CRISTIAN QUINTERO – 800 FREESTYLE RELAY
On his performances so far: It’s my last NCAA (Championships) so it’s a big deal for me how well I’ve done these two days. I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished. We still have one more day and I wanted to step up and go fast. It’s really been good.
On winning the last event of the day in a dominant fashion: It’s really exciting. Swimming relays is always really exciting. I love swimming relays. It’s a risk with the exchanges and all of that. But it’s a fun race, especially with the 800 free relay when you win like that.
As reported by SwimSwam’s Jared Anderson. Video edited by Coleman Hodges.
Michigan smashed the U.S. Open record in this event at the Big Ten Championships, but in a race this long, extending tapers can change things in a hurry. As it turned out, it was USC who won the NCAA title in the event, going 6:123.09 to outlast the Wolverines and a tough Florida team.
Cristian Quintero led off for the Trojans, going 1:32.84, a great time considering it was his second all-out 200 in the same session and his third of the day. With USC leading, anchor Dimitri Colupaev accelerated away late, splitting 1:32.68 to seal the win. Joining them were freshmen Reed Malone (1:34.32) and Dylan Carter (1:33.25).
Florida battled it out with Michigan in the early going, charging out at the end to go 6:14.74 for second place. Dan Wallace anchored in 1:33.13, but Sebastien Rousseau and Marcin Cieslak each put up 1:33s of their own for the Gators.
It was a disappointing day for David Nolan, but the Stanford star did come up big on the team’s 800 free relay, splitting 1:32.89 to help the Cardinal win the first heat. Their time of 6:15.67 got them 3rd place overall. Tom Kremer was 1:33.80 for the Cardinal on the end.
Michigan took fourth behind Stanford’s early heat time. The Wolverines dropped to 6.5 seconds off their U.S. Open record time to go 6:16.37. Michael Wynalda (1:33.22) and Justin Glanda (1:33.82) put up the top splits.
Texas ended up fifth. Clay Youngquist was 1:33.54 anchoring and Kip Darmody went 1:33.4 for the fastest Longhorn split. Freshman Jack Conger was just 1:34.75 leading off, a strong time but not as good as his Big 12 effort. Texas finished in 6:16.72.
Cal followed just behind in 6:17.26. Will Hamilton went 1:33.91 for the Bears, who now sit second in team points to Texas. Auburn took 7th with a consistent relay of all 1:34s, and NC State made a big splash in taking 8th. The Wolfpack went out hard, with Jonathan Boffa leading off in 1:34.39 and Simonas Bilis going 1:32.34 for the fastest split of the field swimming second. But a 1:37.1 anchor leg doomed the Pack to drop back a ways from their early running.
Georgia was 9th from the early heat, with Mathias Koski going 1:33.1 from a flat start and Chase Kalisz adding a 1:33.80. Louisville came in behind them thanks to Joao de Lucca‘s 1:33.03.
