2024 Men’s Division I NCAA Championships: Day 2 Finals Live Recap

2024 MEN’S NCAA SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 27-30, 2024
• IUPUI Natatorium, Indianapolis, Indiana
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Meet Central
• Official Psych Sheets
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• SwimSwam Pick ‘Ems Contest
• How to Watch
• Live Results
• Day 1 Finals Live Recap

Day 2 Finals Heat Sheets

Aaaaaand we’re back. Hello everyone and welcome to the second night of finals at the 2024 Men’s Division I NCAA Championships. After plenty of action on night one that saw four NCAA records broken in just two events, today’s prelims session kept the excitement about this meet building. We now live in a world where a 4:13.10 500 free, 1:42.08 200 IM, and a 19.04 50 free don’t earn a second swim.

Order of Events

• 500 freestyle (top seed: Jake Magahey, Georgia — 4:09.36)
• 200 IM (top seed: Destin Lasco, Cal — 1:39.34)
• 50 freestyle (top seed: Josh Liendo, Florida — 18.33)
• 1-meter diving (top seed: Quentin Henninger, Indiana — 386.85 points)
• 200 freestyle relay (top seed: Florida — 1:14.36)

The 500 freestyle heats kicked into gear early, with defending champion Luke Hobson and Jack Hoagland got after it in heat 3. Hobson set the standard at 4:10.28, which held until 2021 champion Jake Magahey dove in two heats later. Magahey logged 4:09.36, reminding everyone that this is not a race between just Hobson and Leon Marchand. The Georgia Bulldog is the top seed heading into the final, as Marchand won the final heat in 4:09.54.

After swimming a speedy 1:29.60 200 freestyle split on Cal’s record-setting 800 free relay, Destin Lasco made a statement in the 200 IM. He broke the pool record with a 1:39.34 and was the only man sub-1:40 this morning. He heads into finals over a second ahead of ASU’s Hubert Kos. This is the first of three battles between Lasco and Kos this week and right now, it’s Lasco who is riding the hot hand. He’s searching for his first NCAA title in this event after finshing 3rd, 2nd, and 2nd the last three years.

Quite simply, it’s going to be chaos in the 50 freestyle championship final. It took an 18.76 to make it back for the ‘A’ final and Josh Liendo claimed lane 4 with an 18.33, coming within .11 seconds of his personal best. Chris Guiliano logged a personal best of his own (18.43) for 2nd seed. Jordan Crooks, the defending champion and fastest man in the field, sits 4th after an 18.49 in prelims. And don’t forget about Jonny Kulow: the sophomore will be on the outside in lane 1 and threw down a blistering 17.94 split on yesterday’s 200 medley relay.

We’ll see all these men back up for the 200 freestyle relay to close the session. Florida holds down the top seed and will likely bring in Macguire McDuff, who they left off their SEC relay. McDuff scratched the individual 50 free this morning, suggesting the Gators are planning to use him on all five relays. Cal looks dangerous as well; in addition to their two 50 free ‘A’ finalists Jack Alexy and Bjorn Seeliger, they’ll probably have Lasco and Liam Bell (now the owner of the fastest 50 breast split in history). Florida and Cal look like the teams to beat here, but NC State, ASU, and Tennessee have also already been sub-1:15 this season. Watch for the Wolfpack to reset their second American record of the meet; they already own this one courtesy of their 1:14.44 from February’s ACCs.

500 Yard Freestyle — Final

• NCAA Record: 4:06.18— Leon Marchand, ASU (2023)
• Meet Record: 4:06.61 — Matthew Sates, Georgia (2022)
• American Record: 4:06.32 — Kieran Smith, Florida (2020)
• U.S. Open Record: 4:06.18— Leon Marchand, ASU (2023)
• Pool Record: 4:08.42 — Clark Smith, Texas (2017)
• 2023 Champion: 4:07.37 – Luke Hobson, Texas

Top 8:

