2023 Men’s NCAA Championships: Day 4 Prelims 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 4 Prelims Heat Sheet
• 1650 Free Heat Sheet

The team race is exciting as ever as we enter the fourth and final day of the 2023 Men’s NCAA Championships, as the top three teams are separated by just 22 points and then the squads ranked fourth through sixth have just 12.5 points between them.

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 prelims will feature the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast and 200 fly, with the defending champion in all four races back to defend their titles.

• Day 4 Prelims Heat Sheet

Destin Lasco, Leon Marchand and Brendan Burns, the 2022 winners in the 200 back, 200 breast and 200 fly, respectively, have all been on fire this week and will be favored to go back-to-back, with all-time records in sight for Lasco and Marchand.

The 100 free will feature a loaded field including defending champion Brooks Curry, top seed Bjorn Seeliger, 50 free champion Jordan Crooks, and freshman Josh Liendo, who has been lights out for Florida with a pair of runner-up finishes and historically fast relay legs.

Early heats of the 1650 free will follow later this afternoon. See the 1650 heat sheets here.

200 BACKSTROKE – PRELIMS

• 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: 1:37.35 – Austin Katz, Texas (2019)
• 2022 Champion: Destin Lasco, Cal – 1:37.71

Top 16

1. Destin Lasco, Cal – 1:36.68
2. Hugo Gonzalez, Cal – 1:37.74
3. Hubert Kos, Arizona State – 1:38.25
4. Carson Foster, Texas – 1:38.37
5. Ian Grum, Georgia – 1:38.39
6. Jack Dahlgren, Mizzou – 1:38.62
7. Kacper Stokowski, NC State – 1:39.27
8. Owen McDonald, Arizona State – 1:39.54
9. Bradley Dunham, Georgia – 1:39.60
10. Ruard Van Renen, SIU – 1:39.73
11. Colby Mefford, Cal – 1:39.74
12. Tommy Janton, Notre Dame – 1:39.83
13. Aaron Sequeira, Stanford – 1:39.91
14. Sebastian Somerset, Cal – 1:40.04
15. Aidan Stoffle, Auburn – 1:40.07
16. Nick Simons, Tennessee – 1:40.75

Defending champion Destin Lasco dropped the hammer on the back half to earn a dominant victory in the last heat of the 200 back, rocketing to a time of 1:36.68 to qualify first for the final by over a second.

Lasco’s time, which undercuts his season-best of 1:36.94, is also more than a second faster than he was en route to winning last year’s final (1:37.71). His best time sits at 1:35.99, set at the 2021 championships where he placed second.

Lasco’s teammate Hugo Gonzalez used a strong second 100 to pull away from Hubert Kos and Carson Foster in the penultimate heat, touching in 1:37.74 to near his PB of 1:37.19 set at Pac-12s.

ASU’s Kos set a lifetime best of 1:38.25 to advance in third, while Texas’ Foster was fourth in 1:38.37. The time for Foster neared his fastest-ever showing of 1:38.00 from the 2022 prelims.

Mizzou’s Jack Dahlgren hit a personal best of 1:38.62 to win the first circle-seeded heat and qualify sixth, while Georgia’s Ian Grum also hit a PB of 1:38.39 to make it back in fifth.

The Sun Devils ended up getting two up into the ‘A’ final, with Owen McDonald joining fellow freshman Kos in 1:39.54 for eighth.

SIU freshman Ruard Van Renen, who has been one of the biggest surprises of the week, dropped nearly a second and cracked 1:40 for the first time in 1:39.73 to make the consolation final.

