2021 Big Ten Men’s Championships: Day 1 Finals Recap

2021 BIG TEN MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS

• When: Tuesday, March 2nd to Saturday, March 6th | Prelims 11am | Finals 5pm Tues, 6:30pm Wed-Sat (ET)
• Where: Ohio State University (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: Michigan (1x) (2020 results)
• Streaming: Big Ten Network
• Championship Central
• Live Results

The Big Ten Men’s Championships launch tonight with Tuesday relay night, featuring the 200 medley and 800 free relays.

With diving already concluded, Ohio State gets a 100-point headstart over Indiana, while those two teams, and Purdue, were the only programs to score 100 points or more with their divers.

In the 200 medley relay, a whopping eight teams have been 1:26 this year, led by Purdue at 1:26.00. That race should be a huge battle. Meanwhile, no teams have raced the 800 free relay yet this season, but Michigan looks to have the deepest mid-distance free group in the Big Ten right now, and they’ll be the favorites.

TUESDAY NIGHT HEAT SHEETS

200 MEDLEY RELAY – TIMED FINALS

• Big Ten meet record – 1:22.76, Michigan (2019)
• Big Ten record – 1:22.27, Michigan (2013)
• NCAA automatic qualifying time – 1:24.30
• Defending champion: Indiana (1:23.07)

Top 3

1. Michigan – 1:22.35 MEET RECORD
2. Ohio State – 1:23.27
3. Indiana – 1:23.35

Michigan put forward a decisive victory in the 200 medley relay, blasting a 1:22.35 to scare the Wolverines’ Big Ten record done back in 2013 and break the meet record. Freshman Wyatt Davis was 21.07 on the back leg, the best in the field, while Will Chan dropped a big 22.67 breast leg, making him the #4 performer in history on a medley relay breast split. River Wright then turned in a 19.88 on the fly leg, another field-best, while Gus Borges anchored it in 18.73.

Ohio State was second in 1:23.27, edging Indiana, with a 22.97 breast leg from Hudson McDaniel and a massive 18.43 anchor from Sem Andreis. Their time sets a new school record, their first time under 1:25.

Indiana posted a 1:23.35, getting an 18.69 anchor leg from Jack Franzman. Freshman Tomer Frankel was 20.13 on the fly leg, while Brendan Burns moved from the fly leg to the back leg, leading off in 21.31. Zane Backes tied it together with a 23.22 breast leg.

Purdue was strong for fourth with a school-record time of 1:23.82, getting a 22.82 breast leg from Trent Pellini and an 18.59 anchor from Nikola Acin. At 1:24.86 for fifth, Penn State broke a school record, too, as did Iowa in sixth (1:25.06) and Wisconsin in seventh (1:25.24).

Down in eighth was Minnesota in 1:25.40, as Max McHugh blasted the fastest relay split ever with a 22.40 breast leg. The previous fastest-ever was a 22.58, done by USC’s Carsten Vissering in 2018. McHugh was previously ranked third all-time with a 22.69 from a January dual meet.

800 FREESTYLE RELAY – TIMED FINALS

• Big Ten meet record – 6:09.85, Michigan (2014)
• Big Ten record – 6:09.85, Michigan (2014)
• NCAA automatic qualifying time – 6:17.18
• Defending champion: Michigan (6:11.46)

Top 3

1. Michigan – 6:13.00
2. Ohio State – 6:14.51
3. Indiana – 6:16.12

Michigan throttled the final heat, the only team under 6:20 with a 6:13.00, giving them the win and their second relay victory of the night. Patrick Callan set a new lifetime best of 1:32.67 leading off, and he was followed by freshman Jake Mitchell (1:32.95), sophomore Danny Berlitz (1:33.71) and freshman Wyatt Davis (1:33.67). Berlitz had a fantastic split; he swam the mile, 400 IM and 200 breast at this meet last year, and his official best time is a 1:39.03 in the 200 free flat-start.

In heat two, Ohio State and Indiana battled it out, with OSU getting a huge 1:31.90 lead-off from senior Paul Delakis. That’s a new lifetime best for Delakis, and he sits just .02 off of the school record now. Hunter Armstrong was 1:32.66 in second, John Satterfield a 1:34.65 and Thomas Watkins a 1:35.30.

OSU was 6:14.51, ahead of Indiana’s 6:16.12, as both teams snagged NCAA ‘A’ cuts. Tomer Frankel was 1:33.17 leading off for the Hoosiers, and they also got a 1:33.54 from Brendan Burns and a 1:33.11 from Van Mathias.

Wisconsin (6:20.42) and Northwestern (6:20.58) had strong showings to take fourth and fifth, respectively, just off of the 6:20 barrier. Wisconsin had a 1:34.33 lead-off and lifetime best from Jacob Newmark and a 1:34.94 split from junior and Auburn transfer Josh Dannhauser, while Northwestern set a new school record by a second. The Wildcats got a 1:34.49 second leg from senior and Dartmouth transfer Connor LaMastra and a 1:34.96 anchor from senior Liam Gately.

Purdue was initially disqualified for ‘not exiting from the proper lane’ after they had looked to break the school record with a 6:24-high. With that DQ, Michigan jumped them to move into third. But after further review, the relay swim was reinstated, with Purdue officially going 6:24.63 to take seventh and down a school record. Nicholas Sherman‘s 1:33.81 lead-off was the standout swim there.

TEAM SCORES (through 800 free relay)

1. Ohio State – 433
2. Indiana – 319
3. Purdue – 258
4. Michigan – 223
5. Northwestern – 187
6. Wisconsin – 168
7. Minnesota – 162
8. Penn State – 129
9. Iowa – 114
10. Michigan State – 68