2016 Men’s NCAA Championships: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2016 MEN’S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, March 23 – Saturday, March 26
• McAuley Aquatic Center – Atlanta, GA
• Prelims 10AM/Finals 6PM (Eastern Time)
• Defending Champion: Texas (results)
• Championship Central
• Live stream: Wednesday/Thursday prelins & finals, Friday/Saturday prelims / Friday/Saturday finals on ESPN3
• Live results

Night 3 finals are upon us in Atlanta, with a number of historic barriers on the cusp of falling.

Cal’s Ryan Murphy has a shot at two historic backstroke marks tonight: bettering his 43.51 American record in the 100 and challenging the fastest 50 back split in history leading off the 200 medley relay. The fastest 50 back in history is believed to be Junya Koga’s 20.35 from 2014.

In the same boat is Texas sophomore Joseph Schooling, who popped a 43.3 butterfly leg on the 400 medley last night. He can challenge the U.S. Open 100 fly record as well as break a three-way tie for the best 50 fly split in history. Schooling entered that tie with 2009’s Chris Brady and Matt Targett when he went 19.66 last year.

The race of the night might be the 400 IM, where 2015 champ Will Licon of Texas tries to fend off Cal’s two-headed duo of Josh Prenot and Andrew Seliskar. Georgia’s Gunnar Bentz/Jay Litherland combo should also be in the hunt.

The 200 free is arguably the most wide open event of the meet, with almost no consensus as to who will win (at least based on our Pick ‘Em contest votes). 500 free champ Townley Haas of Texas will look to become a double-individual champ as a freshman, but it’s last year’s mile champ Matias Koski of Georgia who is the top seed.

And there’s the 100 breast, where Missouri’s Fabian Schwingenschlogl, Tennessee’s Fabian Schwingenschlogl and Louisville’s Carlos Claverie were all under 52 this morning.

Keep refreshing this page for live, event-by-event updates of all the action, and follow @SwimSwamLive on Twitter for even more up-to-the-second updates.

400 IM – Finals

• NCAA Record: 3:34.50, Chase Kalisz, 2015
• American Record: 3:34.50, Chase Kalisz, 2015
• U.S. Open Record: 3:34.50, Chase Kalisz, 2015
• Pool Record: 3:37.88, Ryan Lochte, 2006
• 2015 Champion: 3:36.37, Will Licon

Top 3:

1. Josh Prenot, Cal – 3:35.82
2. Will Licon, Texas – 3:37.40
3. Jay Litherland, Georgia – 3:38.47

Avenging a loss from last night in the 200 IM, Cal’s Josh Prenot broke through for his first career NCAA title, going 3:35.82 to beat defending champ Will Licon for the 400 IM crown.

That’s a monster swim for Prenot, ranking #2 all-time and passing up former American record-holder and Olympian Tyler Clary. Prenot was reportedly sick at this meet last year and added time from his previous seasons, going just 3:41.42. Because of the down junior year, Prenot’s swim tonight accounts for a drop of almost three seconds.

Licon had a solid swim himself, going 3:37.40 for silver. That’s still a full second off what he went last year, though, in upsetting Chase Kalisz for the NCAA title. Prenot really dominated on butterfly, splitting 48.8 to Licon’s 50.6, and that margin never really let Licon back into the race. Prenot actually outsplit Licon on breaststroke (58.1 to 59.6), which should make tomorrows 200 breast another intriguing showdown. Licon did come back better than Prenot on freestyle, though, 51.0 to 52.4.

Georgia’s sophomore duo of Jay Litherland (3:38.47) and Gunnar Bentz (3:38.59) jumped into the next two spots. Litherland had a monster of a freestyle split, going 48.8 to charge towards the top of the field, and Bentz was 49.7 himself.

Cal freshman Andrew Seliskar was 3:39.06 in taking fifth. That’s his best swim in college so far, but is a bit disappointing compared to the 3:37 he went in high school.

