2022 M. NCAA Division I Championships: Day 4 Prelim Live Recap

2022 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 23-26, 2022
• McAuley Aquatic Center, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia (Eastern Daylight Time)
• Prelims 10AM /Finals 6PM
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Live Results
• Official Psych Sheets
• Virtual Championship Program
• SwimSwam Pick Em’s Contest
• Qualified relay teams
• Live stream link

Saturday Morning Heat Sheet

The final prelim session of the 2022 Men’s NCAA Division I Championships will take place this morning, with Cal and Texas in a tight battle for the team title. Cal enters the day with a 7.5 point lead over the Longhorns, though on the psych sheets Cal’s best day is today, meaning Texas will have some major work to do this morning to give themselves a shot at the team title.

The session starts with the 200 back and will be followed by the 100 free, 200  breast and 200 fly. Prelims start at 10 AM EST.

Team scores following day three:

1. Cal: 320.5
2. Texas 313
3. Florida: 272
4. NC State: 214
5. Indiana: 183
6. Arizona State: 167
7. Stanford: 169
8. Georgia: 150
9. Louisville/Ohio State: 108

The Cal Bears enter in a dominant position on the psych sheet in the 200 back, with sophomore Destin Lasco holding the top seed, 5th year Daniel Carr sitting 2nd and 5th year Bryce Mefford sitting 6th. Stanford’s Leon MacAlister holds the third seed, while Texas’ top seeded swimmer is 5th seed Carson Foster.

LSU’s Brooks Curry, who won the 50 free earlier in the meet, comes in as the top seed in the 100 free with his 40.99 from the SEC Championships. Tennessee’s Jordan Crooks, who threw down a massive 40.5 split at the end of the Volunteers’ 400 medley relay last night, is the second seed in 41.44, while Texas’ Daniel Krueger is the third seed in 41.45.

Last night’s 100 breast champion, Minnesota’s Max McHugh, comes in as the top seed in the 200 breast with a 1:49.45, just ahead of Penn freshman Matt Fallon and Cal senior Reece Whitley. Those three are the only swimmers in the field seeded under 1:50.

Louisville 5th year Nicolas Albiero comes in as the top seed by over a second in the 200 fly with a 1:37.92, but second seed Luca Urlando of Georgia has been on fire all week. Urlando was the runner-up in the 100 fly with a 43.80 and broke the American Record in the 100 back leading off Georgia’s 400 medley relay last night, so Urlando dropping a significant chunk in the 200 fly, which has historically been his signature event, does not seem out of the question.

200 back

• NCAA Record: Ryan Murphy (CAL): 1:35.73
• NCAA Meet Record: Ryan Murphy (CAL): 1:35.73
• American Record: Ryan Murphy (CAL): 1:35.73
• US Open Record: Ryan Murphy (CAL): 1:35.73
• Pool Record: Ryan Murphy (CAL): 1:35.73

Top 8 finishers:

1. Destin Lasco (CAL- Sophomore): 1:37.80
2. Carson Foster (TEX- Sophomore): 1:38.00
3. Daniel Carr (CAL- 5Y): 1:38.28
4. Jack Dahlgren (Missouri- Senior): 1:38.85
5. Bryce Mefford (CAL- 5Y): 1:38.94
6. Leon MacAlister (STAN- Junior): 1:38.95
7. Kieran Smith (FLOR- Senior): 1:38.99
8. Justin Grender (UVA- Senior): 1:39.49

Cal’s Destin Lasco defender his top seed, winning the final heat in 1:37.80. Texas sophomore Carson Foster qualified second in 1:38.00 and will be the lone Longhorn with a second swim tonight. Cal gains a huge advantage here, with three swimmers in the A final and a fourth swimmer in the B final

Texas’ Carson Foster won heat five in 1:38.00, touching just ahead of Cal’s Daniel Carr. Florida’s Kieran Smith was 3rd in the heat with a 1:38.99.

Cal’s Bryce Mefford won heat four in 1:38.94, .01 ahead of Stanford’s Leon MacAlister. Virginia’s Jack Aikens was out quick in the heat but faded down the stretch.

Missouri’s Jack Dahlgren put together a strong swim in heat 3, touching first in 1:38.85. That is over a two second drop from his seed of 1:40.91.