1. Leon Marchand (Arizona State) — 4:02.31 *NCAA, U.S. Open, Meet, Pool Records* 
2. Luke Hobson (Texas) — 4:06.93
3. Jake Magahey (Georgia) — 4:07.12
4. Gabriel Jett (Cal) — 4:10.68
5. Charlie Hawke (Alabama) — 4:11.40
6. Jack Hoagland (SMU) — 4:12.65
7. Coby Carrozza (Texas) — 4:13.33
8. Mason Mathias (Auburn) — 4:14.00

As we’ve so often seen when Leon Marchand dives into the pool at NCAA Championships, there was his race and then there was everyone else’s race. Marchand came into the night as the NCAA record holder with a 4:06.91, set earlier this month at PAC-12s.

He absolutely obliterated that mark here in the final, swimming a monsterous 4:02.31 to better his record by 3.87 seconds. He made Luke Hobson, who swam a new lifetime best in 4:06.93 and became the 5th fastest performer all-time, look like he was moving slowly.

Marchand stamped his authority on this race from the start, opening the race in 44.62, already more than two seconds ahead of the field. He continued to extend his lead, flipping at the 200 in 1:33.12, well under his record pace. He started hurting at the 400 mark, splitting 25.12 and then 25.46 before getting back under with a 24.55 on his final 50 yards to seal his record-setting win.

Hobson held off Jake Magahey for 2nd place. Magahey used his usual baack-half strategy and began out-splitting Hobson after 300 yards, but Hobson had built up enough of a lead to lock up 2nd place in his new personal best. Magahey continued his streak of top 3 finishes in this event and posted his fastest time since 2021 with a 4:07.12.

Gabriel Jett moved up from 6th place in 2023 to take 4th this year in 4:10.68.

The Florida Gators went 1-2 in the ‘B’ final thanks to Jake Mitchell and Gio Linscheer. Mitchell’s consolation final winning time of 4:10.48 would have been 4th in the championship final.

200 Yard Individual Medley — Final

• NCAA Record: 1:36.34 Leon Marchand, ASU (2023)
• Meet Record: 1:36.34 Leon Marchand, ASU (2023)
• American Record: 1:38.10 — Destin Lasco, Cal (2023)
• U.S. Open Record: 1:36.34 — Leon Marchand, ASU (2023)
• Pool Record: 1:39.34 — Destin Lasco, Cal (2024)
• 2023 Champion: 1:36.34 Leon Marchand, ASU

Top 8:

1. Destin Lasco (Cal) — 1:37.91 *American and Pool Record* 
2. Owen McDonald (Arizona State) — 1:39.23
3. Hubert Kos (Arizona State) — 1:39.66
4. Arsenio Bustos (NC State) — 1:39.83
5. Gal Cohen Groumi (Michigan) — 1:39.87
6. David Schlicht (Arizona State) — 1:40.17
7. Nate Germonprez (Texas) — 1:40.89
8. Baylor Nelson (Texas A&M) — 1:41.54

Destin Lasco was sitting in the middle of the pack at the end of the butterfly leg (21.42), while Hubert Kos led them around in 20.84. Lasco moved up into 3rd on the backstroke leg with a 24.18 behind Kos and his Sun Devil teammate Owen McDonald.

The Cal senior took the lead on the breaststroke leg (28.75), then put up a field-best freestyle split of 23.56. That earned him his first 200 IM NCAA title of his career after getting 3rd place and a pair of runner-up finishes. He won his title in style, breaking his own American record from last season and breaking 1:38 for the first time in his career.

The Sun Devils went 2-3, but maybe not in the order that you’d have expected before the meet started. McDonald stormed home in 24.04 to pass his teammate Kos and earn 2nd place. McDonald’s made big improvements since arriving in Tempe and he continued to do that here, cutting .12 seconds off his personal best with a 1:39.23.

Kos earned 16 points for the Sun Devils (who also took 6th place courtesy of David Schlicht) with a 1:39.66.

Both Arsenio Bustos and Gal Cohen Groumi broke 1:40 for the first time in their careers, taking 4th and 5th respectively.

SMU fifth-year Danny Kovac won the ‘B’ final in 1:41.41, a new personal best of his own.