Also of note: Florida sophomore Mark Szaranek blasted a 3:39.28 from the B final for 9th place overall. Szaranek was a championship finalist last year but missed the cut out of prelims when it took an insane 3:41.4 just to make the top 8 this morning.

100 BUTTERFLY – Finals

• NCAA Record: 44.18, Austin Staab, 2009
• American Record: 44.18, Austin Staab, 2009
• U.S. Open Record: 44.18, Austin Staab, 2009
• Pool Record: 44.68, Joseph Schooling, 2016
• 2015 Champion: 44.51, Joseph Schooling

Top 3:

1. Joseph Schooling, Texas – 44.01
2. Caeleb Dressel, Florida – 44.40
3. Jack Conger, Texas – 44.87

It was Texas sophomore Joseph Schooling who repeated as 100 fly champ, breaking the U.S. Open and NCAA records in the process.

Schooling became the fastest man in history in the event, but just barely missed the 44-second barrier with a 44.01. That dethrones a record from the 2009 super-suit era set at 44.18 by Stanford’s Austin Staab.

Schooling was pushed early by Florida sophomore Caeleb Dressel, his former teammate at the Bolles School Sharks club in Florida. Schooling led 20.4 to 20.8 at the 50-turn before the two closed in almost-identical 23.5s. Dressel would take second in 44.40 – a time that stacks up as the 3rd-fastest of all-time. He’s only about two tenths off the American record left over because Schooling represents Singapore and can’t break the American mark.

Texas’s Jack Conger was third, closing a tenth better than the top two but not finding the early speed to match the speedsters. Conger was 44.87, about three tenths slower than he went a year ago in taking second.

It’s been a historic meet for mid-major swimmers so far, and Cleveland State junior Philipp Sikatzki provided the highest mid-major finish yet, taking 4th in 45.37. That topped Alabama sophomore Luke Kaliszak (45.49) by about a tenth.

Texas’s Will Glass won the B final in 44.93, and in a big move for Cal, sophomore Justin Lynch jumped all the way to 10th in 45.94 after tying for 17th in prelims and winning a swim-off before taking the spot vacated by his scratched teammate Long Gutierrez.

At this point, Texas leads by just under 100 over Florida. Cal is making a charge toward second, sitting just 7 back of the Gators. Meanwhile, NC State is losing a bit of steam, falling to about 50 back of the Florida/Cal battle.

200 FREESTYLE – Finals

• NCAA Record: 1:31.20, Simon Burnett, 2006
• American Record: 1:31.31, Ricky Berens, 2013
• U.S. Open Record: 1:31.20, Simon Burnett, 2006
• Pool Record: 1:31.20, Simon Burnett, 2006
• 2015 Champion: 1:32.03, Cristian Quintero

Top 3:

1. Townley Haas, Texas – 1:30.46
2. Matias Koski, Georgia – 1:31.54
3. Simonas Bilis, NC State – 1:32.10

A second-straight record from before the super-suit ban went down to a young Texas swimmer as freshman Townley Haas belted a 1:30.46 to shatter American, U.S. Open and NCAA records in the 200 free.

That’s a whale of a swim, even better than the 1:30.52 he split on opening night in the 800 free relay. That swim was the fastest relay split ever, and now Haas has actually bettered that time from a flat start. It was sheer speed the entire way, with Haas going out in 43.6 to the 100 and building a lead of almost a full second by that point.

Georgia’s Matias Koski was also quick, going 1:31.54 for second. That’s the 5th-fastest swim of all-time, and shows off Koski’s impressive range: he won the 1650 last year and is now among the fastest 200 freestylers in history.

NC State’s Simonas Bilis wetn 1:32.10 for 3rd, touching out Florida’s Jan Switkowski (1:32.14). Places 3 through 7 were all extremely close, with just seven tenths of a second separating them.

It’s been a tougher day for NC State after a hot start, but the 200 free was a nice jump-start for their momentum. Along with Bilis’s bronze, in the B final Ryan Held held onto 9th place, dropping eight tenths to go 1:32.41, and Soeren Dahl remained in 10th place with a 1:33.20, also faster than his morning swim.

