2024 Men’s Division I NCAA Championships: Day 4 Finals Live Recap

2024 MEN’S NCAA SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 27-30, 2024
• IUPUI Natatorium, Indianapolis, Indiana
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• 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 | Day 4 Distance Live Recap

Day 4 Finals Heat Sheets

Well friends, this is it: the last session of the 2024 Men’s Division I NCAA Championships. Let’s not cry because it’s over, but smile because it happened–and because we still have one more session of racing to go.

Order of Events:

• 1650 freestyle — fastest heat (top seed: Zalan Sarkany, Arizona State — 14:23.01)
• 200 backstroke (top seed: Destin Lasco, Cal — 1:36.05)
• 100 freestyle (top seed: Jordan Crooks, Tennessee — 40.54)
• 200 breaststroke (top seed: Matt Fallon, Penn — 1:49.36)
• 200 butterfly (top seed: Dare Rose, Cal — 1:39.52)
• Platform diving (top seed: Carson Tyler, Indiana — 465.20 points)
• 400 freestyle relay (top seed: Arizona State — 2:44.23)

We’ll get underway with the fastest heat of the 1650 freestyle. SMU fifth-year Jack Hoagland is the leader in the clubhouse after a solid 14:39.19 in the early heats. The top five men in the fastest heat have been faster than that already this season but he still projects to score highly for the Mustangs in a third event this week.

Zalan Sarkany comes in as the top seed, but he’s going to have his hands full with Charlie Clark, as well as a pair of Wolfpack swimmers (Ross Dant and Owen Lloyd) and Gator swimmers (Andrew Taylor and Gio Linscheer). Dant finished second last year, just missing cracking the 14:30 barrier. Meanwhile, Lloyd is on a revenge tour after the drama at ACCs.

Destin Lasco took down the 200 backstroke pool record during prelims this morning and coming just .18 seconds from his own American record. Lasco is the two-time defending champion in this event and has looked strong all meet. He comes into the final almost a second ahead of NCAA record holder Hubert Kos, who leads a quartet of 1:37s from this morning in 1:37.03. Kos has been slightly off his PAC-12 times this week, so we’ll have to wait and see whether this will be a true battle between the pair or if Lasco’s going to steal the show.

Then we’ve got what may turn out to be the race of the meet in the 100 freestyle. Jordan Crooks, Josh Liendo, Chris Guiliano, and Jack Alexy all turned in 40-points during prelims. Crooks earned lane 4 by crushing a 40.54 personal best, vaulting up to #3 performer all-time. He’s sandwiched between Liendo and Guiliano on that list. They’ll be joined by Alexy (who also swam a PB this morning) as they try to win a national title and potentially crack the 40 second barrier.

Leon Marchand is back up for his 3rd individual event of the meet in the 200 breaststroke. He’s the NCAA record holder and very clearly hit the brakes during prelims. He heads into the final as the 3rd seed behind top seed Matt Fallon–who was just off his season-best this morning–and his teammate David Schlicht. Newly minted 100 breast NCAA record holder Liam Bell is in the mix here as well. The Sun Devils and Golden Bear will do their best to hold off Fallon and his incredible back-half.

The final individual race of the meet is the 200 butterfly. Dare Rose swam 1:39.52 to lead the field, slightly ahead of freshman Ilya Kharun, who also dipped under 1:40 (1:39.89). We’ll see a lot of program pairs here: Cal, NC State, and Indiana all put two swimmers into the ‘A’ final. There are also two former champions in the field: 2023 champ Aiden Hayes and 2022 champ Brendan Burns. Burns will be in lane 8, once again hoping to be the outside smoke like he was in last night’s 100 back. It’ll be his second ‘A’ final of the session as he’s racing the 200 back at the top of the session as well.

1650 Yard Freestyle — Timed Final

• 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: 14:22.41 — Clark Smith, Texas (2017)
• 2023 Champion: 14:28.94 — Will Gallant, NC State

Top 8: 

1. Zalan Sarkany (Arizona State) — 14:30.57
2. Gio Linscheer (Florida) — 14:36.01
3. Andrew Taylor (Florida) — 14:37.80
4. Krzysztof Chmielewski (USC) — 14:39.10
5. Owen Lloyd (NC State) — 14:39.18
6. Jack Hoagland (SMU) — 14:39.19
7. Bar Soloveychik (Minnesota) — 14:41.40
8. Ilia Sibirtsev (Louisville) — 14:41.87

This race was all Zalan Sarkany’s. He hasn’t had the best meet this week, but saved something special for tonight, taking the win in the 1650 freestyle. Sarkany swam away at the beginning of the race, flipping at the 500 solidly in control. He continued to build his lead over the middle 500, and turned at the 1000 split about seven seconds ahead of Krzysztof Chmielewski, who was running second. This event is part of Chmielewski’s “Brooks Fail special” as he’s following in the footsteps of the Arizona Wildcat and taking on the 1650 free/200 fly double. 

