2023 Division I Men’s NCAA Championships: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2023 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

TOP 15 TEAMS THRU DAY 2

  1. Cal – 184
  2. Texas – 165
  3. ASU – 154
  4. NC State – 151.5
  5. Florida – 145
  6. Indiana – 99
  7. Tennessee – 87
  8. Stanford — 74
  9. Auburn — 57
  10. Louisville — 55
  11. Virginia — 53
  12. Virginia Tech — 52
  13. Texas A&M — 44
  14. Georgia — 36
  15. Ohio State — 31.5

Day 3 Finals Heat Sheets

It’s the third finals session of the 2023 Division I Men’s NCAAs and it’s moving day for those teams wishing to place high in the team standings.

We’ll kick things off with the 400 IM, where all eyes will be on Leon Marchand, who crushed his 200 IM NCAA record yesterday with a 1:36.34. In prelims of the 400 IM, he turned at the halfway mark under his record pace before cruising the back half. He touched in 3:34.47 for a new pool record and the top seed. He’s established himself clearly as the favorite and the big question is just how fast can he go?

Then, it’s time for the 100 fly. Josh Liendo popped 43.80 in prelims, going sub-44 for the first time and posting the top time of the morning. Also in the field is defending champion Andrei Minakov and Youssef Ramadan, who have both been sub-44 before. NC State had a big morning in this event: they put three swimmers–Aiden Hayes, Nyls Korstanjeand Kacper Stokowskiinto the ‘A’ final.

Prelims of the 200 free had a little bit of everything, but 500 free champ Luke Hobson emerged as the top seed in 1:30.78. He was 1:29.63 leading off Texas’ 800 free relay, so look for him to get back under 1:30 tonight. The Longhorns also have Coby Carrozza in the top eight, while ASU has three up. Julian Hill had a big swim in the morning, Grant House snuck in in seventh, and Patrick Sammon won the swim-off for the final lane in the heat.

In the 100 breaststroke, Max McHugh has his sights set on a third-straight title, this time in his home pool. He’s also sure to have the NCAA record of 49.69 on his mind. McHugh leads the way out of the heats, with four other men putting up 50-points: Van Mathias, Liam Bell, Caspar Corbeau, and Dillon Hillis.

After a casual 43.90 in prelims, Destin Lasco comes into the 100 backstroke final as the favorite. The swim makes him just the sixth swimmer in history to get under the 44 second barrier. He’ll be chased by the defending champion Stokowski, as well as Adam Chaney and Brendan Burns.

Florida’s 400 medley relay team of Chaney, Hillis, Liendo, and Macguire McDuff rattled the NCAA record at SECs. They broke 3 minutes, going 2:59.48. That plus the momentum from their NCAA record in the 200 free relay gives them the edge in the final event of the night but Cal looks dangerous as well–they’re the defending champions and were also under Auburn’s old mark in the relay last night. NC State, Indiana, and ASU should all be in the mix as well; along with Cal, all four of those teams have been 3:01 this season.

400 YARD INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY – FINALS

  • NCAA Record: 3:31.84 — Leon Marchand, Arizona State (2023)
  • Meet Record: 3:32.88 — Hugo Gonzalez, Cal (2022)
  • American Record: 3:33.42 — Chase Kalisz, Georgia (2017)
  • U.S. Open Record: 3:31.84 — Leon Marchand, Arizona State (2023)
  • Pool Record: 3:34.47 — Leon Marchand, Arizona State (2023)
  • 2022 Champion: Hugo Gonzalez, Cal — 3:32.88

Top 8:

  1. Léon Marchand, Arizona State — 3:28.82 (NCAA Record)
  2. Hugo Gonzalez, Cal — 3:34.66
  3. Carson Foster, Texas — 3:36.02
  4. Hubert Kos, Arizona State — 3:37.00
  5. Jason Louser, Cal — 3:38.69
  6. Ian Grum, Georgia — 3:38.99
  7. Jake Foster, Texas — 3:40.04
  8. David Johnston, Texas — 3:40.10

The Marchand Madness continues in Minneapolis–Leon Marchand just keeps pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the 400 IM. He earned his first NCAA title in the event with a mind-boggling 3:28.82, resetting the NCAA record for the third time this season and becoming the first swimmer to ever go sub-3:30.

His reaction at the finish said it all–even he seemed blown away by what he had just done. “I knew I was going to do my best but I didn’t know by that much,” he said in his post-race interview. He was out in 47.10, getting out under his record pace and continuing to extend his lead both on the field and his former self. He touched after backstroke in 1:39.30 and after breaststroke in 2:37.89.