100 FREESTYLE – PRELIMS

• 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 16

1. Jack Alexy, Cal – 40.88
2. Jordan Crooks, Tennessee – 40.92
3. Youssef Ramadan, Virginia Tech – 41.15
4. Brooks Curry, LSU / Bjorn Seeliger, Cal – 41.17
5. –
6. Josh Liendo, Florida – 41.25
7. Van Mathias, Indiana – 41.33
8. Ruslan Gaziev, Ohio State – 41.34
9. Chris Guiliano, Notre Dame – 41.48
10. Gui Caribe, Tennessee – 41.48
11. Adam Chaney, Florida – 41.75
12. Grant House, Arizona State – 41.83
13. Jack Dolan, Arizona State – 41.85
14. Jonny Kulow, Arizona State – 41.86
15. Macguire McDuff, Florida – 41.92
16. Danny Krueger, Texas – 41.95

An explosive eight heats of the 100 freestyle saw a staggering 10 swimmers go under 41.5, led by Cal’s Jack Alexy in a blistering 40.88.

The sophomore broke 41 seconds for the first time, having been 41.42 three weeks ago at Pac-12s, as he took down Florida’s Josh Liendo (41.25) in the first circle-seeded heat to set the tone for what was to come.

That ended up being a lifetime best swim from Jordan Crooks in the next heat, as the Tennessee sophomore clocked 40.92 to get well under his previous mark of 41.16 set at last year’s NCAAs.

Virginia Tech’s Youssef Ramadan then used his lightning-fast underwaters to overtake Cal’s Bjorn Seeliger off the last wall and touch first in the last heat in 41.15, dipping under his best time of 41.33 to qualify third.

Defending champion Brooks Curry was second to Crooks in Heat 7 in 41.17, and Seeliger put up the same showing in the following heat as they move through tied for fourth.

Indiana’s Van Mathias continues to ride his hot streak as he makes it back into the ‘A’ final in seventh, dropping more than two-tenths in 41.33.

OSU’s Ruslan Gaziev rounds out the top eight in 41.34, as the ‘A’ final cutoff was 18 one-hundredths faster than last year (41.52).

After going two up in the 200 back, ASU continued to put swimmers into scoring position for tonight’s session with three men making it back into the consolation heat.

Notre Dame’s Chris Guiliano hit dropped nearly four-tenths from his PB in 41.48, out-touching Tennessee’s Gui Caribe (41.51) in the last heat, but they both end up narrowly missing out on the ‘A’ final in ninth and 10th.

Texas’ Danny Krueger (41.95) misses the 100 free ‘A’ final for the first time in his NCAA career, but makes it back for a second swim in what will be his last collegiate session having taken 16th, four one-hundredths ahead of teammate Luke Hobson (41.99)

200 BREASTSTROKE – PRELIMS

• 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: 1:50.17 – Ian Finnerty, Indiana (2018)
• 2022 Champion: Leon Marchand, ASU – 1:48.20

Top 16

1. Leon Marchand, Arizona State – 1:49.64
2. Caspar Corbeau, Texas – 1:49.98
3. Max McHugh, Minnesota – 1:50.64
4. Andrés Puente Bustamante, Texas A&M, 1:50.86
5. Aleksas Savickas, Florida – 1:50.98
6. Josh Matheny, Indiana – 1:51.24
7. Jason Louser, Cal – 1:51.43
8. Carles Coll Marti, Virginia Tech – 1:51.44
9. Denis Petrashov, Louisville – 1:51.53
10. Reece Whitley, Cal – 1:51.74
11. David Schlicht, Arizona State – 1:51.93
12. Derek Maas, Alabama – 1:51.96
13. Dillon Hillis, Florida – 1:52.13
14. Lyubomir Epitropov, Tennessee – 1:52.15
15. Arsenio Bustos, NC State – 1:52.21
16. Jake Foster, Texas – 1:52.26

Leon Marchand glided his way to the top seed in the 200 breaststroke, using his smooth, long stroke to finish in a time of 1:49.64, breaking the Minnesota pool record previously held by Ian Finnerty (1:50.17).

Marchand went out fast yet again, turning in 51.80 at the 100 before cruising home in a pair of 28-highs, holding off Texas’ Caspar Corbeau, who joined Marchand sub-1:50 in 1:49.98.

The swim for Corbeau was a new lifetime best, dropping more than half a second from his previous mark of 1:50.51 set last year.

