2016 Men’s NCAA Championships: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

2016 MEN’S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

Day 2 of the 2016 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships will really start to separate the contenders from the pretenders in Atlanta, Georgia. Per psych sheet scoring, Texas is seeded to score 128 points, North Carolina State 112 points, and Florida a whopping 149 points. Those are the only three teams scheduled for over 100 points on the day.

Florida’s big day will be highlighted by sprinter Caeleb Dressel in the 50 free. At the 2016 SEC Championships, Dressel swam the two-fastest 50 yard freestyles in history. He’ll look to recapture that magic and shoot for a third-straight NCAA title in his best event.

 200 FREE RELAY – PRELIMS

  • NCAA Record: Auburn, 1:14.08
  • American Record: Stanford, 1:15.26
  • U.S. Open Record: Auburn, 1:14.08
  • Pool Record: NC State, 1:15.62
  • 2015 Champion: Texas, 1:15.86

NC State and Texas set themselves up for a great race tonight. Each team had three swimmers under the 19 second barrier. NC State just missed their own pool record from the 2015 ACC Championships with their time of 1:15.75 and Texas is just behind them at 1:15.84.

Simonas Bilis was most impressive for NC State, cutting about two tenths off his lifetime-best to go 18.76 on the leadoff leg. Ryan Held was 18.65 and Andreas Schiellerup 18.89.

Texas, meanwhile, got a pair of 18.7s from Brett Ringgold and John Murray, with Jack Conger going 18.83. It seems likely that Joseph Schooling will join this relay tonight, where he’s capable of an 18-second split or 19-low leadoff of his own.

Caeleb Dressel led off Florida’s third place relay in 18.32, breaking the pool and championship 50 freestyle records. The Gators finished with a final time of 1:16.25.

Alabama, Missouri, Michigan, Auburn, and California will make up the rest of the 200 freestyle relay A final. It took a 1:17.24 to qualify for the A final and a 1:18.25 to qualify for the B final.

2014 NCAA 50 free champ Kristian Gkolomeev continued to look a little off his form for Alabama, leading off in 19.15. He was 18.6 last year.

Most of the other top individual 50 free threats weren’t overly impressive either. Missouri’s Michael Chadwick was 19.21, which is fairly close to his lifetime-best, Michigan’s Paul Powers was just 19.18 and Auburn’s Peter Holoda 19.33.

Cal barely snuck into the final, but did get an 18.65 anchor from Ryan Murphy.

Top 8 Qualifiers:

  1. NC State – 1:15.75
  2. Texas – 1:1584
  3. Florida – 1:16.25
  4. Alabama – 1:16.58
  5. Missouri – 1:16.87
  6. Michigan – 1:16.91
  7. Auburn – 1:17.16
  8. California – 1:17.24

500 FREE – PRELIMS

  • NCAA Record: Peter Vanderkaay, Michigan, 4:08.60
  • American Record: Peter Vanderkaay, Club Wolverine, 4:08.54
  • U.S. Open Record: Peter Vanderkaay, Club Wolverine, 4:08.54
  • Pool Record: Peter Vanderkaay, Michigan, 4:08.60
  • 2015 Champion: Clark Smith, Texas, 4:09.72

Swimmers from eight different schools put swimmers in the A final this morning, demonstrating how deep this event is across the country. Florida’s Mitch D’Arrigo earned the top seed with his time of 4:11.48, finishing just ahead of South Carolina’s Akaram Mahmoud, Texas’ Townley Haas, and Michigan’s Anders Nielsen at 4:12’s.

Standord’s Liam Egan, USC’s Reed Malone, Wisconsin’s Matthew Hutchins, and NC State’s Anton Ipsen were the last four to qualify for the A final. It took a 4:13.97 to make the A final and a 4:16.79 to make the B final.

The biggest surprise in the 500 freestyle was Clark Smith. After winning this event a year ago, Smith failed to make it back to the A or B final with his time of 4:17.17.

Top 8 Qualifiers:

  1. Mitch D’Arrigo, Florida – 4:11.48
  2. Akaram Mahmoud, South Carolina – 4:12.59
  3. Townley Haas, Texas – 4:12.68
  4. Anders Nielsen, Michigan – 4:12.77
  5. Liam Egan, Stanford – 4:13.52
  6. Reed Malone, USC – 4:13.59
  7. Matthew Hutchins, Wisconsin – 4:13.74
  8. Anton Ipsen, NC State – 4:13.74

200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY – PRELIMS

  • NCAA Record: David Nolan, Stanford, 1:39.38
  • American Record: David Nolan, Stanford, 1:39.38
  • U.S. Open Record: David Nolan, Stanford, 1:39.38
  • Pool Record: Ryan Lochte, 1:40.08
  • 2015 Champion: David Nolan, Stanford, 1:39.38

The 200 IM battle has been widely expected to be between Cal’s Josh Prenot and Texas’s Will Liconbut a third party jumped into the middle of that race in prelims. Prenot is the top qualifier at 1:41.07, a full second faster than he went at this meet last year. Licon, who was second in this race a year ago, was a smooth 1:41.36 for the 3rd seed.