Defending champion and former NCAA record holder Hugo Gonzalez earned second, over five seconds behind Marchand. Gonzalez’ time of 3:34.66 was a season best by over a second. That time continues to show how much he’s improved since rejoining Cal this January.

Carson Foster was three seconds slower than he was in this final last year, but he maintained his position on the third strep of the podium. He was about a second ahead of ASU’s Hubert Kos who was just off his prelims time in 3:37.00, picking up more points for ASU.

Speaking of points, ASU, Texas, and Cal all had at least one swimmer in this final. ASU had Marchand and Kos, Cal had Gonzalez and Jason Louser (3:38.69), and Texas had C. Foster, Jake Foster (3:40.03), and David Johnston (3:40.10). All three Longhorns returned from the 2022 ‘A’ final.

100 YARD BUTTERFLY – FINALS

  • NCAA Record: 42.80 — Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
  • Meet Record: 42.80 — Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
  • American Record: 42.80 — Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
  • U.S. Open Record: 42.80 — Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
  • Pool Record: 42.80 — Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
  • 2022 Champion: Andrei Minakov, Stanford — 43.71

Top 8:

  1. Youssef Ramadan, Virginia Tech — 43.15
  2. Josh Liendo, Florida — 43.40
  3. Tomer Frankel, Indiana — 44.04
  4. Andrei Minakov, Stanford — 44.27
  5. Jordan Crooks, Tennessee — 44.29
  6. Aiden Hayes, NC State — 44.35
  7. Nyls Korstanje, NC State — 44.86
  8. Kacper Stokowski, NC State — 48.27

“This is my time…finally I am NCAA champion,” said first time NCAA champion Youssef Ramadan. The junior was second at the 50-yard mark, out in 20.21 to Josh Liendo’s 20.13. Ramadan powered home in a field-best 22.94 to post a blistering time of 43.15, becoming the second fastest performer in history behind only Caeleb Dressel. He also earns Virginia Tech’s first ever individual national title.

Continuing to show that Minnesota’s pool record book is one of the dirtiest in the nation, Ramadan’s incredible time doesn’t actually break any records, as Dressel swam his 42.80 in this pool back in 2018. It is however, an ACC record.

Though Ramadan went past him, Liendo finished strong in 23.27, ripping a 43.40, which takes another four-tenths off the best time he set in prelims. With the swim, Liendo also moves up the third fastest performer all-time.

After finishing fifth last year, Hoosier Tomer Frankel moved up to third with a personal best time of 44.04. Defending champion Andrei Minakov, who’s been sub-44 multiple times in his career, added time from prelims and finished fourth in 44.27.

NC State picked up big points with three swimmers in the ‘A’ final. Though Aiden Hayes and Nyls Korstanje finished sixth and seventh, the most noticeable of them was Kacper Stokowski, who pretty much coasted through the race in order to pick up the free points for the Wolfpack. He’s the defending champion in the 100 back, which he’s also racing later in the session and you can bet he won’t be out the back of the pack like he was here in that event.

200 YARD FREESTYLE – FINALS

  • NCAA Record: 1:29.15 — Dean Farris, Harvard (2019)
  • Meet Record: 1:29.15 — Dean Farris, Harvard (2019)
  • American Record: 1:29.15 — Dean Farris, Harvard (2019)
  • U.S. Open Record: 1:29.15 — Dean Farris, Harvard (2019)
  • Pool Record: 1:29.50 — Townley Haas, Texas (2018)
  • 2022 Champion: Drew Kibler, Texas — 1:30.28

Top 8:

  1. Luke Hobson, Texas — 1:30.43
  2. Gabriel Jett, Cal — 1:30.74
  3. Grant House, Arizona State — 1:31.12
  4. Brooks Curry, LSU — 1:31.30
  5. Jack Dahlgren, Missouri — 1:32.00
  6. Julian Hill, Arizona State — 1:32.25
  7. Patrick Sammon, Arizona State — 1:32.61
  8. Coby Carrozza, Texas — 1:32.67

A year removed from finishing 16th in this event at NCAAs, Luke Hobson is the national champion. The Texas sophomore won his second individual title of the meet in 1:30.43, three-tenths ahead of a surging Gabriel Jett. Hobson hung back at the start of the race, letting sprinter Brooks Curry and fifth-year Grant House take the race out fast.

