2022 MEN’S BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS: DAY 3 FINALS LIVE RECAP

2022 MEN’S B1G SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• February 23-26, 2022
• Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center, West Lafayette, IN
• SCY (25 yards)
• Prelims at 10AM Eastern, Finals at 5:30PM Eastern
• Defending Champions: Michigan (2x)
• Championship Central
• Live Results
• Live Stream: DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4
• B1G Men’s Record Book
• 2021 Men’s B1G Champs Results
• Friday Prelims Recap

Heading into the third night of finals, swimmers will compete in the 100 fly, 400 IM, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, and 200 free relay, while the divers will compete in the 3-meter. Ohio State is No. 1 in team rankings after Thursday’s finals session, leading the pack with 487.5 points, followed by Indiana (449 points) and Michigan (408 points) to round out the top three.

The night promises close races, especially given that prelims this morning featured: in the 100 fly the top 8 finishers all finished within .6 of each other; in the 100 breast, the top 5 swimmers are within about a tenth of a second from each other; and in the 200 free, the top 4 finishers were separated by less than .2.

Tonight’s session has 4 swimmers looking to defend their Big Ten titles from last year. Indiana’s Tomer Frankel, seeded 2nd after prelims in the 100 fly, will have to compete with two IU teammates in the A heat, including No. 1 seed Bruno Blaskovic, who shaved .7 off his seed time to take the top spot with a time of 45.24.

In the 400 IM, reigning champ Michael Daly is seeded 3rd after Michigan’s Jared Daigle and Wisconsin’s Caleb Aman. Daigle was the top seed heading into prelims, and won bronze in the event last year.

Minnesota’s Maxwell McHugh is looking to defend his title in the 100 breast, where he is seeded 3rd after prelims, behind Wisconsin’s William Myhre and Ohio State’s Hudson McDaniel. McHugh, the current B1G record holder, will likely swim significantly faster than his prelims time of 52.06.

Gabriel Fantoni, who won the 100 back last year, is now seeded at No. 2 with a 45.34, while OSU’s Hunter Armstrong leads with a 44.90. In prelims, results originally listed Minnesota’s Desmon Sachtjen as a DQ. However, that DQ has since been overturned and Sachtjen will compete in tonight’s A-final as the 6th seed.

In the 200 free, last year’s champion graduated, and those looking to fill the void include No. 1 seed from prelims Jacob Newmark, No. 2 Frankel, and No. 3 Rafael Miroslaw, as well as top seed heading into the prelims Patrick Callan, who swam a 1:34.27 in the morning but has been as fast as 1:32.63.

Purdue’s Tyler Downs, a freshman, leads the 3-meter heading into finals with his score of 450.90.

In the 200 free relay, Indiana has the chance to break its own B1G meet record–1:16.01, set in 2019. The school’s best relay this year has been a 1:16.63, which is also top in the conference, followed by Michigan’s 1:16.92.

Men 100 Fly–Finals

• B1G Meet: 44.79 – Vinicius Lanza (2018)
  • A NCAA Qualifying: 44.96
  •  B NCAA Provisional: 47.43
  • 2021 Invite Time: 46.29

Top 3:

1. Alex Quach (OSU) – 44.74
2. Tomer Frankel (IU) – 44.81
3. Gal Cohen Groumi (MICH) – 45.01

OSU freshman Alex Quach surged from his No. 3 prelims seed to break the meet record in the 100 fly with his time of 44.74. Dropping a half second from prelims, Quach defeated reigning champ Tomer Frankel, who came in 2nd and would have broken the meet record if not for Quach’s swim. Previously, Quach’s best time was 46.02, from the Tim Welsh Classic in January.

Quach’s time would have earned him 7th at NCAA Championships last year, just behind Antani Ivanov’s 44.67.

Quach is now the 2nd-fastest 100 butterflier in the conference, ever, after Vini Lanza, who has the conference record with his time of 44.37, which he swam at the 2019 NCAAs. Both Quach and Frankel swam an NCAA A qualifying time, and faster than Frankel’s winning 2021 B1G time of 44.91.

Gal Cohen Groumi was the top seed heading into the event, but he finished 3rd in finals with his time of 45.01. Bruno Blaskovic, who was seeded 1st in the event after prelims, added .76 seconds to his prelims time to come in 8th in the heat. In total, there were 1.26 seconds between the 1st and 8th swimmer in the A heat.