In between is Cal’s Ryan Murphywho took off a little more than half a second from last year to go 1:41.15. Murphy is currently the nation’s best college backstroker, which gives him a distinct advantage over Prenot and Licon both of whom are more known as breaststrokers.

The showdown tonight should be fantastic – if Murphy wins the 200 IM, he instantly becomes a heavy favorite to become the NCAA’s first male triple individual winner wince Ryan Lochte, given that Murphy is heavily favored in both backstrokes. Licon and Prenot will battle in all three of their events this week, so either of them can take the early upper hand with a win tonight.

Not to be forgotten beyond those three, a pair of elite young IMing talents are 4th and 5th. That’s Cal freshman Andrew Seliskar and Georgia sophomore Gunnar Bentz, both of whom were among the top all-around recruits in their classes. Seliskar was 1:41.65 and Bentz 1:41.72 – those are both lifetime-bests, Seliskar by more than a second and Bentz by seven tenths.

Also into the A final: ACC breakout star Brandon Fiala of Virginia Tech (1:41.95) and Florida Gator sophomore duo Mark Szaranek (1:42.03) and Jan Switkowski (1:42.15).

Top incoming seed and SEC champ Joe Patching of Auburn fell all the way to a tie for 9th, despite gaining only four tenths of a second in a race where athletes vastly outperformed their seeds at the top.

Top 8 Qualifiers:

  1. Josh Prenot, California – 1:41.07
  2. Ryan Murphy, California – 1:41.15
  3. Will Licon, Texas – 1:41.36
  4. Andrew Seliskar, California – 1:41.65
  5. Gunnar Bentz, Georgia – 1:41.72
  6. Brandon Fiala, Virginia Tech – 1:41.95
  7. Mark Szaranek, Florida – 1:42.03
  8. Jan Switkowski, Florida – 1:42.15

50 FREE – PRELIMS

Florida’s Caeleb Dressel managed to outdo his relay leadoff in the individual prelim, going 18.29 to break the pool record for the second time today. Dressel sits just six hundredths off his American and NCAA record from SECs, and has a legitimate shot to take the record into the 18.1s tonight.

It’s not very often a swimmer leads the NCAA 50 free prelims by half a second, but Dressel accomplished that rare task this morning. Dressel is exactly a half-second up on NC State’s Simonas Bilis – and Bilis had a great swim himself. The Wolfpack senior shaved .12 seconds off his lifetime-best prior to this meet, going 18.79 to stay consistent with his 18.76 lifetime-best leadoff in the 200 free relay. Bilis has now moved up to #9 all-time with that swim.

Michigan’s Paul Powers is third at 18.99, a tenth off his Big Ten record from the conference rounds. NC State will also add ACC Champion Ryan Held (19.01) to the final, with Missouri’s Michael Chadwick (19.06) and Georgia’s Michael Trice (19.16) jumping in from the SEC.

Texas’s John Murray has the last guaranteed finals spot in 7th at 19.17. A single hundredth behind him, we’ve got a three-way swim-off cued up for the final championship heat lane. That’s between 2014 NCAA 50 free champ Kristian Gkolomeev of Alabama, Auburn’s latest breakout sprinter Peter Holoda and Texas sophomore Brett Ringgold. All three men were 19.18 this morning.

Update: All three men went faster in the swim-off, with Gkolomeev rolling to a 19.04 for the A final spot. Ringgold was 19.09 – a new lifetime-best – for second, and he and Holoda (19.13) will take the two inside lanes of the B final tonight.

Top 8 Qualifiers:

  1. Caeleb Dressel, Florida – 18.29
  2. Simonas Bilis, NC State – 18.79
  3. Paul Powers, Michigan – 18.99
  4. Ryan Held, NC State – 19.01
  5. Michael Chadwick, Missouri – 19.06
  6. Michael Trice, Georgia – 19.16
  7. John Murray, Texas – 19.17
  8. T-8 Peter Holoda, Auburn – 19.18
  9. T-8 Brett Ringgold, Texas – 19.18
  10. T-8 Kristian Gkolomeev, Alabama – 19.18

400 MEDLEY RELAY – PRELIMS

  • NCAA Record: Texas, 3:01.23
  • American Record: California, 3:01.60
  • U.S. Open Record: Texas, 3:01.23
  • Pool Record: Louisville, 3:06.06
  • 2015 Champion: Texas, 3:01.23

Texas cruised its way to the top spot in the medley relay to close the morning. After leaving Joseph Schooling off of the 200 free relay, the Longhorns elected to use him on the butterfly leg here to the tune of a 45.4 split. Schooling is expected to swim both relays tonight.