Sarkany remained in the lead for the rest of the race but things began to get interesting in the race for second. After the 1000, Gio Linscheer began to reel Chmiekiewski in and passed him. Across the pool, his Gator teammate Andrew Taylor began to do the same, getting ahead of the Trojan with about 100 yards to go. 

Sarkany was off his best from earlier this season but still claimed his first NCAA title with a 14:30.57. The Gators, both of whom swam personal best times, went 2-3 picking up big points for Florida after they had a tough prelims session. Taylor, a freshman, won SECs from the early heats, and showed here that he was able to hang in the big heat. His third place finish is also (to this point) the highest-placed finish from a freshman. 

Chmielewski hung on for 4th place, beating Owen Lloyd by just eight-hundredths. For his part, Lloyd swam a 14:39.18, which stands as a new personal best but is off the 14:37.04 he swam to win ACCs before being disqualified. He got his hand on the wall just a hundredth ahead of Hoagland’s time from the early heats, so the SMU fifth-year finishes sixth in 14:39.19.

200 Yard Backstroke — Final

• NCAA Record: 1:35.69 – Hubert Kos, Arizona State (2024)
• Meet Record: 1:35.73 – Ryan Murphy, Cal (2016)
• American Record: 1:35.73 – Ryan Murphy, Cal (2016)
• U.S. Open Record: 1:35.69 – Hubert Kos, Arizona State (2024)
• Pool Record: 1:36.05 – Destin Lasco, Cal (2024)
• 2023 Champion: Destin Lasco (Cal) – 1:35.87

Top 8:

1. Destin Lasco (Cal) — 1:35.37 *NCAA, Meet, American, U.S. Open, Pool Record*
2. Hubert Kos (Arizona State) — 1:35.90
3. Owen McDonald (Arizona State) — 1:36.63
4. Jonny Marshall (Florida) — 1:37.04
5. Kacper Stokowski (NC State) — 1:38.15
6. Bradley Dunham (Georgia) — 1:38.43
7. Brendan Burns (Indiana) — 1:38.62
8. Tommy Janton (Notre Dame) — 1:40.25

“I’ve been hunting for that record for the last four years,” Destin Lasco told the crowd in his post-race interview. He’s come close to the NCAA record–when it was fellow Cal Bear Ryan Murphy’s— multiple times. But it eluded him, even as he won two-straight 200 backstroke titles. Hubert Kos got to Murphy’s mark first at PAC-12s, breaking it with a 1:35.69.

As we’ve seen him do before, Lasco waited until the back half to make his move here in the championship final. Freshman Jonny Marshall, the SEC champion, turned first at the 100 in 46.79–the only out under 47 seconds. Lasco turned on the jets during the third 50, splitting a field-best 23.89 to grab the lead.

There was no containing him after that: he closed in 24.01 to win his third-straight 200 back title and finally put his name on the NCAA record in a blazing 1:35.37.

Hubert Kos moved up from 3rd at the 150-yard mark into second, getting under 1:36 again in 1:35.90. His teammate Owen McDonald earned third in a personal best 1:36.63, jumping ahead of Marshall for 7th all-time per USA Swimming. This is the same top three as the 200 IM, just with Kos and McDonald flipped.

Marshall held on for 4th in 1:37.04.

Aidan Stoffle won the ‘B’ final for the second year in a row in a personal best 1:38.36 to close out his individual NCAA career.

100 Yard Freestyle — Final

• 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: 40.00 – Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2017)
• 2023 Champion: Josh Liendo (Florida) – 40.28

Top 8:

1. Josh Liendo (Florida) — 40.20
2. Gui Caribe (Tennessee) — 40.55
3. Jack Alexy (Cal) — 40.59
4. Jordan Crooks (Tennessee) — 40.61
5. Chris Guiliano (Notre Dame) — 40.66
6. Matt Brownstead (UVA) / Jack Dolan (Arizona State) — 41.50
7. —
8. Bjorn Seeliger (Cal) — 41.80

What a week for Josh Liendo. He takse the win here in the 100 freestyle, torching a lifetime best 40.20 to complete the sweep in his individual events.

This was an absolutley stacked championship final. Chris Guiliano got off to a fast start, flipping first at the 25 and then at the 50 (19.11). Just behind him was Jordan Crooks (19.21) with Liendo running third (19.28). By the final turn, Liendo had taken the lead. Then, he had an excellent final underwater to pull himself even further ahead of the field. His 40.20 improves his lifetime best by .08 seconds and improves his standing as the 2nd fastest swimmer all-time.