Four of the 8 swimmers in the A final heat were freshmen.

Men 400 IM–Finals

• B1G Meet: 3:38.03 – Tyler Clary (2009)
  •  A NCAA Qualifying: 3:39.16
  •  B NCAA Provisional: 3:51.46
  • 2021 Invite Time: 3:45.67

Top 3:

1. Jared Daigle (MICH) – 3:41.01
2. Jacob Mitchell (MICH) – 3:41.39
3. Caleb Aman (WISC) – 3:41.42

Jared Daigle held on to his No. 1 prelims time, finishing with a 3:41.01, .08 faster than Michael Daly‘s winning time in 2021. Michigan swept the first two spots, with sophomore teammate Jacob Mitchell coming in just .38 after Daigle, and just .03 ahead of No. 3 Caleb Aman.

Daigle finished 3rd last year at the conference championships, and his finish tonight is his best time. Mitchell also swam a best time, as well as Aman. All three swimmers beat their pre-championship best times by two seconds or more.

With his time, Daigle would’ve finished 6th at the 2021 NCAAs, higher than any other B1G swimmer. He would’ve finished right behind Jake Foster’s 3:40.16. Mitchell would’ve come in 7th at the national meet in 2021.

Daly was pushed off the podium with his time of 3:42.49, coming in 4th. He led for the first 200, but slipped to 3rd during the 100 breast, and then to 4th in the 100 free.

Men 200 Free–Finals

• B1G Meet: 1:31.14 – Blake Pieroni (2018)
  •  A NCAA Qualifying: 1:32.05
  •  B NCAA Provisional: 1:36.32
  • 2021 Invite Time: 1:34.04

Top 3:

1. Rafael Miroslaw (IU) – 1:32.17
2. Tomer Frankel (IU) – 1:33.02
3. Jacob Newmark (WISC) – 1:33.15

Miroslaw is the new reigning champ in the 200 free, the second freshman in this session to win an event. Miroslaw’s time of 1:32.17 is just off his fastest time of 1:31.89, which he swam earlier in the meet as a part of the 800 free relay. Miroslaw’s time would’ve placed him 4th at the 2021 NCAAs, behind Kieran Smith, Drew Kibler, and Trenton Julian. Miroslaw is also the 5th-fastest 200 freestyler all-time in the Big Ten from his time earlier in the meet–Blake Pieroni still holds the top honor and the conference record.

This is Frankel’s 2nd silver of the night, after just missing 1st in the 100 fly. He was seeded 2nd after prelims, though, so he didn’t lose or gain any spots.

Sophomore Jacob Newmark, seeded 1st after prelims, slipped to 3rd in finals. He finished 17th in last year’s conference championship, however, so his final performance is a sharp improvement from his freshman year.

The top three finishers in this event were underclassmen, and the A heat only featured two upperclassmen–seniors Patrick Callan and Nicholas Sherman.

Men 100 Breast–Finals

• B1G Meet: 50.19  – Maxwell McHugh (2021)
  • A NCAA Qualifying: 51.59
  •  B NCAA Provisional: 54.27
  • 2021 Invite Time: 52.40

Top 3:

1. Maxwell McHugh (MINN) – 50.67
2. Kevin Houseman (NU) – 51.23
3. Joshua Matheny (IU) – 51.65

McHugh won the 100 breaststroke for the third year in a row, and the only reigning champ this session to successfully defend his title. But McHugh couldn’t quite break his meet record of 50.19, which he swam at prelims last year. McHugh’s best time, which is also makes him the 2nd-fastest in the event of all time, is 50.18, his NCAA-winning time from last year. McHugh actually tied his time from the 2020 Big Ten Championships, which happens to be his 9th-fastest time in the event, ever.

McHugh did break Ian Finnerty’s pool record of 51.54, set in 2018.

Houseman improved from his 8th-place finish at the 2021 Big Ten championships to take 2nd. Houseman also swam a personal best, beating his previous personal best of 51.33 from the 2021 Purdue Invite. This time would’ve placed Houseman 5th at 2021 NCAAs, the 2nd-fastest Big Ten swimmer behind McHugh.

Matheny also swam a personal best, improving from his 51.84 PB from high school. This is Matheny’s debut at conference champs. He also would’ve finished in the top 8 at the 2021 NCAAs. Given that last year’s NCAA finals in the event only featured two Big Ten swimmers, Houseman’s and Matheny’s potential to make the A final alongside McHugh could be a major win for the conference come March.

