2022 Big 12 Championships: Day 1 Finals Live Recap (Relays)

2022 BIG 12 SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, February 23-Saturday, February 26, 2022
• The Aquatic Center at Mylan Park – Morgantown, WV
• SCY (25 yards)
• Defending Champions:
  • Women: Texas (9x)
  • Men: Texas (25x)
• Women’s Big 12 Record Book
• Men’s Big 12 Record Book
• 2021 Big 12 Champs Results
• Championship Central
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Live Streaming: Big 12 Now On ESPN+

The Big 12 Swimming & Diving Championships get underway tonight with timed finals of the 200 medley and 800 free relays, as well as finals of the men’s 1m diving. 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 currently rank 5th in the 200 medley relay and 3rd in the 800 free relay nation-wide, even after three major conference championships. The Longhorn men rank 5th in both events, with their season-best 200 medley relay time coming from a dual meet against SMU just a few weeks ago.

WOMEN’S 200 MEDLEY RELAY – TIMED FINALS

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut – 1:36.40
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut – 1:37.05
• Meet Record – 1:34.82, Texas, 2021
• Conference Record – 1:34.26, Texas, 2021

Top 3:

1. Texas – 1:34.04
2. Kansas – 1:39.26
3. TCU – 1:39.44

The Texas Longhorn women ripped a new Big 12 Conference record in the very first heat of the night to get the Big 12 Championships off to a speedy start. Julia Cook led off in 24.26, Anna Elendt threw down a 25.73 breast split, one of the fastest few of all time, and then Olivia Bray (22.45) and Emma Sticklen (21.60) brought it home to stop the clock in 1:34.04.

That lowers the previous conference record of 1:34.26, which Texas set just a few months ago at the Minnesota Invite, and it appears to be the fifth-fastest time in the NCAA this season.

While Kansas and TCU were well behind Texas, that didn’t necessarily decrease the drama, as the two teams dueled for second place. TCU went ahead with a strong front half, but Kansas took a narrow lead with a 24.26 fly leg from Autumn Looney, then Keyla Brown anchored in 22.55 to hold that lead, and Kansas touched ahead 1:39.26 to 1:39.44.

MEN’S 200 MEDLEY RELAY – TIMED FINALS

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut – 1:24.22
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut – 1:24.83
• Meet Record – 1:23.21, Texas, 2021
• Conference Record – 1:21.54, Texas, 2017

Top 3:

1. Texas – 1:22.24
2. TCU – 1:26.21
3. WVU – 1:26.47

Texas looked prime for a big swim after going 1:23.00 against SMU just a few weeks ago, even if most of this group shouldn’t be fully tapered yet.

Sure enough, the Longhorn men broke the meet record, and swam the #3 time in the nation this season, with a 1:22.24.

Freshman backstroker Anthony Grimm led off in 20.55, setting a new personal best for him. Caspar Corbeau split 22.96 on breast, Alvin Jiang clocked a 20.13 fly split, and Cameron Auchinachie anchored in 18.60. While they may not have broken the conference record (which just also happens to be the fastest-time ever), they were 0.32s faster than they were at NCAAs last year.

Once again, it was a great race for second. WVU led after the first leg, but TCU got a 23.65 breaststroke leg from Janis Silins, and held on to the lead on the final two legs, touching out WVU 1:26.21 to 1:26.47.

Notably, Daniel Krueger anchored Texas’ ‘B’ relay in 18.84. Krueger has been a stalwart on the Longhorn relays the last few years, but Auchinachie has a faster 50 free time so far this season, and it’ll be interesting to see which of the two ends up swims free on this relay at NCAAs. However, it’s worth noting that Auchinachie led off Texas’ 200 medley relay in 20.63 back December, so there’s also still a chance he ends up on back and Krueger anchors.

