2023 Division I Men’s NCAA Championships: Day 4 Finals Live Recap

2023 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 22-25, 2023
• Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center | Minneapolis, MN
• SCY (25 yards)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• SwimSwam Pick ’em Contest
• Live Results
• Day 1 Finals Live Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Live Recap | Day 2 Finals Live Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Live Recap | Day 3 Finals Live Recap
• Day 4 Prelims Live Recap

Top 15 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

Day 4 Finals Heat Sheets

It’s been a spectacular week of racing at the 2023 Division I Men’s NCAA Championships and there’s just one more session before the meet is wrapped up. On tap for the final session are finals of the 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, platform diving, and the 400 free relay.

Things start off with the fastest heat of the mile. Out of the early heats, NC State’s Ross Dant threw down a lifetime best 14:30.22, which will be the time to beat. It’s faster than anyone in the last heat has been this season, as Kentucky freshman Levi Sandidge comes in as the top seed with a 14:31.47. Also in the hunt for the title is Dant’s teammate Will Gallant and David Johnston, the runner up in the 500 free.

In the 200 backstroke, Destin Lasco looks to repeat as national champion. Lasco turned the jets on in the back half of his prelims race en route to season best 1:36.68. Tonight, he takes aim at Ryan Murphy‘s American record. His teammate Hugo Gonzalez, the 400 IM runner-up, joins him in the ‘A’ final as the second seed, while ASU also has two in the ‘A’ final: Hubert Kos and Owen McDonald.

Cal had their trademark strong Day 4 prelims, as they earned the top seed not only in the 200 back, but also in the 100 free (Jack Alexy, 40.88) and 200 fly (Gabriel Jett, 1:39.71). It puts them in line to repeat as NCAA champions, but the points race is far from over. Even outside of the overall title, the race for second through fourth is exceedingly tight and could very well come down to the final relay.

In the 100 free, the Golden Bears also have 2022 runner-up Bjorn Seeliger, who tied with the defending champion Brooks Curry for fourth seed heading into finals. It’s a stacked field, with 50 free champion Jordan Crooks, who was the only swimmer other than Alexy to break 41 seconds this morning. Both Youssef Ramadan and Josh Liendo have had great meets so far and will be in them ix as well.

Then, Leon Marchand will be back in the water for his final individual event: the 200 breaststroke. Marchand comes in as the top seed after setting a pool record this morning. At PAC-12s, he set a new NCAA record of 1:47.67, and after the exceptional meet he’s had we’ll all be back on record watch as he looks to go 3-for-3 in his individual events this week.

Behind Marchand, Caspar Corbeau qualified second in a personal best 1:49.98, becoming the first person not named Marchand to break 1:50 this season. He’ll have to fend off Max McHugh, who looks to close out his individual collegiate career in front of a home crowd in style.

The final individual swimming event is the 200 fly, where Jett and Dare Rose earned the top two seeds in 1:39.71 and 1:40.00. They’ll be flanked by ASU’s Alex Colson and Indiana’s Brendan Burns. Burns is the defending champion in this event and he also won the 100 backstroke earlier in the meet. After taking on the 200 back/200 fly double at Big Tens, Burns just has the 200 fly to focus on today, so he and his underwaters are sure to be as sharp as ever.

1650 Yard Freestyle — Timed Finals

• NCAA Record: 14:12.08 — Bobby Finke, Florida (2020)
• Meet Record: 14:12.52 — Bobby Finke, Florida (2021)
• American Record: 14:12.08 — Bobby Finke, Florida (2020)
• U.S. Open Record: 14:12.08 — Bobby Finke, Florida (2020)
• Pool Record: 14:24.43 — Anton Ipsen, NC State (2018)
• 2022 Champion: Bobby Finke, Florida — 14:22.28

Top 8:

1. Will Gallant, NC State — 14:28.94
2. Ross Dant, NC State — 14:30.32
3. Jake Magahey, Georgia — 14:33.82
4. David Johnston, Texas — 14:35.51
5. Jack Hoagland, Notre Dame — 14:38.64
6. Levi Sandidge, Kentucky — 14:40.05
7. Charlie Clark, Ohio State — 14:41.43
8. Zalan Sarkany, Arizona State — 14:42.80

Last year, Will Gallant and Ross Dant went 2-3 in this event. In their post-race interview, they said it had been a season long goal for them to move up to the top two spots on the podium. They checked that goal off tonight, as Will Gallant won in a lifetime best 14:28.94, becoming the 20th person in history to break 14:30. Earlier this season, Gallant became the first man to qualify for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 1500 free at the U.S. Open.

