2021 Big 12 Championships: Day 1 Live Recap

2021 BIG 12 SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Swimming: Wednesday, February 24 – Saturday, February 27, 2021
• Diving: Monday, March 1 – Wednesday, March 3, 2021
• Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center – Austin, TX (Central Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: Texas men (24x) & Texas women (8x) (results)
• Live Results
• Live Video
• Championship Central

The 2021 Big 12 Swimming & Diving Championships kick off tonight with timed finals of the 200 medley relay and the 800 free relay, for both women and men. While there’s not likely to be much drama — Texas should sweep all four relays — we could still be in for some fast swimming. The Texas women are currently ranked 5th and 7th nation-wide in the 200 medley and the 800 free relays, respectively. The Texas men are ranked 4th in the 200 medley relay, with the 3 times ahead of them all coming from last night’s SEC Championships.

Women’s 200 Medley Relay – Finals

• Big 12 Record: 1:35.39, Texas, 2017
• Meet Record: 1:35.39, Texas, 2017
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:36.40
• 2020 Champion: Texas, 1:36.72

Top 3:

1. Texas – 1:34.82
2. Kansas – 1:39.63
3. Texas Christian – 1:40.78

The Longhorn women improved their season-best time by nearly a second, moving them to #4 in the country. Julia Cook (24.04), Anna Elendt (26.26), Olivia Bray (22.74) were all on that team that went 1:25.78 earlier this season, while Grace Cooper (21.78) anchored instead of Bridget Semenuk.

Kansas took 2nd in 1:39.63, followed by TCU in 1:40.78. Iowa State outdueled West Virginia 1:41.07 to 1:41.82. The key difference came on breaststroke, where Paige Henley outsplit Mathilde Kaelbel 28.54 to 29.99, enabling Iowa State to hold off a charge by by Emily Haimes, who anchored in 22.26.

Men’s 200 Medley Relay – Finals

• Big 12 Record: 1:21.54, Texas, 2017
• Meet Record: 1:23.56, Texas, 2020
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:24.30
• 2020 Champion: Texas, 1:23.56

Top 3:

1. Texas – 1:23.21
2. Texas Christian – 1:26.03
3. West Virginia – 1:27.55

The Texas ‘A’ team put together a 1:23.21 that moves them to # 3 in the nation this season, behind Louisville’s 1:22.71 tonight and Florida’s 1:23.17 yesterday. Chris Staka led off in 21.03, followed by Caspar Corbeau (23.39), Alvin Jiang (20.10), and Daniel Krueger (18.69).

Texas Christian officially took 2nd in 1:26.03, with Vitauts Silins‘ 23.67 breaststroke split standing out. West Virginia took 3rd in 1:27.55.

Unofficially, the Texas ‘B’ team touched 2nd in 1:24.80, with Charlie Scheinfeld splitting 23.36 on breast, and Luke Bowman anchoring in 19.02.

Women’s 800 Free Relay – Finals

• Big 12 Record: 6:54.83, Texas, 2017
• Meet Record: 6:58.37, Texas, 2009
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 7:00.86
• 2020 Champion: Texas, 6:59.69

Top 3:

1. Texas – 6:58.42
2. Kansas – 7:16.80
3. West Virginia – 7:19.53

Texas kept the momentum going with a 6:58.42, tying NC State for the 2nd-fastest time in the country so far this season. Kelly Pash led off in a school record time of 1:42.70, followed by Evie Pfeifer (1:45.15), Olivia Bray (1:45.84), and Julia Cook (1:44.73). The Longhorns’ previous season-best time was a 7:01.69 from the Texas Hall of Fame Invite in December. Texas finished just off of the meet record of 7:58.37.

West Virginia led Kansas for most of the race, thanks to a 1:48.81 leadoff by Jordan Buechler. Kansas anchor Lauryn Parrish outsplit WVU anchor Ashley Bengtson 1:48.57 to 1:52.69, as Kansas took 2nd, 7:16.80 to 7:19.53.

Men’s 800 Free Relay – Finals

• Big 12 Record: 6:05.08, Texas, 2019
• Meet Record: 6:10.55, Texas, 2008
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 6:17.18
• 2020 Champion: Texas, 6:16.56

Top 3:

1. Texas – 6:12.07
2. West Virginia – 6:31.40
3. Texas Christian – 6:33.16

The Longhorns swam to what would be the 3rd-fastest time this season, if they didn’t already hold the top time at 6:07.34. Drew Kibler led off in 1:32.38, followed by Carson Foster (1:32.29), Austin Katz (1:34.58), and Jake Sannem (1:32.82). Three of those four men were on the relay that went 6:07 in December. Kibler was nearly two seconds off of his lead off of 1:30.57, Foster nearly matched his December split, and Sannem was just a few tenths slower. Katz, didn’t swim in December, but has swam on this relay at the 2018 and 2019 NCAA Championships. All four have secured NCAA invites, so there’s no reason for any of them to be tapered here.

West Virginia took 2nd in 6:31.4o, with Max Gustafson‘s 1:36.97 leadoff being faster than any of WVU’s flying splits. Texas Christian took 3rd in 6:33.16, again, they got their fastest split on their leadoff leg, a 1:36.75 by Dusan Babic.

On Texas’ ‘B’ relay, Peter Larson was just 0.01s shy of his lifetime best with a 1:33.56 leadoff.

Scores After Day 1

Women:

1. Texas – 80
2. Kansas – 68
3. Iowa State/Texas Christian/West Virginia – 60

Men:

1. Texas – 80
2. Texas Christian/West Virginia – 66