Hobson made his move on the third 50, splitting a field best 23.17 to pull into the lead with a 50 left; five-hundredths ahead of House. Hobson split 23.40 to hold off Jett, who came home roaring home in 23.11. Jett didn’t even make finals in this event last year, finishing 18th. Now, he’s used his speedy back half to power to a second place finish in a lifetime best 1:30.74.

House finished third in 1:31.12, holding off a late push from Curry. Curry, a senior at LSU, finished sixth in this event last year, and has now moved up to fourth with a lifetime best 1:31.30.

100 YARD BREASTSTROKE – FINALS

  • NCAA Record: 49.69 — Ian Finnerty, Indiana (2018)
  • Meet Record: 49.69 — Ian Finnerty, Indiana (2018)
  • American Record: 49.69 — Ian Finnerty, Indiana (2018)
  • U.S. Open Record: 49.69 — Ian Finnerty, Indiana (2018)
  • Pool Record: 49.69 — Ian Finnerty, Indiana (2018)
  • 2022 Champion: Max McHugh, Minnesota — 49.90

Top 8:

  1. Max McHugh, Minnesota — 50.00
  2. Van Mathias, Indiana — 50.60
  3. Denis Petrashov, Louisville — 50.78
  4. Caspar Corbeau, Texas — 50.79
  5. Dillon Hillis, Florida — 50.80
  6. Liam Bell, Cal — 50.88
  7. Reece Whitley, Cal — 51.04
  8. Derek Maas, Alabama — 51.23

Fifth-year Max McHugh won his third-straight NCAA title in the 100 breaststroke–an incredible accomplishment made more special by the fact that he did it in his home pool. “I’ve loved my time at Minnesota, and I’m gonna miss it,” he said post-race, after being crowded by his teammates behind the blocks.

McHugh did turn first at the 50 in 23.37, just two-hundredths ahead of another fifth-year, Indiana’s Van Mathias. He really pushed the back half, splitting a field-best 26.63 to extend his lead and finish just a tenth from his personal best. Mathias held onto second place, touching in 50.60 which is just three-hundredths off the best time of 50.57 that he swam in prelims.

Behind McHugh and Mathias, the race for third was incredibly tight. Third through fifth were separated by just two-hundredths, with third through sixth separated by a tenth. Louisville’s Denis Petrashov got his hands on the wall first, dropping even more time with a 50.78. He’s taken .48 seconds off his best through the day.

Just a hundredth behind Petrashov was Caspar Corbeau, the 2022 runner up, who hit a season best 50.79. Florida fifth-year Dillon Hillis was another hundredth behind him in 50.80, chopping a tenth off his personal best.

100 YARD BACKSTROKE – FINALS

  • NCAA Record: 43.35 — Luca Urlando, Georgia (2022)
  • Meet Record: 43.35 — Luca Urlando, Georgia (2022)
  • American Record: 43.35 — Luca Urlando, Georgia (2022)
  • U.S. Open Record: 43.35 — Luca Urlando, Georgia (2022)
  • Pool Record: 44.58 — Coleman Stewart, NC State (2018)
  • 2022 Champion: Kacper Stokowski, NC State — 44.04

Top 8:

  1. Brendan Burns, Indiana — 43.61 (Pool Record)
  2. Kacper Stokowski, NC State — 43.86
  3. Destin Lasco, Cal — 43.94
  4. Adam Chaney, Florida — 44.42
  5. Andrei Ungur, Utah — 44.58
  6. Owen McDonald, Arizona State — 44.85
  7. Jack Dolan, Arizona State — 44.93
  8. Nate Stoffle, Auburn — 45.38

About 30 minutes removed from winning the ‘B’ final of the 100 fly in 44.60, the 2022 runner up Brendan Burns used some nasty underwaters to become the national champion in the 100 backstroke. Burns flipped fourth at the 50 behind Kacper Stokowski, Adam Chaneyand Destin LascoHe moved up on the third 25, but what really set him apart was his final underwater, which propelled him into the lead with less than half the final length left. Burns stopped the clock in a scorching 43.61. It’s his first time sub-44 and launches him up the all-time performer list to third.

The top three was incredibly fast as all of them went under 44 seconds. Last year’s champion Stokowski–who also swam the 100 fly earlier–touched second in 43.86, which is also a personal best and his first time under the 44 second barrier. He earned his title last year in 44.04.