There was no one on deck happier for Gallant than his teammate Dant. He was jumping up and down during the race as Gallant gained on and eventually passed David Johnston, then was the first to congratulate the new champion and pull him out of the water. Dant, a senior, was sick at ACCs and thus swam in the early heats of the mile. There, he swam a lifetime best 14:30.32, nearly beating his teammate Gallant to the 14:30 barrier.

Magahey also moved up on the back half of the race and passed Johnston. He touched in 14:33.82, a new season best which improves on his fourth place finish last year. Johnston held on to grab fourth in a season best of 14:35.51, which also moves him up one step on the podium from 2022. Johnston’s lifetime best stands at 14:32.40.

Also getting onto the podium from the early heats was Notre Dame’s Jack Hoagland. Hoagland has had a strong NCAA meet after missing last season due to injury and caps it off with his highest finish of the meet and All-America honors.

The top seed, freshman Levi Sandidge, ended up sixth in 14:40.05, adding 8.5 seconds from his sensational SEC swim. There’s a long tradition of freshman not doing so well in the mile at NCAAs. Last year, only two of nine freshmen in the race dropped time and this year it’s one out of six. The one this year? Florida’s Gio Linscheer, who dropped five seconds to finish 16th.

200 YARD BACKSTROKE – FINALS

• NCAA Record: 1:35.73 – Ryan Murphy, Cal (2016)
• Meet Record: 1:35.73 – Ryan Murphy, Cal (2016)
• American Record: 1:35.73 – Ryan Murphy, Cal (2016)
• U.S. Open Record: 1:35.73 – Ryan Murphy, Cal (2016)
• Pool Record: 1:36.68 — Destin Lasco, Cal (2023)
• 2022 Champion: Destin Lasco, Cal – 1:37.71

Top 8:

1. Destin Lasco, Cal — 1:35.87 (Pool Record)
2. Hugo Gonzalez, Cal — 1:36.72
3. Hubert Kos, Arizona State — 1:37.96
4. Ian Grum, Georgia — 1:38.47
5. Owen McDonald, Arizona State — 1:39.34
6. Kacper Stokowski, NC State — 1:39.35
7. Jack Dahlgren, Missouri — 1:39.45
8. Carson Foster, Texas — 1:39.48

It’s another 1-2 finish, this time for the Cal Golden Bears, as Destin Lasco and Hugo Gonzalez earned the top two spots in the 200 backstroke. Lasco earned his second straight title in this event with a lifetime best 1:35.87, the third fastest performance all-time. It undercuts the 1:35.99 he swam for second at this meet in 2021.

Gonzalez put an exclamation mark on his meet in his last individual collegiate race. Not only did he earn his second runner-up finish of the meet, but he did so in a lifetime best of 1:36.72. He lowered the lifetime best 1:37.19 that he swam at PAC-12s. Before conferences, he hadn’t swum a PB in this event since he was at Auburn.

Hubert Kos held his seed and finished third. He dropped about another three-tenths from the program record 1:38.25 he swam in prelims, going sub-1:38 with a 1:37.96. His teammate Owen McDonald moved up from his eighth place seed, finishing fifth in 1:39.34.

After finishing second in this race last year, Carson Foster added over a second and finished eighth.