Marchand won the title last year in 1:48.20, and has since broken the NCAA and U.S. Record, clocking 1:47.67 at the Pac-12 Championships.

100 breast champion Max McHugh (1:50.64) out-touched Texas A&M’s Andrés Puente Bustamante (1:50.86) to win the first circle-seeded heat, while Florida freshman Aleksas Savickas secured victory in Heat 5 in 1:50.98.

McHugh was second last year behind Marchand.

Cal’s Reece Whitley, seventh last season, notably misses the ‘A’ final in 10th, touching in 1:51.74. Whitley had been 1:51.30 this season.

200 BUTTERFLY – PRELIMS

• 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 16

1. Gabriel Jett, Cal – 1:39.71
2. Dare Rose, Cal – 1:40.00
3. Alexander Colson, Arizona State – 1:40.43
4. Brendan Burns, Indiana – 1:40.51
5. Aiden Hayes, NC State – 1:40.56
6. Noah Bowers, NC State – 1:40.82
7. Tomer Frankel, Indiana – 1:40.94
8. Gal Cohen Groumi, Michigan / Martin Espernberger, Tennessee – 1:41.39*
9. –
10. Andrew Gray, Arizona State – 1:41.70
11. Joaquin Gonzalez Pinero, Florida – 1:41.75
12. Raunak Khosla, Princeton – 1:41.81
13. Luke Miller, NC State – 1:41.85
14. Sam Artmann, Texas – 1:41.86
15. Josh Fong, Virginia – 1:41.92
16. Evan McInerny, Auburn – 1:42.24

*swim-off required

The Bears took over in the last heat of the session, as Cal’s Gabriel Jett and Dare Rose went stroke-for-stroke for the majority of Heat 5 in the 200 fly before Jett got his hand on the wall first in 1:39.71, marking the only sub-1:40 swim of the prelims.

Jett, a sophomore that placed sixth last year, came into the meet as the top seed after recording a personal best of 1:39.27 en route to winning the Pac-12 title earlier this month.

Rose dropped 1.01 seconds off his lifetime best set at the Minnesota Invite in December (in the same pool), qualifying second overall in 1:40.00.

Arizona State’s Alexander Colson topped the first circle-seeded heat in 1:40.43 to earn the third seed overall, having set a best time of 1:39.55 at Pac-12s.

Defending champion Brendan Burns went toe-to-toe with NC State sophomore Aiden Hayes in the second-to-last heat, out-touching the 17-18 NAG record holder by .05 in 1:40.51 to qualify fourth.

Hayes (1:40.56) makes it back in fifth after placing 14th as a freshman, while his Wolfpack teammate Noah Bowers broke 1:41 for the first time in 1:40.82 to advance through in sixth. Bowers was 18th last year.

We’ll have our third swim-off of the meet this morning as Michigan sophomore Gal Cohen Groumi and Tennessee freshman Martin Espernberger tied for eighth in a time of 1:41.39, doing so out of the same heat to boot.

Groumi, a consolation finalist last year, came into the meet tied for fourth in 1:40.21, while Espernberger’s prelim swim marked a new best time, having clocked his previous best of 1:41.91 last month at SECs.

200 BUTTERFLY  SWIM-OFF

1. Gal Cohen Groumi, Michigan – 1:41.40
2. Martin Espernberger, Tennessee – 1:41.58

In a razor-thin swim-off battle, Michigan’s Gal Cohen Groumi got the better of Tennessee’s Martin Espernberger to claim the last spot in tonight’s championship final of the 200 butterfly.

Cohen Groumi, one of the top seeds coming into the event, inched ahead of Espernberger off every wall and ultimately out-touched by 18 one-hundredths, 1:41.40 to 1:41.58, just .01 slower than he was less than an hour earlier in the prelims.

Espernberger set a PB with his 1:41.39 prelim swim, and records the second-fastest swim ever in 1:41.58 as he’ll occupy Lane 4 in tonight’s consolation final.