2021 NCAA Men: Arizona’s Brooks Fail Leads Early 1650 Free Heats with 14:31.38

2021 NCAA Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships

• When: Wednesday, March 24 – Saturday, March 27, 2021
• Where: Greensboro Aquatic Center / Greensboro, NC (Eastern Time Zone)
• Prelims 10 AM/ Finals 6 PM (Local Time)
• Short course yards (SCY) format
• Defending champion: Cal (1x) – 2019 results
• Streaming: ESPN3
• Championship Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results

Men’s 1650 Freestyle – Slower Heats

• NCAA: 14:12.08 – Bobby Finke, Florida (2020)
• Meet: 14:22.41 – Clark Smith, Texas (2017)
• American: 14:12.08 – Bobby Finke, Florida (2020)
• S. Open: 14:12.08 – Bobby Finke, Florida (2020)
• Pool: 14:23.52 – Connor Jaeger, Club Wolverine (2014)

Top 8 from Slower Heats:

1. Brooks Fail, Arizona – 14:31.38
2. Charlie Clark, Ohio State – 14:40.70
3. Alex Zettle, Texas – 14:42.40
4. Grant Shoults, Stanford – 14:46.51
5. Joshua Dannhauser, Wisconsin – 14:48.07
6. Johnthomas Larson, Texas – 14:48.17
7. Sean Grieshop, Cal – 14:48.98
8. Greg Reed, Georgia – 14:50.33

Kentucky freshman Zane Rosely won the first heat with 15:03.34, dropping 2.7 seconds off his entry time.

Florida sophomore Alfonso Mestre was out first in heat 2, half a body length ahead of Cal senior Sean Grieshop at the 400. Grieshop clicked into another gear at the 500 and moved into the lead. He outpaced the field by several tenths each 50 and led by 15 meters by about the 1200. Grieshop finished in 14:48.98 for the win. Virginia’s Jack Walker moved into second place at the halfway mark and finished with 14:56.43. Mestre was third with 15:00.21.

UNLV senior Vuk Celic and freshman Tomy-Lee Camblong of Georgia got early in heat 3, trading leads over the first half of the race, with Johnthomas Larson of Texas trailing in third. Brennan Gravley of Florida moved up to challenge Larson for positioning. Camblong took over the lead and had about 3 bodies on the field at the 1200. Larson moved past Celic into second place. Over the final 200 yards, Larson cut into Camblong’s lead and with a final sprint, he blew past the leader to win the heat in 14:48.17. Larson’s final 50 was a blazing 24.40. Camblong went 14:51.36 for second. True Sweetser of Stanford passed Gravley to touch third in 14:55.39.

The final heat began with Texas junior Alex Zettle out front with Arizona senior Brooks Fail, but at the 500 Fail left Zettle in his wake. Stanford senior Grant Shoults and Wisconsin junior Joshua Dannhauser were trailing Zettle, while Ohio State freshman Charlie Clark was a couple of seconds behind. The second half of the race saw Fail increase his lead over the field. Clark shot past Zettle. Shoults and Dannhauser began to push Zettle and at one point Shoults moved past him into third place. At the wall, it was Fail (14:31.38), Clark (14:40.70), Zettle (14:42.40), Shoults (14:46.51), and Dannhauser (14:48.07).

Fail, who came in 18th in this event at 2019 NCAAs dropped 13 seconds from his seed time and is guaranteed to score at least 9 points for Arizona. His 14:31.38 is a new program record for the Wildcats.

In the team battle between Texas and Cal, the Longhorns got two scorers while the Golden Bears had one, from the morning heats.