100 YARD FREESTYLE – FINALS

• NCAA Record: 39.90 – Caeleb Dressel, Florida – 2018
• Meet Record: 39.90 – Caeleb Dressel, Florida – 2018
• American Record: 39.90 – Caeleb Dressel, Florida – 2018
• U.S. Open Record: 39.90 – Caeleb Dressel, Florida – 2018
• Pool Record: 39.90 – Caeleb Dressel, Florida – 2018
• 2022 Champion: Brooks Curry, LSU – 40.84

Top 8:

1. Josh Liendo, Florida — 40.28
2. Jack Alexy, Cal — 40.92
3. Bjorn Seeliger, Cal — 40.93
4. Ruslan Gaziev, Ohio State — 40.98
5. Jordan Crooks/Brooks Curry — 41.03
6. (tie)
7. Van Mathias, Indiana — 41.39
8. Youssef Ramadan, Virginia Tech — 41.61

Josh Liendo has been the national runner up in two events at this meet, and now he is finally at the top of the podium, earning the title in the 100 freestyle. He took the win in spectacular fashion, getting out to a blazing start and flipping at the 50-yard mark in 19.14, out way in front of the field. He didn’t take his foot off the gas at all, coming home in a field best 21.14. Liendo touched in a blistering 40.28; it’s a new lifetime best for him by almost a second and makes him the second fastest performer all-time. The only person who’s been faster than him is Caeleb Dressel, who Liendo now ties for third fastest performance all-time.

Behind him, Cal’s Jack Alexy and Bjorn Seeliger went 2-3 and were separated by just .01. Alexy got the touch over his teammate Seeliger, who finished second in this race last year.

Ohio State junior Ruslan Gaziev had a big swim, moving up from eighth seed to fourth in a personal best 40.98. That’s his first time sub-41, and makes him just the 12th swimmer to break that barrier.

Defending champion Brooks Curry tied for fifth with this year’s 50 freestyle champion Jordan Crooks, both clocking 41.03.

200 YARD BREASTSTROKE – FINALS

• NCAA Record: 1:47.67 – Leon Marchand, Arizona State (2023)
• Meet Record: 1:47.91 – Will Licon, Texas (2017)
• American Record: 1:47.91 – Will Licon, Texas (2017)
• U.S. Open Record: 1:47.67 – Leon Marchand, Arizona State (2023)
• Pool Record: 1:49.64 – Leon Marchand, Arizona State (2023)
• 2022 Champion: Leon Marchand, ASU – 1:48.20

Top 8:

1. Leon Marchand, Arizona State — 1:46.91 (NCAA Record)
2. Caspar Corbeau, Texas — 1:49.15
3. Max McHugh, Minnesota — 1:49.91
4. Josh Matheny, Indiana — 1:50.12
5. Aleksas Savickas, Florida — 1:50.48
6. Jason Louser, Cal — 1:50.90
7. Carles Coll Marti, Virginia Tech — 1:51.20
8. Andres Puente Bustamante, Texas A&M — 1:51.66

What is there left to say, really? Leon Marchand continues his week of Marchand Madness, keeping his streak of posting the fastest swim or split all-time each time he’s dived in. This time, he lowered the 200 breaststroke NCAA record he set earlier this month.

He blazed a 1:46.91, becoming the first to break 1:47 in this event. He was out in 50.65, which would have finished third in the individual 100 breast. And oh yeah, that split is also a new ASU record, lowering his own mark of 51.01, which he swam at ASU’s dual versus Cal.

Behind him, Caspar Corbeau continued to drop more time, touching in 1:49.15 to take another eight-tenths off his personal best. Before today, he’d never broken 1:50. Not only did he drop time, but he also moved up four places from his sixth place finish in 2022.

Max McHugh closed out his individual collegiate career with a third place finish and season best 1:49.91. He finished just ahead of Indiana sophomore Josh Matheny, who swam a lifetime best of 1:50.12.