The Texas lineup was pretty much straight-up for prelims, with freshman John Shebat on backstroke (45.87), Will Licon on breaststroke (51.11) and Jack Conger manning the anchor leg (41.92). Coach Eddie Reese could try to get creative tonight in sliding Conger to backstroke and replacing the free leg, but it seems like this morning’s lineup is the best bet for a Texas repeat.

Missouri had a great swim to vault to second in 3:04.66. That included a 41.20 anchor leg from Michael Chadwick, plus a 50.62 out of top 100 breast seed Fabian Schwingenschlogl. The Tigers should actually be faster tonight, with backstroker Carter Griffin about a half-second off his best this morning in 47.1.

Louisville and Cal roll in next. The Cardinals got a big 45.65 leadoff leg from Grigory Tarasevich to go 3:04.92. Cal swam a shuffled lineup, using Jacob Pebley (45.91) on backstroke instead of NCAA champ Ryan Murphyplus swapped Justin Lynch from fly to free (he went 42.46) and used Long Gutierrez on fly (45.42).

Adding Murphy alone could account for as much as two full seconds, though the Bears are a bit hurting for a killer anchor leg with Tyler Messerschmidt struggling this year. Cal was 3:05.32 this morning.

NC State is in at 3:05.88, with Hennessey Stuart leading off in 45.5. Indiana got a big 41.68 anchor split out of Blake Pieroni to go 3:05.90.

Tennessee and Florida are the last two in. The Vols had the field’s best breaststroke split in a blazing 50.31 from Peter Stevens, while Florida used Caeleb Dressel on breaststroke but only got a 52.32 with Dressel fairly fatigued after a pair of 18.2 50 freestyles.

One notable DQ – USC would have made the B final, but a false start on breaststroker Carsten Vissering leaves them out of the running for tonight.

Top 8 Qualifiers:

  1. Texas – 3:04.31
  2. Missouri – 3:04.66
  3. Louisville – 3:04.92
  4. California – 3:05.32
  5. NC State – 3:05.88
  6. Indiana – 3:05.90
  7. Tennessee – 3:05.94
  8. Florida – 3:05.99

In This Story

206
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

206 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Zach
8 years ago

Pity Bama didn’t use the super Greek on the 400 medley relay this morning; after the fly leg they had the third fastest time among the top 8. I know they wanted to save him for 50 swim off, but their 400 medley relay could have been a top 3 final contender, which would bring home more points than the 50. And Kristian still would have earned points in the 50 consoles. Interesting decision.

CraigH
8 years ago

They looked like the odds on favorite going in, but with the way NC State is swimming, it could be closer than I expected. Still, with Texas’s diving, nobody will touch them.

NeutralFan
8 years ago

Prenot had the slowest free split in the top 8 by .5. He’s going to light it up when he actually finishes the race

JohnMurrayWillWinThe1650
8 years ago

Does anyone have video of Smith’s swim?

HulkSwim
8 years ago

Looked to me like he only raced the BR split

SlickNick
8 years ago

Can Anybody tell me what happened Steven Stumph in the 200 IM? he used to be around 1:45 high.

Penguin
Reply to  SlickNick
8 years ago

probably a warm up for breaststroke. did the same thing last year. wouldn’t surprise me if his 200 brst ended up being faster than that 2 IM

HulkSwim
8 years ago

I’ll say it… Texas with 3 up and 2 down is disappointing.

HulkSwim
Reply to  HulkSwim
8 years ago

Florida 4 up and 1 down. California 3 up 0 down.

NC State 3 up and 4 down. Damn.

Gator
Reply to  HulkSwim
8 years ago

Cal has 1 down, pebley?

HulkSwim
Reply to  Gator
8 years ago

Yup. My bad.

Sean Justice
Reply to  HulkSwim
8 years ago

With the strength of their relays, Texas will probably be able to maintain/hold on. However, you need all the points you can get because NCAAs is just so fast. I remember when Dusing went 1:42 for the NCAA record in the IM and thinking that was freaking fast. Now that time might not make it into the top 8!!

enchanted rock
Reply to  HulkSwim
8 years ago

Texas should have 2 in the A Final in diving tonight

Wiscoswimmer
8 years ago

Wow, Lucas Kaliszak, 18.95 relay split w .87 reaction! Could have been one of the fastest in the field…

1anda2
Reply to  Wiscoswimmer
8 years ago

That was probably a misfire on the pad. There were some 0.9+ relay takeoffs listed last week, too.

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

Read More »