50 Yard Freestyle — Final

• NCAA Record: 17.63 — Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
• Meet Record: 17.63 — Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
• American Record: 17.63 — Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
• U.S. Open Record: 17.63 — Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
• Pool Record: 18.23 — Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2017)
• 2023 Champion: 18.32 – Jordan Crooks, Tennessee

Top 8:

1. Josh Liendo (Florida) — 18.07 *Pool Record*
2. Jordan Crooks (Tennessee) — 18.09
3. Jack Alexy (Cal) — 18.38
4. Chris Guiliano (Notre Dame) — 18.49
5. Bjorn Seeliger (Cal) — 18.54
6. Gui Caribe (Tennessee) — 18.57
7. Jack Dolan (Arizona State) — 18.59
8. Jonny Kulow (Arizona State) — 18.77

This was a great race between Josh Liendo and Jordan Crooks, who have a lot of experience racing each other. Crooks has gotten the better of Liendo at their three postseason 50 freestyle battles so far, winning at 2023 SECs, 2023 NCAAs, and 2024 SECs.

But it was Liendo who got the better of Crooks in this round in Indianapolis, ekeing out the win just two-hundredths ahead of Crooks. It was a huge swim for Liendo, who dropped .15 seconds off his personal best of 18.22, which he swam leading off Florida’s 200 freestyle relay at 2023 NCAAs. He maintains his position at #3 on the all-time performers list, but betters the time. Caeleb Dressel and Crooks–who have both broken 18 seconds–are the only two faster than him. Speaking of Dressel, this is the Gators’ first 50 freestyle NCAA title since he graduated.

Crooks added from his second career sub-18 performance at SECs, but still posted a speedy 18.09 for 2nd place. This really was a race between Liendo and Crooks, as Jack Alexy took 3rd place .29 seconds behind Crooks in 18.38. It’s still Alexy’s second best time of the day; he came into the meet with a lifetime best of 18.77. He brought that down to 18.44 in prelims, and took another .06 seconds off here in the final.

Chris Guiliano was one of two swimmers to add in the championship final (the other was Jonny Kulow). But Guiliano was still able to get his hand on the wall for 4th place in 18.49 ahead of a trio of 18.5s from Bjorn Seeliger, Gui Caribe, and Jack Dolan.

Youssef Ramadan won the ‘B’ final in 18.74.

1-Meter Diving — Final

• Meet Record: 473.75 — Kristian Ipsen, Stanford (2013)
• 2023 Champion: 443.95 — Lyle Yost, Ohio State

Top 8:

1. Lyle Yost (Ohio State) — 433.55
2. Quentin Henninger (Indiana) — 427.20
3. Carson Tyler (Indiana) — 412.95
4. Jack Ryan (Stanford) — 402.55
5. Mohamed Farouk (Miami-FL) — 385.45
6. Gage Dubois (Arizona) — 381.95
7. Clayton Chaplin (Ohio State) — 369.20
8. Yutong Wang (Minnesota) — 348.50

Ohio State’s Lyle Yost just became the first man to repeat as champion since David Boudia successfully defended in 2011. Yost said after his win that he had “nothing to lose and nothing to prove” in this final. He was very consistent through the six round and won by 6.35 points ahead of Quentin Henninger, who posted the most points during the prelims round.

Indiana went to work in this final, taking second and third place and tallying 33 points for the Hoosiers. With Henninger taking 2nd place in 427.20 points, his teammate Carson Tyler earned 3rd place with 412.95 points.

Also breaking 400 points was Stanford’s Jack Ryan, who recovered after a couple shaky dives in the early rounds to take 4th with 402.55 points.