200 YARD BUTTERFLY – FINALS

• NCAA Record: 1:37.35 – Jack Conger, Texas (2017)
• Meet Record: 1:37.35 – Jack Conger, Texas (2017)
• American Record: 1:37.35 – Jack Conger, Texas (2017)
• U.S. Open Record: 1:37.35 – Jack Conger, Texas (2017)
• Pool Record: 1:38.60 – Andreas Vazaios, NC State (2018)
• 2022 Champion: Brendan Burns, Indiana – 1:38.71

Top 8:

1. Aiden Hayes, NC State — 1:38.79
2. Brendan Burns, Indiana — 1:38.97
3. Gabriel Jett, Cal — 1:39.40
4. Dare Rose, Cal — 1:39.89
5. Tomer Frankel, Indiana — 1:40.34
6. Noah Bowers, NC State — 1:40.85
7. Alex Colson, Arizona State — 1:41.38
8. Gal Cohen Groumi, Michigan — 1:42.37

“The only chance I had was to take it out fast,” said national champion Aiden Hayes. He certainly did that, getting out first at the 50 in 21.90, the only one in the field to take it out under 22 seconds. He came back to the field in the middle 100 though, as defending champion Brendan Burns took over the lead.

It was still Burns with just 50 yards to go, though both Hayes and top seed Gabriel Jett were still in the hunt for the title. After taking it out, Hayes showed he still had something left in the tank with a monster 26.07. That split gave just enough to power ahead of Burns and deny the Hoosier the repeat, touching in a lifetime best 1:38.79. He dropped 1.42 seconds from his previous mark, which stood at 1:40.21 from ACCs. He also scared the pool record of 1:38.60, which was set by Andreas Vazaios, who won this event for NC State the last time the meet was held in Minneapolis.

Burns took second in 1:38.97, just .18 seconds behind Hayes. It’s a season best for Burns but slightly off his personal best 1:38.71, which is what he won the title in last year.

Jett took third in 1:39.40, improving slightly on his time from prelims but just off the personal best he set at PAC-12s. His teammate Dare Rose rounds out the swimmers who were sub-1:40 in the event, grabbing fourth in 1:39.89. That lowers his personal best by another .11 seconds; he’d set a new best time in prelims at 1:40.00. Over the day, the New Jersey native has taken 1.12 seconds off his best, as his previous mark stood at 1:41.01 from the Minnesota Invite.

PLATFORM DIVING — FINALS

• Meet Record: 548.90 — Nick McCrory, Duke (2011)
• 2022 Champion: Tyler Downs, Purdue — 447.20

Top 8:

1. Carson Tyler, Indiana — 476.30
2. Bryden Hattie, Tennessee — 455.10
3. Quentin Henninger, Indiana — 408.60
4. Emanuel Vazquez, South Carolina — 402.20
5. Clayton Chaplin, Ohio State — 393.55
6. Lyle Yost, Ohio State/Leonardo Garcia, Florida — 366.35
7. (tie)
8. Mohamed Farouk, Miami (FL) — 339.70

Indiana diving has gotten its second title of the meet, as sophomore Carson Tyler earned the NCAA title on the platform with 476.30 points. The championship flight couldn’t have gone much better for the Hoosiers, as they went 1-3 in the event.

Tyler separated himself from the group with a dive that scored six 10s, earning him almost 100 points off that single dive. It didn’t totally decide the meet though, as he neeeded to do well on his final dive in order to stay ahead of Tennessee’s Bryden Hattie, who outdid his 2022 third place finish by earning second with 455.10 points.

Quentin Henninger, another Hoosier sophomore, earned third in 408.60 points, just over six points ahead of South Carolina’s Emanuel Vazquez. Neither of these two Hoosiers were in the ‘A’ final last year.

Lyle Yost, the 1-meter champion, has been in the championship flight of all three diving events. He tied for sixth with Florida’s Leonardo Garcia.