In perhaps a surprising results, it was Gui Caribe who got his hand on the wall for 2nd place. Caribe passed Crooks and Guiliano on the final 25 yards to get the job done and log a huge personal best of 40.55, which is just a hundredth off the Tennessee program record that Crooks swam in prelims.

It was Jack Alexy who grabbed third, putting up his second personal best of the day with a 40.59. He touched just .02 seconds ahead of Crooks (40.61). Guiliano finished 5th in 40.66, four-hundredths off his best from ACCs.

This top five now represents 2nd through 6th on the all-time performers list according to USA Swimming.

200 Yard Breaststroke — Final

• NCAA Record: 1:46.91 – Leon Marchand, Arizona State (2023)
• Meet Record: 1:46.91 – Leon Marchand, Arizona State (2023)
• American Record: 1:47.91 – Will Licon, Texas (2017)
• U.S. Open Record: 1:46.91 – Leon Marchand, Arizona State (2023)
• Pool Record: 1:47.91 – Will Licon, Texas (2017)
• 2023 Champion: Leon Marchand (Arizona State) – 1:46.91

Top 8:

1. Leon Marchand (Arizona State) — 1:46.35 *NCAA, Meet, U.S. Open, Pool Record*
2. Matt Fallon (Penn) — 1:48.48
3. Carles Coll Marti (Virginia Tech) — 1:49.99
4. Liam Bell (Cal) — 1:50.15
5. David Schlicht (Arizona State) — 1:50.67
6. Noah Nichols (Virginia) — 1:50.69
7. Jassen Yep (Indiana) — 1:51.51
8. Jack Kelly (Brown) — 1:53.27

Leon Marchand has done it again–he reset his own NCAA, Meet, and U.S. Open records in the 200 breaststroke to close out his individual events for the meet. Marchand broke his own record by .56 seconds, splitting 24.02/26.76/27.38/28.19 en route to a 1:46.35. This is Marchand’s third straight win in the 200 breaststroke and his second straight time sweeping his individual events at NCAAs.

It was no surprise that Matt Fallon wasn’t a factor in the first half of the race. But even so, he didn’t let them get too far ahead and was actually only 6th after the opening 50. Like we’ve seen him do time and time again on both the national and international stage, Fallon came on strong in the back half. He split 27.45/28.43 on his back 100 yards. He moved through the field, eventually catching Liam Bell and taking second place in a personal best 1:48.48.

That marks Fallon’s first sub-1:49 outing and is a personal best by .55 seconds. It moves him into 3rd all-time and makes him the 2nd fastest American behind Will Licon.

Bell, the new NCAA champion and NCAA record holder in the 100 breast, was strong for the majority of the race. Fallon caught him in the final 50 yards, but it looked like he was still in control for 3rd. He hit a major wall with about 15 yards to go, which gave Carles Coll Marti the room he needed to pass him for 3rd place. Coll Marti touched in a season-best 1:49.99. Meanwhile, despite hitting a wall, Bell swam his second personal best of the day for 4th in a 1:50.15, taking 1.21 seconds off his best over the course of the day.

NC State’s Arsenio Bustos had a huge swim in the ‘B’ final. The junior won the race in 1:50.49, breaking 1:51 for the first time in his career.

200 Yard Butterfly — Final

• 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: 1:37.35 – Jack Conger, Texas (2017)
• 2023 Champion: Aiden Hayes (NC State) – 1:38.79

Top 8:

1. Ilya Kharun (Arizona State) — 1:38.26
2. Dare Rose (Cal) — 1:38.61
3. Aiden Hayes (NC State) — 1:39.16
4. Tomer Frankel (Indiana) — 1:39.35
5. Gabriel Jett (Cal) — 1:39.72
6. Noah Bowers (NC State) — 1:39.94
7. Gal Cohen Groumi (Michigan) — 1:40.05
8. Brendan Burns (Indiana) — 1:41.73

It came down to the wire in the 200 butterfly–the last individual event in the pool–but Ilya Kharun got his hands on the wall just ahead of Dare Rose to win Arizona State’s third individual title of the session. It’s also the first win by a freshman in the pool at these championships.

Kharun, a freshman, came into the meet with the fastest time. He got after it from the start, making the first turn in 21.71. Rose caught him by the halfway mark, turning .02 seconds ahead of Karun; 46.84 to 46.86. They were the only two out sub-47.