100 free

• NCAA Record: Caeleb Dressel (FLOR): 39.90
• NCAA Meet Record: Caeleb Dressel (FLOR): 39.90
• American Record: Caeleb Dressel (FLOR): 39.90
• US Open Record: Caeleb Dressel (FLOR): 39.90
• Pool Record: Caeleb Dressel (FLOR): 40.46

Top 8 finishers:

1. Bjoern Seeliger (CAL- Sophomore): 40.75
2. Jordan Crooks (TENN- Freshman): 41.16
3. Brooks Curry (LSU- Junior): 41.19
4. Andrei Minakov (STAN- Sophomore): 41.29
5. Drew Kibler (TEX- Senior): 41.45
6. Danny Krueger (TEX- Senior): 41.46
7. Matt King (UVA- Sophomore): 41.48
8. Matt Brownstead (UVA- Sophomore): 41.52

Cal’s Seeliger held on to the top seed and Crooks held on to the second seed after top seed Brooks Curry won the final heat in 41.19. Stanford’s Andrei Minakov will come in as the fourth seed in 41.29. UVA will also have two swimmers in the A final, with their sophomore duo of Matt King and Matt Brownstead qualifying 7th and 8th.

Cal’s Bjoern Seeliger blasted a 40.75 to win heat six, just ahead of Tennessee’s Jordan Crooks, who touched second in 41.16.

Texas’ Daniel Krueger won heat five in 41.46 and now sits second behind Kibler with two heats remaining.

Indiana’s Rafael Miroslaw touched first in heat four with a 41.63, just ahead of his teammate Bruno Blaskovic, who touched in 41.72.

Heat three saw Texas senior Drew Kibler win going away in 41.45, a time that should hold up to qualify for the A final.

200 breast

• NCAA Record: Will Licon (TEX): 1:47.91
• NCAA Meet Record: Will Licon (TEX): 1:47.91
• American Record: Will Licon (TEX): 1:47.91
• US Open Record: Will Licon (TEX): 1:47.91
• Pool Record: Will Licon (TEX): 1:48.12

Top 8 finishers:

1. Matt Fallon (PENN- Freshman): 1:49.03
2. Max McHugh (MINN- Senior): 1:50.31
3. Leon Marchand (ASU- Freshman): 1:50.38
4. Caspar Corbeau (TEX- Junior): 1:50.51
5. Reece Whitley (CAL- Senior): 1:50.71
6. Caio Pumputis (GT- 5Y): 1:50.85
7. Carles Coll Marti (VT- Sophomore): 1:51.19
8. Daniel Roy (STAN- Senior): 1:51.32

Matt Fallon held onto the top seed as 100 breast champion Max McHugh won the final heat in 1:50.31. Arizona State freshman Leon Marchand qualified third in 1:50.38 and Texas’ Caspar Corbeau finished 4th in 1:50.51. Cal will have 2 A finalists and 3 B finalists, while Texas will 1 A and 1 B final.

Penn freshman Matt Fallon blasted the top time in heat 6, touching in 1:49.03 to take the top seed with one heat to go. Fallon hit a huge 27.1 on the third 50 to separate himself form the field.

Cal’s Reece Whitley, the third seed, won his heat in 1:50.71. Georgia Tech’s Caio Pumputis finished second in 1:50.85.

Texas’ Jake Foster put up a massive swim in heat four, winning in 1:51.40 and now holds the top time heading into the circle seeded heats.

Cal’s Liam Bell dominated heat 2, winning in 1:52.2, dropping over two seconds from his seed.

200 fly

• NCAA Record: Jack Conger (TEX): 1:37.35
• NCAA Meet Record: Jack Conger (TEX): 1:37.35
• American Record: Jack Conger (TEX): 1:37.35
• US Open Record: Jack Conger (TEX): 1:37.35
• Pool Record: Nicolas Albiero (LOU): 1:37.92

Top 8 finishers:

1. Nicolas Albiero (LOU- 5Y): 1:39.22
2. Luca Urlando (UGA- Sophomore): 1:39.79
3. Trenton Julian (CAL- 5Y): 1:39.87
4. Brendan Burns (IU- Junior): 1:40.07
5. Christian Ferraro (GT- 5Y): 1:40.10
6. Alexander Colson (ASU- Junior): 1:40.40
7. Mason Wilby (UKY- Senior): 1:40.45
8. Gabriel Jett (CAL- Freshman): 1:40.63

Top seed Nicolas Albiero of Louisville held his top seed heading into tonight, winning the final heat in 1:39.22 to qualify more than a second and a half ahead of the field. Urlando qualified second and Julian qualified third as the only three swimmers under 1:40. Indiana junior Brendan Burns qualified fourth in 1:40.07, while Georgia Tech picked up their second A final of the day with Christian Ferraro qualifying 5th.

Cal will have two swimmers in the A final in Julian and freshman Gabriel Jett, and one swimmer in the B final. Texas will have no swimmers tonight in this event, making a Cal national championship seeming more and more likely by the event.

Notably, Northwestern’s Federico Burdisso will not have a second swim this evening after winning a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games in this event.

Georgia sophomore Luca Urlando took heat 4 in 1:39.79 to take over the top spot with one heat to go.

Cal’s Trenton Julian won the first circle seeded heat in 1:39.87 to take over the top spot with two heats remaining.