Men 100 Back–Finals

• B1G Meet: 44.36 – Hunter Armstrong (2022)
  •  A NCAA Qualifying: 44.94
  •  B NCAA Provisional: 47.77
  • 2021 Invite Time: 46.37

Top 3:

1. Brendan Burns (IU) – 44.31
2. Hunter Armstrong (OSU) – 44.78
3. Gabriel Fantoni (IU) – 45.05

Burns smashed the B1G meet record and narrowly beat the conference record with his time of 44.31. Burns defeated Hunter Armstrong‘s meet and conference record time of 44.36, from the 400 medley relay earlier in the 2022 Big Ten Championships. Burns’ time is also a pool record.

Burns previously was the 2nd-fastest all-time in this event in the Big Ten with his time of 44.43, which he swam as part of the 400 medley relay on Thursday. Both he and Armstrong received A qualifying times, though Burns was the only one to receive a best time of the two. His time would’ve earned him 2nd at NCAAs, behind Shaine Casas’ 44.20.

Burns didn’t swim this event at Big Ten Championships last year, instead swimming the 100 and 200 fly. In 2020, however, he placed 2nd in the 100 back behind Fantoni.

Fantoni, the reigning champ, came in 3rd, though his time is faster than the 45.34 it took to win the event last year.

Men 3 Mtr Diving–Finals

• B1G Meet: 540.55 – Steele Johnson (2018)

Top 3:

1. Andrew Capobianco (IU) – 467.75
2. Jordan Rzepka (PUR) – 451.90
3. Quinn Henninger (IU) – 451.40

Andrew Capobianco, who finished 4th at the 2021 Big Ten Championships, won the 3 mtr Friday evening. He was the only senior on the podium–both Rzepka and Henninger are freshmen.

Capobianco was seeded 2nd going into finals, behind Tyler Downs. Rzepka was seeded 8th and Henninger was seeded 7th.

Capobianco improved over 20 points to take 1st, but Rzepka had the most astonishing improvement, gaining 64 points between prelims and finals. Henninger also gained a lot, almost 46 points.

Greg Duncan, who finished 11th last year, finished 4th, and Jake Butler, who finished 5th last year, finished 7th. In the A final, there were 4 freshmen making their debuts at the championships.

Men 200 Free Relay–Finals

• B1G Meet: 1:16.01 – Indiana (2019)
  • A NCAA Qualifying: 1:17.07
  • B NCAA Provisional: 1:17.80

Top 3:

1. Ohio State – 1:15.28
2. Indiana – 1:15.81
3. Purdue – 1:16.85

Ohio State broke the Big Ten record with its time of 1:15.28, defeating Indiana’s 1:15.41 from the 2019 NCAA Championships. The team consisted of Hunter Armstrong (18.98), Semuede Andreis (18.61), Alex Quach (18.97), and Ruslan Gaziev (18.72).

OSU defeats the record set by Zach Apple, Bruno Blaskovic, Mohamed Hassan, and Brandon Hamblin.

Indiana, which was seated first going into the meet, placed 2nd, but the team’s time was still faster than the meet record from 2019. Indiana’s team was comprised of Bruno Blaskovic (19.40), Jack Franzman (18.99), Rafael Miroslaw (18.83), and Van Mathias (18.59).

Purdue maintained its No. 3 seed, dropping .27 off its seed time. Nicholas Sherman (19.54), Ryan Hrosik (19.11), Nikola Acin (19.20), and Braden Samuels (19.00) swam a total time of 1:16.85.

No. 2 seed Michigan dropped to 4th after Ohio State’s leap up the podium, though the team only added .12 to its seed time.

Team Scores – Through Day 3

1. Indiana: 972.5 points
2. Ohio State: 940.5 points
3. Michigan: 756.5 points
4. Wisconsin: 564.5 points
5. Purdue: 556 points
6. Northwestern: 511 points
7. Penn State: 427 points
8. Minnesota: 404 points

Ohio State dropped out of first after leading Indiana in the previous session. Indiana picked up major points, having multiple swimmers in A finals for several events on Friday. Indiana also gained significant points from Burns, Frankel, Miroslaw, Fantoni, and Capobianco. Ohio State, meanwhile, only had two swimmers make top three in individual events on Friday: Quach and Armstrong.