Lasco got under 44 for the second time today, just a hundredth off his prelims time in 43.94. However, Lasco finished fourth last year so he does move up one step on the podium. He switches places with Chaney, who also added time and clocked 44.42.

After tying at PAC-12s, Utah’s Andrei Ungur got the better of ASU’s Owen McDonald, 44.58 to 44.85. It’s both of their first times sub-45, as they hit lifetime bests of 45.00 when they tied at PAC-12s.

3-Meter Diving — FINALS

  • Meet Record: 529.10 — Samuel Dorman, Miami FL (2015)
  • 2022 Champion: Kurtis Mathews, Texas A&M — 466.85

Top 8:

  1. Andrew Capobianco, Indiana — 522.60
  2. Shangfei Wang, USC — 488.30
  3. Quentin Henninger, Indiana — 425.40
  4. Carson Tyler, Indiana — 415.50
  5. Lyle Yost, Ohio State — 408.50
  6. Bryden Hattie, Tennessee — 395.90
  7. Jonathan Suckow, Columbia — 388.30
  8. Noah Duperre, Texas — 383.80

Andrew Capobianco won third third national title on the 3-meter board, getting back on top after finishing second last year. He was in the lead from the very first round and controlled the competition through the six rounds. He ended up with 522.60 points, coming just 6.5 points from Samuel Dorman‘s all-time record of 529.10 points.

Indiana picked up a massive 51 points in this final. Capobianco placed first and behind him his teammates Quentin Henniger finished third with 425.40 points and Carson Tyler earned fourth with 415.50 points. Interrupting the Hoosiers was USC’s Shangfei Wang, who won the runner-up spot with 488.30 points. Wang finished fifth on the 1-meter board earlier in the meet.

The 1-meter champion Lyle Yost collected 408.50 points to finish fifth–an improvement from last year for him when he won the consolation flight. Last year’s fourth place finisher Jonathan Suckow was the top diver after prelims, but he never really seemed to find his groover tonight and ended up in seventh with 388.30 points.

400 YARD MEDLEY RELAY — TIMED FINALS

  • NCAA Record: 2:59.22 — Texas (J. Shebat, W. Licon, J. Schooling, J. Conger), 2017
  • Meet Record: 2:59.22 — Texas (J. Shebat, W. Licon, J. Schooling, J. Conger), 2017
  • American Record: 3:01.51 (R. Murphy, C. Hoppe, M. Josa, M. Jensen), 2017
  • U.S. Open Record: 2:59.22 — Texas (J. Shebat, W. Licon, J. Schooling, J. Conger), 2017
  • Pool Record: 3:01.07 — Indiana (G. Fantoni, I. Finnerty, V. Lanza, B. Pieroni), 2017
  • 2022 Champion: Cal (D. Lasco, R. Whitley, T. Julian, B. Seeliger) — 3:00.36

Top 8:

  1. Florida (A. Chaney, D. Hillis, J. Liendo, M. McDuff) — 2:58.32 (NCAA Record)
  2. Indiana (B. Burns, J. Matheny, T. Frankel, R. Miroslaw) — 2:59.09
  3. Arizona State (J. Dolan, L. Marchand, M. McCusker, J. Kulow) — 2:59.19
  4. NC State — 3:00.22
  5. Cal — 3:00.38
  6. Tennessee — 3:02.05
  7. Virginia Tech — 3:02.53
  8. Texas — 3:03.00

We’re now 4-for-4 on broken NCAA records, as Florida took down Texas’ record from 2017 with a blistering 2:58.32. They scared the record back at SECs in 2:59.48 but were way under the mark tonight, taking nine-tenths off the previous mark. It was the same squad from SECs, and Adam Chaney led off in 44.28, recovering nicely after a slow first 50 to put the Gators fourth heading into breaststroke. Dillon Hillis split 50.23, moving the Gators up to third.

Josh Liendo took over the lead on fly with a scorching 42.91, which is the fastest 100 fly split all-time and the first sub-43. He handed the lead to Macguire McDuff, who anchored in 40.90. Hillis, Liendo, and McDuff all made significant drops from their SEC swims which helped them crush this record.

A testament to how fast this meet has been is the fact that the top three teams were actually all under the old NCAA record.

Indiana had a sharp quartet of their own, going with Brendan Burns, Josh Matheny, Tomer Frankeland Rafael Miroslaw. Burns, fresh off winning the 100 back national title, gave the Hoosiers the lead, going sub-44 for the second time this session with a 43.82. Matheny (50.31), Frankel (43.70), and Miroslaw (41.26) combined with Burns for 2:59.09, dropping 2.44 seconds from their season best in this relay.

