Vlad Morozov Has More Barriers to Break

2013 Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships – 50 Freestyle Final as reported by Braden Keith

Video captured by Garrett McCaffrey

The record was on notice in this 50 free flat start. There was little question at this point that USC’s Vlad Morozov would win the race, but whether or not he’d break Cielo’s legendary record of 18.47 was on everyone’s mind.

Morozov’s feet hit on the turn in 8.99. If you want to talk 25 splits (and we certainly do), that’s actually right where he needed to be. Cielo’s fastest swim ever had him turning in 8.88.

Vlad came home in 9.64, but that just wasn’t quite enough, as he finished in 18.63. That makes him the 3rd-fastest 50 yard freestyler in history, and it was the 4th-fastest 50 yard freestyle in history (behind Cielo and Targett, just jumping ahead of an 18.66 from Nathan Adrian).

Vlad’s start was phenomenal on this swim; he may have come in a bit short on his turn, which probably cost him the record; with margins this small, even the tiniest of errors will do that.

Auburn’s Marcelo Chierighini took 2nd in 18.99. Probably not as fast as he had hoped for (he was 18.8 at SEC’s), but Auburn will surely take the points. Minnesota’s Derek Toomey was 3rd in 19.18. The Gophers have had a lot of great sprinters in the last few years, but you’ll be surprised to learn that Toomey was their first A-Finalist in this race since 1992.

Michigan’s Miguel Ortiz added a little bit from his prelims swim, but so did everyone else outside of the top two. The result was a 19.39 and a few points picked up from the morning for Michigan.

Florida’s Brad deBorde was 4th in 19.40, followed by Cal’s Seth Stubblefield in 19.40. That’s a better time than Stubblefield was in finals last year, even though it resulted in a lower position (he was 5th last year in 19.57).

Auburn’s James Disney-May and Cal’s Shayne Fleming tied for 7th in 19.58.

Indiana’s Daniel Kanorr is performing big for the Hoosiers. All season, we’ve been saying that Indiana needs a freestyler, Indiana needs a freestyler. So far this week, their freestyler has been their biggest out-performer. He won the B-Final in 19.42, followed by Michigan’s Bruno Ortiz in 19.56. That was another spot where Michigan moved up from prelims; another Wolverine, Zach Turk, was 11th in 19.66.

Utah’s Nick Soedel was 12th in 19.71; along with diver Josiah Purss on the 1-meter (16th), this is the first time that the Utah Utes have had multiple NCAA All-Americans since 1975. And this is only day 1.

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About Gold Medal Mel Stewart

Gold Medal Mel Stewart

MEL STEWART Jr., aka Gold Medal Mel, won three Olympic medals at the 1992 Olympic Games. Mel's best event was the 200 butterfly. He is a former World, American, and NCAA Record holder in the 200 butterfly. As a writer/producer and sports columnist, Mel has contributed to Yahoo Sports, Universal Sports, …

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