Men’s 1m Diving – Finals

Top 3:

1. David Ekdahl (TCU) – 388.50
2. Andrew Harness (Texas) – 359.15
3. Manny Borowski (Texas) – 353.35

TCU’s David Ekdahl upset the vaunted Longhorn diving crew to win TCU’s first-ever Big 12 title in a diving event. Ekdahl didn’t have a great first dive, but rallied on his remaining five dives to win by nearly 30 points with a score of 388.50.

Texas’ Andrew Harness took 2nd with a score of 359.15, followed by freshman teammate Manny Borowoski at 353.15. The Longhorns are currently without their leading diver, fifth-year and Olympian Jordan Windle, who has not competed since being given a temporary suspension by the US for Safe Sport in early December.

WOMEN’S 800 FREE RELAY – TIMED FINALS

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut – 7:00.86
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut – 7:05.88
• Meet Record – 6:58.37, Texas, 2019
• Conference Record – 6:54.83, Texas, 2017

Top 3:

1. Texas – 7:01.74
2. Kansas – 7:18.94
3. TCU -7:19.25

The Longhorn women cruised to victory with a 7:01.74. They already own the #3 time in the nation this season with a 6:56.94 from the Minnesota Invite, and tonight’s relay featured the same four women in the same order.

Tonight, Kelly Pash led off in 1:44.84, versus a 1:43.84 in December. Kyla Leibel split 1:46.06, Olivia Bray went 1:44.87, and Julia Cook anchored in 1:45.97. Those three went 1:44.78, 1:43.79, and 1:44.54 respectively back in December.

Additionally, Evie Pfeifer led off Texas’ ‘B’ relay in 1:45.96, and freshman Erica Sullivan anchored in 1:45.82, as part of a 7:06.15 overall time. Those ‘B’ relays don’t count towards the score, and just as we saw in the 200 medley relay, there was a great race for the “official” 2nd-place points.

West Virginia initially had the (non-Texas) lead with a 1:48.36 leadoff by Abby Reardon. Kansas then moved ahead with a 1:47.94 split from Claudia Dougan. TCU then surged ahead on the third leg courtesy of a 1:50.24 split from Marlene Hirschberg. At that point, all three schools were within about 1.3 seconds of each other. Kansas, however, got a 1:49.65 anchor leg from Kara Church, and the Jayhawks touched first of that group in 7:18.94. TCU followed in 7:19.25, just ahead of WVU’s 7:20.65.

MEN’S 800 FREE RELAY – TIMED FINALS

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut – 6:16.80
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut – 6:21.32
• Meet Record – 6:10.55, Texas, 2008
• Conference Record – 6:05.08, Texas, 2019

Top 3:

1. Texas – 6:08.76
2. TCU – 6:25.08
3. WVU – 6:36.01

The Texas men broke a longstanding meet record as they (relatively) cruised to a 6:08.76 win tonight. That moves the Longhorns from 5th to 3rd  in the nation this season.

Drew Kibler led off in 1:32.20, Coby Carrozza split a strong 1:32.16 on the 2nd leg, freshman Luke Hobson went 1:33.22 on the third leg, and Carson Foster anchored in 1:31.18.  All four men sewed up their NCAA invites back in December, so they should have plenty more in the tank next month at the NCAA Championships.

For a quick comparison, though, Kibler has been as fast as 1:30.39 in the individual 200 free, Carrozza has been 1:32.70 individually, Hobson split 1:31.34 at the Minnesota Invite, and Foster split 1:31.55 on this relay at NCAAs.

TCU took 2nd in 6:25.08. Geremia Freri led off in 1:35.68, then the Horned Frogs got three 1:36s. Similarly, West Virginia’s fastest leg came from their leadoff swimmer, Roanoke Shirk, whose 1:37.16 was well over a second faster than anyone else on the relay. WVU finished 3rd in 6:36.01.

The Longhorns’ ‘B’ relay touched in 6:19.86. Peter Larson led off in 1:32.80, which should lock up his NCAA invite. His previous season best was a 1:33.52, and his lifetime best is a 1:32.53, which he recorded in last year’s NCAA prelims en route to an A-final appearance.