Arizona State was the third team under the old record as they also got under 3:00 with a 2:59.18, just .09 seconds behind Indiana. Jack Dolan led off in 44.62, turning things over to Leon Marchand. We got another addition to the Marchand Madness canon, as the Frenchman fired off a 49.23 100 breaststroke split–the fastest in history. Max McCusker split 44.55 for the Sun Devils on fly, while freshman Jonny Kulow brought them home in 40.78, an excellent split for him.

NC State’s quartet of Kacper Stokowski (43.83), Mason Hunter (51.20), Aiden Hayes (43.95), and Luke Miller (41.24) earned fourth in 3:00.22, as Miller held off a surging Bjorn Seeliger, whose 40.45 split helped Cal finish fifth in 3:00.38. The rest of Cal’s relay was made up of Destin Lasco (44.07), Reece Whitley (51.37), and Gabriel Jett (44.49).

There were two disqualifications in this relay: Louisville and Georgia were both DQed for false starts.

Team Scores Thru Day 3

  1. Cal – 315
  2. Arizona State – 302
  3. Texas – 292
  4. Indiana – 259
  5. Florida – 251
  6. NC State – 246.5
  7. Tennessee -144
  8. Stanford — 112.5
  9. Auburn/Virginia Tech — 96
  10. (tie)
  11. Louisville — 71
  12. Virginia — 67
  13. Texas A&M — 65
  14. Ohio State — 54.5
  15. Georgia — 53

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miself
11 months ago

asu is still in it they just need a really good prelim session

John26
11 months ago

What’re the chances Carson isn’t fully tapered here and saving it for a 4:04 in Fukuoaka?

Zanna
11 months ago

Ramadan’s post race interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdsFTY-OK8o

Ericvui
11 months ago

Numbers don’t lie : US women will still do ok at the World and Olympics (though the Aussies and Canadians will give them a hard time) but the men will struggle. Just look at the NCAA 100 fly : 7 out of the 8 finalists are foreigner ! And Marchand wasn’t even in the race. And remember the best Freestyle swimmer in the world isn’t even here. By the end of the Paris Olympics, Popovici could own the WRs in the 50, 100, 200 and 400m. And don’t forget either the Brit’s Armada.

Ragnar
Reply to  Ericvui
11 months ago

Popovici wouldn’t medal in the 50. And the 400 is a theoretical idea. Dressel will at least medal in the 100 fly and free and will win the 50 free in Paris, in a 20.76 as his swan song. Until he unretires just before LA to try for a 50 free three peat . Popovici will take the 100 and 200 free in 46.4/1:41.8 and break swimswam. Leon will hit 1:53.2/4:00.7 in the IMs, 2:04 in the 200 breast, and 1:51 in the 200 fly. And his 46.92/1:42.7 leads will have everyone saying he’s the GOAT

1650 Onetrick
11 months ago

I kinda hate how now the 200 free is always sad to watch after the 800 free relay. I know, I know, everyone there is gassed because it’s day 3 of the meet and all, but I feel like only recently have we seen teams and individuals go all in on the relay for the times and have the individual 200 free be points. Maybe it’s just a perception thing

Weinstein-Smith-Ledecky-Sims
11 months ago

I love to see a Cal choke job.

Frank
11 months ago

Did USC and Georgia miss their planes to the meet? They are about as active as UCONN at this years men’s NCAA champs.

Pat
Reply to  Frank
11 months ago

This comment didn’t age well as I see UCONN up 21 in the Elite 8.

Juan Cena
11 months ago

Is Marchand really 6’ and 163 lbs?

KSW
Reply to  Juan Cena
11 months ago

no way that’s true?

Andy Hardt
Reply to  Juan Cena
11 months ago

It sounds about right to me. I walked past him at the meet the other day, and he’s definitely one of the smaller guys there.

Maybe it’s just my own misperceptions, but watching Marchand swim, he looks gigantic in the water. I’ve watched other great swimmers swim and not all of them look taller than they are–it’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but I truly thought Marchand was 6′ 7″ or thereabouts for quite a few months.

Last edited 11 months ago by Andy Hardt

About Sophie Kaufman

Sophie Kaufman

Sophie grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, which means yes, she does root for the Bruins, but try not to hold that against her. At 9, she joined her local club team because her best friend convinced her it would be fun. Shoulder surgery ended her competitive swimming days long ago, …

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