200 Yard Freestyle Relay — Timed Final

• NCAA Record: 1:13.35 — Florida (J. Liendo, A. Chaney, E. Friese, M. McDuff), 2023
• Meet Record: 1:13.35 — Florida (J. Liendo, A. Chaney, E. Friese, M. McDuff), 2023
• American Record: 1:14.44 — NC State (Q. McCarty, D. Salls, N. Henderson, L. Miller), 2024
• U.S. Open Record: 1:13.35 — Florida (J. Liendo, A. Chaney, E. Friese, M. McDuff), 2023
• Pool Record: 1:14.59 — Texas (B. Ringgold, J. Conger, T. Jackson, J. Schooling), 2017
• 2023 Champion: 1:13.35 — Florida (J. Liendo, A. Chaney, E. Friese, M. McDuff), 2023

Top 8: 

1. Florida (J. Liendo, A. Chaney, J. Smith, M.McDuff) — 1:13.49 *Pool Record*
2. Cal (J. Alexy, B. Seeliger, L. Bell, D. Lasco) — 1:13.86
3. Arizona State (J. Dolan, I. Kharun, C. Peel, J. Kulow) — 1:13.95
4. NC State — 1:14.13 *American Record*
5. Tennessee — 1:14.38
6. Auburn — 1:15.05
7. Virginia Tech — 1:15.32
8. Notre Dame — 1:15.42

The Gators defended their 200 freestyle relay title to close out the night in Indianapolis. They returned three of the four legs from their NCAA record-setting team in 2023 and were just .14 seconds off that mark for the win tonight.

After Liendo got the better of Crooks in the individual final, Crooks beat Liendo on the lead-off leg in the third timed final, swimming 18.14 to Liendo’s 18.25. The Volunteers have one of the best sprint duos in the country in Crooks and Caribe and went with them on the first two legs. Caribe’s 18.22 split helped the Volunteers hold onto the lead at the halfway mark.

Adam Chaney swam the 2nd leg for the Gators (18.29). It was Julian Smith–the newcomer to this NCAA relay–who closed the gap to Tennessee (18.51). He gave Florida the lead by .01 over their SEC rivals with just the anchor remaining. Macguire McDuff anchored once again for the Gators, bringing them home in 18.44 for a final time and pool record of 1:13.49.

Cal’s squad of Alexy (18.40), Seeliger (18.43), Liam Bell (18.46), and Lasco (18.57) went by Tennessee on the final leg, as did ASU. The Golden Bears secured 2nd place in 1:13.86. Arizona State’s Dolan (18.80), Ilya Kharun (18.48), Cam Peel (18.56), and Kulow (18.11) finished 3rd, improving on the Sun Devils 5th place finish in 2023.

NC State broke their second American record of the meet with their 4th place finish. This time, the record they broke was their own, bettering the 1:14.44 they swam at ACCs. Noah Henderson (18.93), Luke Miller (18.23), Jerry Fox (18.44), and Quintin McCarty (18.53) lowered the record by .31 seconds.

Tennessee took 5th in 1:14.38 and was the last team under 1:15. Auburn dropped .86 seconds to move up for a 6th place finish in 1:15.05. Notably, their lead off man Logan Tirheimer finished 23rd missed finals in the individual 50 free but led off with a lifetime best 18.79 that would’ve earned him a spot in the ‘B’ final.

Going second on Notre Dame’s relay, Chris Guiliano dropped a 17.94 split. That makes two sub-18 splits at this meet (Kulow was 17.94 yesterday). Guiliano tying Kulow for 7th on the 50 free split all-time performances list now means that to crack the list you’ve got to break 18 seconds. Dressel’s 17.99 from 2017 NCAAs sits 10th.

Scores Thru Day 2

1. Arizona State — 201
2. Cal — 169
3. Florida — 161
4. Indiana — 107
5. Texas — 106
6. NC State — 98
7. Tennessee — 86
8. Stanford — 84
9. Auburn — 67
10. Virginia Tech — 61
11. Georgia — 57
12. Michigan — 48
13. Ohio State — 42
14. Notre Dame — 39
15. Louisville — 30
16. SMU/Alabama — 26
17. —
18. Texas A&M — 21
19. Florida State — 20
20. Missouri — 19
21. Minnesota — 17
22. Arizona/Miami (FL) — 15
23. —
24. Virginia — 12
25. Wisconsin — 7
26. LSU — 6
27. Purdue — 5
28. BYU — 3
29. UNC — 2