Despite Haas’s win, Florida actually gained a little on Texas in this race, now sitting 85 back. Cal dropped to 21 behind the Gators and 30 ahead of NC State heading into the 100 breast.

Michigan and Georgia are engaged in a tigh tbattle for the last spot in the top 5. The Bulldogs currently lead that race by 19.

100 BREASTSTROKE – Finals

• NCAA Record: 50.04, Kevin Cordes, 2014
• American Record: 50.04, Kevin Cordes, 2014
• U.S. Open Record: 50.04, Kevin Cordes, 2014
• Pool Record: 51.53, Fabian Schwingenschlogl, 2016
• 2015 Champion: 50.25, Kevin Cordes

Top 3:

1. Fabian Schwingenschlogl, Missouri – 51.29
2. Peter Stevens, Tennessee – 51.51
3. Michael Barnosky, Air Force – 51.89

Missouri’s Fabian Schwingenschlogl successfully competed a dominant postseason in the 100 breast, going from SEC champ to NCAA top seed to NCAA prelims top qualifier to NCAA champ.

Schwingenschlogl placed 6th last year for Western Kentucky before transferring to Mizzou when the WKU program was suspended. He bettered his time from last year by almost half a second, going 51.29 to re-break the pool record he set in prelims.

Silver went to Tennessee sophomore Peter Stevens, who actually led Schwingenschlogl by a hundredth at the 50 wall. Stevens was 51.51.

Not long after we mentioned the meet’s highest mid-major finisher in the 100 fly, Air Force senior Michael Barnosky bettered that finish with a 3rd-place showing in the 100 breast. His 51.89 made him the last man in this field under 51.

Virginia Tech’s Brandon Fiala and Louisville’s Carlos Claverie tied at 52.14 for fourth place, just ahead of Oakland’s Devon Nowicki (52.22), yet another high mid-major finisher.

Arizona freshman Blair Bish won the B final in 52.18, cutting about half a second from this morning.

This event slowed down the scoring up top, with Texas and Florida combining for zero points. Cal got 5 out of sophomore Connor Hoppe and now trail Florida by 16.

100 BACKSTROKE – Finals

• NCAA Record: 43.51, Ryan Murpy, 2016
• American Record: 43.51, Ryan Murpy, 2016
• U.S. Open Record: 43.51, Ryan Murpy, 2016
• Pool Record: 43.51, Ryan Murpy, 2016
• 2015 Champion: 44.21, Ryan Murphy

Top 3:

1. Ryan Murphy, Cal – 43.49
2. Connor Oslin, Alabama – 45.32
3. Grigory Tarasevich – 45.33

With all due respect to the rest of the superhuman feats of the meet so far, Cal’s Ryan Murphy has been on another level entirely this week, and he continued the hot streak with a new American, NCAA and U.S. Open record in the 100 back.

Murphy first obliterated the record while leading off the 400 medley relay last night in 43.51. Prior to that, no man had ever been sub-44 in the race. Tonight, Murphy shaved .02 off of that mark with a 43.49 to earn a third-consecutive NCAA title in the event.

Murphy now owns the two fastest times in history along with four of the top 5. He’ll have a shot at cracking the fastest 50 back split ever in just a short while, and after going out in 20.9 to his feet in the 100 back final, it seems likely he’ll challenge the all-time record of 20.35.

Alabama junior Connor Oslin continues to impress, going 45.32 for second. That wasn’t quite his best time, but was just enough to pip Louisville’s Grigory Tarasevich (45.33) at the wall.

Brigham Young senior Jake Taylor finished 4th for the second-straight year, going 45.52, and USC’s Ralf Tribuntsov was 45.57 ahead of Murphy’s Cal teammate Jacob Pebley (45.61).

Georgia’s Taylor Dale kept up the run of strong B finals wins, going 45.13 to take 9th overall.

Big swims by Murphy and Pebley vaulted cal past Florida and into second place. They trail Texas by 74 and lead Florida by 12. NC State is pretty solidly 4th at the moment, 42 back of the Gators. Meanwhile Tennessee is making a run, passing up Michigan for 6th and sitting just 25 behind 5th-place Georgia.

