidt, not Fleming, because he is a great relay swimmer with potential to at least final in the 50. It seems that this year is going to be a really fast NCAA’s!
Incredible day of racing in Berkeley! Cal’s guys weren’t super intensely geeked out, but they were definitely focused, determined, and ready to race.
Shields is a bad, bad man. His Spicoli-like chill brah persona belies a fierce competitor who’s a very technically adept racer. His underwaters are unbelievable. He wasn’t challenged in his individual races, but his anchor in the closing 400 free relay was very telling. Vlad destroyed everyone in his individual races, so it was odd to see him not anchoring the relay (although Cal had already clinched). Shields methodically ran Colupaev down in the final 15 yards. Messerschmidt’s “redshirt” looked problematic, but Dillinger, Stubblefield, Fleming, Fabio, and Trent Williams all swam well.
Pebley’s second half speed in the 100 back was surprising. I think of him as essentially a 200 back swimmer, but he was pretty far back at 50 and closed fast enough to win the 100. Murphy, Pebley, and Cox will be a handful in 2014. Cox is very fast in the 50, so I think yesterday’s 200 medley combo will be the one we’ll see at Pac-12s/NCAAs.
Cal takes a lot of its cues from Durden, who’s outwardly calm, but still driven and determined. A lot was made that Yuri wouldn’t be solely coaching the distance group, but he was extremely animated on the deck during the 500 and 1000, and his passion helps the team.
Vlad is a serious stud, and Quintero, Davis, and Colupaev are very good, but Salo doesn’t have enough high end depth to win it all this year. Next year’s a different story.
Adrian’s exhibition time was announced as 18.78. People were stunned by the time. Didn’t hear what Ervin’s time was, but he was pretty close to Adrian.
Essentially all of Teri’s team was there and they appear to be extremely close. Team camaraderie and chemistry are hallmarks of Teri’s teams (including the Olympics)and this team is no exception. Think the team aspect was an under reported aspect to Missy’s commitment to Cal. Still think Georgia has the edge this year since Cal hasn’t replaced Jensen, but Teri’s team will be in the hunt given their talent and cohessiveness.
Yeah I thought losing Messerschmidt would be a huge blow, but Dillinger has really started to improve in the second half. It seems like sometimes it takes guys, especially ones not from big programs, some time to adjust to college training. If Ca had a sprint focused breaststroker I’d think they would have a great chance to sweep the relays.
Even without Messerschmidt I think they can qualify a full roster of 18 for sure, including maybe a diver or two.
If Usa need a great butterflyer for future big championships , Shields is the Man . When u watch his swim , he feels like having a bit the same Big arm span that M Phelps had on butterfly .
Ok how is it in the title shields has nation leading fly but in the story it’s the 2nd fastest in the story!
Very confusing indeed. If you don’t count Giles Smith’s 100 Fly at Winter Nationals then I guess it’s the nation leading time?
Nathan Adrian is clearly at another level since last year. Every time he goes in the water he’s fast.
With Vlad swimming this fast in season, it might be possible that we see an absurd sub-18 split this year at NCAAs. Cielo swam an 18.13 (I believe) in the year he swam his 18.47, and I think Vlad is within reach of both that record and that surreal sub 18. If he somehow is able to get under 18 on a relay, regardless of what else happens at NCAAs, he should be swimmer of the year.
Swimmer of the year is all about the individual accolades… If Vlad breaks any of Cielo’s records, I’d say he wins it; unless Shields or Cordes do some crazy stuff (breaking 100 fly record and winning 3 events, cordes breaks his own records again, McBroom going sub 14:20 to spout a few…)
NCAA swimmer of the year or world swimmer?? We still have worlds..
Messerschmidt was academically ineligible after the first semester. How can he be redshirting after swimming half a season?? Doesn’t he lose that year of NCAA eligibility? They are hurting without him in the sprints. Not too impressed with Dillinger… yet.
Messerschmidt was academically ineligible during the fall semester, so he didn’t/won’t swim at all during the 2012-2013 season. He has 5 years to complete 4 years of eligibility, so calling this season a redshirt year is a charitable reading at best. Kinda like saying Cal is hurting in the sprints-wishful thinking.