2018 MEN’S PAC-12 SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, February 28 – Saturday, March 3
- Federal Way, WA (Pacific Time Zone)
- Defending Champion: Stanford (2x) (results)
- Live Results
- Live Video
- Championship Central
- NCAA Qualifying
Day 2 of the 2018 Pac-12 Championships will feature a brief 3-event prelims session, starting with the 500 free where the Stanford Cardinal are expected to dominate with a deep distance crew. The day’s 2nd event, the 200 IM, should more-heavily favor Cal in the battle for the team title, as should the 50 free with Cal featuring the top 4 seeds coming into the meet, and Stanford having none better than 10th (senior Sam Perry).
USC held a 15 point lead over Cal after day 1’s relays session, with all diving points already incorporated. Stanford sits another 5 points behind Cal.
Editors note: This recap was originally posted as results happened.
Men’s 500 Free – Prelims
- Pac-12 Meet Record: 4:10.67, Grant Shoults, Stanford, 2017
- Pac-12 Conference Record: 4:08.92, Jean Basson, Arizona, 2009
- NCAA “A” Cut: 4:12.49
Stanford took 3 of the top 4 spots in the 500 free at last year’s Pac-12 Championship, and will pick up big points again this year with the top 4 qualifiers through to finals and 5 total A-finalists. The prelims swims were led by senior Liam Egan, who finished in 4:15.61, and followed by freshman Johann Calloni. Last year’s champion, Grant Shoults, qualified 2nd in 4:17.47 – he’s been 6 seconds better this season already and has an NCAA “A” standard. Another Cardinal freshman Matthew Hirschberger qualified 4th in 4:17.50.
True Sweetser, last year’s runner-up for Stanford, qualified just 12th into the final in 4;21.63. His season-best is 4:16.82, but he’s already qualified for NCAAs in the 1650 and has a “B” cut in the 500 free, so there’s no risk of him missing national championships.
The top non-Stanford qualifier is Cal’s Sean Grieshop in 4:17.87. 3 of the top 5 qualifiers are freshmen.
A-Finalists:
- Liam Egan, Stanford – 4:15.61
- Johann Calloni, Stanford – 4:17.22
- Grant Shoults, Stanford, 4:17.47
- Matthew Hirschberger, Stanford – 4:17.50
- Sean Grieshop, Cal – 4:17.87
- Nick Norman, Cal – 4:18.16
- James Murphy, Stanford – 4:18.53
- Brendan Meyer, Arizona – 4:19.05
200 IM – Prelims
- Pac-12 Meet Record – 1:39.38, David Nolan, Stanford, 2015
- Pac-12 Conference Record – 1:39.38, David Nolan, 2015
- NCAA “A” Cut – 1:41.88
Stanford and Cal are demonstrating early this meet a clear separation between them and the rest of the conference, especially in swimming. The entire A-final will be made up of 4 Cal and 4 Stanford swimmers, and Cal also holds the 9th-place qualifier in freshman Daniel Carr. In total, the two teams hold 12 of the 16 scoring positions for the final, with Arizona (2), USC (1), and Utah (1) each having a B-finalist as well.
Leading the way for Cal is senior Matthew Josa, a former DII National Champion before transferring to Cal, after a 1:42.08 in the morning. He avoided the ‘soft prelims’ time that bit him last year and left him in the B-Final, instead going a season-best this year on Thursday morning. Defending Pac-12 champion Andrew Seliskar qualified 2nd in 1:42.39, and then there was a time-gap to Curtis Ogren (1:44.25) and National Teamer Abrahm DeVine (1:44.31) as the 3rd-and-4th qualifiers.
While both teams have the same opportunity in finals, as prelims went, Cal would score 77 points in this event, and Stanford would score 63.
A-Finalists:
- Matthew Josa, Cal – 1:42.08
- Andrew Seliskar, Cal – 1:42.39
- Curtis Ogren, Stanford – 1:44.25
- Abrahm DeVine, Stanford – 1:44.31
- Trenton Julian, Cal – 1:44.59
- Michael Thomas, Cal – 1:44.60
- Alex Liang, Stanford – 1:44.81
- Jack Walsh, Stanford – 1:44.96
50 Free – Prelims
- Pac-12 Meet Record – 18.80, Brad Tandy, Arizona, 2014
- Pac-12 Conference Record – 18.63, Vlad Morozov, USC, 2013
- NCAA “A” Cut – 19.05
The Cal men made another big leap forward in the 50 free, where they put 4 of their 5 entrants into the A final, and what’s more took 4 of the top 5 spots. Stanford, meanwhile, had just 1 A-finalist – freshman Alberto Mestre, who qualified 6th in 19.51.
Justin Lynch led all qualifiers with a 19.10 in prelims, which beats his previous lifetime best from NCAAs last year by .12 seconds. He was followed by USC’s Santo Condorelli in 19.22. That’s a new lifetime best for the 2016 Canadian Olympian – the first time he’s done so in this event since the 2015 Pac-12 Championships.
Cal’s Pawel Sendyk (19.33), Michael Jensen (19.36), and Ryan Hoffer (19.46) round out the top 5.
Arizona’s Chattham Dobbs (19.52) and USC’s Dylan Carter(19.56) also snuck into the A-final.
A-Finalists:
- Justin Lynch, Cal – 19.10
- Santo Condorelli, USC – 19.22
- Pawel Sendyk, Cal – 19.33
- Michael Jensen, Cal – 19.36
- Ryan Hoffer, Cal – 19.46
- Alberto Mestre, Stanford – 19.51
- Chatham Dobbs, Arizona – 19.52
- Dylan Carter, USC – 19.56
You know Shoults wasn’t putting too much effort in when you see that his last 50 was a 23.
Josa splitting 29.2 in the breaststroke. Did he do that with legal breaststroke? Super sus ?
I think it’s interesting that Pac-12 meets are still held in Federal Way, 7 or 8 years after UW lost its swim teams.
the only place that is indoors and big enough for a championship in the Pac -12
However apt the moniker, I believe it is Nick Norman rather than “Nick Normal”
What’s the deal with ASU??
Maybe the big few guns aren’t rested?
Remember when ASU best Texas, and way too many people said how bad Texas was and how great ASU was, remember that?
Go Trenton!!
Cal freshman Trenton Julian had a MASSIVE drop in the 200 IM.. I believe his previous best was a 1:47 which would mean a drop of almost 3 seconds, excited to see what he can do in his other events at this meet
Yes, he unfortunately got injured for a good portion of his senior year so its great to see him healthy and performing well.
Justin Lynch just keeps improving