200 MEDLEY RELAY – Finals

• NCAA Record: 1:22.27, Michigan, 2013
• American Record: 1:22.40, California, 2015
• U.S. Open Record: 1:22.27, Michigan, 2013
• Pool Record: 1:23.50, California, 2016
• 2015 Champion: 1:22.74, California

Top 3:

1. Alabama – 1:22.28
2. California – 1:22.49
3. Texas – 1:22.75

Though Texas had gone undefeated in relays up to this point, it was Alabama that threw down for the 200 medley title, going 1:22.28 to come within .01 of the NCAA and U.S. Open records. That was powered by Kristian Gkolomeev’s insane 18.00 split on the freestyle – the second-best freestyle split of all-time and just off of the second 17-second split in history.

Connor Oslin had a great 20.86 on the leadoff leg, with Pavel Romanov (23.40) and Luke Kaliszak (20.02) filling out the other two legs.

Cal (1:22.49) was second and Texas (1:22.75) third, each getting a record-breaking split. Ryan Murphy led off for Cal in 20.20, the fastest 50 back in history, while Texas got a 19.36 on fly from Joseph Schooling for the fastest fly split of all-time.

Back in 4th place, Florida elected to let Caeleb Dressel loose on freestyle. The sprint champ had been swimming breaststroke on the medleys this year to cover Florida’s biggest weakness, but it was certainly worth taking a rough breaststroke leg to let Dressel pop an 18.00 on free, tying Gkolomeev for the second-best split of all-time.

Louisville was fifth in 1:24.08, getting a 20.20 from flyer Josh Quallen, while Tennessee rattled yet another all-time split record from sixth place. Peter Stevens was 22.69 on the breaststroke, coming within .05 of the best split all-time, done by Cal’s Chuck Katis a year ago.

For those keeping score at home, that means one of the greatest single sessions in NCAA history included the:

• fastest 100 fly of all-time (Joseph Schooling, 44.01)
• fastest 200 free of all-time (Townley Haas, 1:30.46)
• fastest 100 back of all-time (Ryan Murphy, 43.49)
• fastest 50 back of all-time (Ryan Murphy, 20.20)
• fastest 50 fly split of all-time (Joseph Schooling, 19.36)
• second-fastest 50 breast split of all-time (Peter Stevens, 22.69)
• second-fastest 50 free splits of all-time (Kristian Gkolomeev & Caeleb Dressel, 18.00)
• second-fastest 400 IM of all-time (Josh Prenot, 3:35.82)
• second-fastest 200 medley relay of all-time (Alabama, 1:22.28)

Team Scores:

We’ll be updating these event-by-event as the meet goes on.

• 1. Texas 366
• 2. California 271
• 3. Florida 255
• 4. NC State 197
• 5. Georgia 162
• 6. Tennessee 152
• 7. Alabama 143
• 8. Missouri 140
• 9. Louisville 134.5
• 10. Michigan 118
• 11. Indiana 113.5
• 12. Auburn 111
• 13. Southern Cali 83
• 14. Stanford 78.5
• 15. Ohio St 66
• 16. Arizona 52
• 17. South Carolina 36
• 18. Pittsburgh 31
• 18. University of Miami 31
• 20. Virginia Tech 28.5
• 21. Brigham Young 27
• 22. Wisconsin 25
• 23. Minnesota 18
• 24. UNC 16
• 24. Air Force 16
• 26. Cleveland St 15
• 27. Oakland 13
• 28. Texas A&M 12
• 29. George Washington 11
• 30. Univ of Utah 9
• 30. Unlv 9
• 32. Princeton 8
• 33. Duke 7
• 34. Penn 6
• 34. Lsu 6
• 36. Hawaii 5
• 36. Georgia Tech 5
• 38. Purdue 3
• 38. Virginia 3
• 40. Iowa 2
• 40. Harvard 2
• 40. Penn State University 2