400 YARD FREESTYLE RELAY — TIMED FINALS

• NCAA Record: 2:44.31 — NC State (R. Held, J. Ress, J. Molacek, C. Stewart), 2018
• Meet Record: 2:44.31 — NC State (R. Held, J. Ress, J. Molacek, C. Stewart), 2018
• American Record: 2:44.31 — NC State (R. Held, J. Ress, J. Molacek, C. Stewart), 2018
• U.S. Open Record: 2:44.31 — NC State (R. Held, J. Ress, J. Molacek, C. Stewart), 2018
• Pool Record: 2:44.31 — NC State (R. Held, J. Ress, J. Molacek, C. Stewart), 2018
• 2022 Champion: Texas (D. Kibler, C. Auchinachie, C. Corbeau, D. Krueger) — 2:46.03

Top 8:

1. Florida (J. Liendo, A. Chaney, J. Smith, M. McDuff) — 2:44.07 (NCAA Record)
2. Cal (B. Seeliger, J. Alexy, M. Jensen, D. Lasco) — 2:44.08
3. Arizona State (J. Kulow, L. Marchand, G. House, J. Dolan) — 2:45.12
4. NC State — 2:47.09
5. Texas — 2:47.15
6. Indiana — 2:47.17
7. Tennessee — 2:47.19
8. Stanford — 2:47.61

It came down to the touch between Florida and Cal both for the national title in the 400 free relay and the NCAA record. That race capped off an electric week of relays, which saw all five NCAA records go down. In the end, it was Florida winning their third relay title of the week.

The new 100 free NCAA champion who led the Gators off in 40.66, handing over to Adam Chaney, who split 41.10 to maintain the Gators lead. They actually led for the whole race, as Julian Smith clocked 41.26 and Macguire McDuff anchored in 41.05, just holding off a charging Destin Lasco and touching in 2:44.07. Chaney and McDuff both swam in the 100 free ‘B’ final and they along with Liendo have been on all of Florida’s record-breaking relays.

Bjorn Seeliger led off in 41.50, over a half-second slower than he was in the individual 100 free. Cal began to make up ground on the second leg, as sophomore Jack Alexy split 40.51. Matthew Jensen handled the third leg in 41.12, before Lasco roared home in 40.95. Cal’s final time of 2:44.08 was also under the old NCAA record, set by NC State in 2018.

ASU finished third in a school record time of 2:45.12, securing second place overall–the highest finish in program history. Freshman Jonny Kulow opened in 41.89, then Leon Marchand split 40.55 to move the Sun Devils up into third. That’s where they stayed for the rest of the race, with Grant House splitting 41.13 in his final collegiate swim and Jack Dolan bringing them home in 41.55.

NC State’s squad of Noah Henderson (42.31), Bartosz Piszczorowicz (41.05), Nyls Korstanje (42.03), and Giovanni Izzo (41.70) combined for 2:47.09, just beating out the 2:47.15 Texas had put up in the previous heat.

Texas was one of several teams fighting to secure their spot in the standings in this event. To maintain third, they needed to beat Indiana or only finish one place below them. They ended up going with the first option, with Danny Krueger (42.19), Luke Hobson (41.43), Caspar Corbeau (41.72), and Peter Larson (41.81) dropping two seconds from their season best and winning their heat in 2:47.15.

Indiana finished sixth, just two-hundredths behind Texas in 2:47.17. But as Tennessee was just two-hundredths back of them, it turns out that Texas’ did exactly what they needed to do; had they been just .05 seconds slower, they would be fourth in the team standings.

Final Team Standings

1. Cal — 482
2. Arizona State — 430
3. Texas — 384
4. Indiana — 379
5. NC State — 373.5
6. Florida — 367.5
7. Tennessee — 216.5
8. Stanford — 143.5
9. Virginia Tech — 133
10. Auburn — 127
11. Ohio State — 112
12. Georgia — 96
13. Louisville — 92
14. Texas A&M — 80
15. Virginia — 78
16. LSU/Missouri — 62.5
17. (tie)
18. Notre Dame — 62
19. Alabama — 57
20. Michigan — 37
21. Minnesota — 36
22. USC — 31
23. Miami (FL)/UNC/Wisconsin — 27
24. (tie)
25. (tie)
26. South Carolina — 15
27. Utah — 14
28. Princeton/Southern Illinois/Kentucky — 13
29. (tie)
30. (tie)
31. Columbia — 12
32. Arizona — 11
33. Penn St/Pitt — 4
34. (tie)
35. Georgia Tech — 3
36. Air Force/Towson — 2
37. (tie)
38. Purdue — 1