Rose eked out a slightly bigger lead over the third 50. He split 25.46, dragging the gap out to .31 seconds between him and Kharun. Defending champion Aiden Hayes made a push on this third 50 as well, putting together a field-best 25.53 split. Rose and Kharun made the final turn essentially together; then Kharun put together a strong final underwater to power away from Rose to the win in 1:38.26. Rose earned 2nd place in a lifetime best 1:38.61, improving on his 4th place finish just a year ago.

Hayes finsihed third in 1:39.16, keeping ahead of Tomer Frankel, who improved on his 2023 finish as well by taking 4th.

Heading into diving and the relay, ASU has clinched their first program title even if they disqualify the relay. Where things are getting interesting is the race for 3rd place. Depending on how their divers finish and then the outcome of the relay, the door is open for Indiana to pass Florida. Defending their title and winning the 400 freestyle relay should give the Gators the victory regardless of diving. If they don’t win, that’s where the math starts to get complicated.

Platform Diving — Final

• Meet Record: 548.90 — Nick McCrory, Duke (2011)
• 2023 Champion: Carson Tyler, Indiana — 476.30

Top 8:

1. Carson Tyler (Indiana) — 515.75
2. Maxwell Weinrich (Indiana) — 450.70
3. Bryden Hattie (Tennessee) — 444.60
4. Jordan Rzepka (Purdue) — 432.30
5. Geoffrey Vavitsas (Cal) — 404.90
6. Carson Paul (LSU) — 384.80
7. Quentin Henninger (Indiana) — 377.65
8. Clayton Chaplin (Ohio State) — 348.35

Carson Tyler hit the ground (the water?) running, scoring 95.40 points on his opening dive. That put him into the lead and he never trailed again. Tyler defended his title with 515.75 points, absolutley blowing away the 476.30 points he scored to win this discipline last year. It’s his second win of the meet–he took the win on 3-meter yesterday.

He led a trio of Indiana divers in this championship flight. The Hoosiers went 1-2-7, maintaining their positions from prelims and putting up a huge 49 points. Tyler’s teammate Maxwell Weinreich pushed into 2nd place on the back rounds of the six dives. Tennessee’s Bryden Hattie finished out his collegiate career in 3rd place with 444.60 points.

With these 49 points, Indiana now holds a 14 point lead over Florida heading into the final relay. Indiana will be in the third timed final while Florida will be in the fourth. Florida needs to beat Indiana by 8 spots for 3rd or win by 6 or more spots.

400 Yard Freestyle Relay — Timed Final

• NCAA Record: 2:44.07 — Florida (J. Liendo, A. Chaney, J. Smith, M. McDuff), 2023
• Meet Record: 2:44.07 — Florida (J. Liendo, A. Chaney, J. Smith, M. McDuff), 2023
• American Record: 2:44.31 — NC State (R. Held, J. Ress, J. Molacek, C. Stewart), 2018
• U.S. Open Record: 2:44.07 — Florida (J. Liendo, A. Chaney, J. Smith, M. McDuff), 2023
• Pool Record: 2:45.39 — Texas (B. Ringgold, J. Conger, T. Haas, J. Schooling), 2017
• 2023 Champion: 2:44.07 — Florida (J. Liendo, A. Chaney, J. Smith, M. McDuff), 2023

Top 8:

1. Arizona State (L. Marchand, J. Dolan, P. Sammon, J. Kulow) — 2:43.40 *NCAA, Meet, U.S. Open, Pool Record*
2. Florida (J. Liendo, A. Chaney, J. Smith, M. McDuff) — 2:44.21
3. Cal (J. Alexy, D. Lasco, M. Jensen, B. Seeliger) — 2:44.46
4. NC State — 2:45.29
5. Tennessee — 2:45.38
6. Virginia Tech — 2:45.97
7. Stanford — 2:46.06
8. Notre Dame — 2:46.46

The 400 freestyle relay lived up to the hype. Heading into the final heat, the time to beat was Stanford’s 2:46.06.

From the opening leg, this was an incredible race. Leading off their respective relays: Marchand, Liendo, Alexy, Crooks, and Guiliano. Marchand threw down the gauntlet, firing off a 40.28 lead-off that jumps him up the all-time performers list to third place behind Dressel and Liendo. Crooks put up a personal best of his own, swimming 40.39 which makes him 4th all-time and improves the Tennessee program record he swam in prelims. The time would’ve made him 2nd in the individual event. Meanwhile, Alexy swam 40.79, Guiliano 40.93, and Liendo 41.28.

Once Marchand gave them the lead, the Sun Devils ran with it. Jack Dolan swam 41.28 on their second leg, Patrick Sammon clocked 41.02, and Jonny Kulow brought them home in a 40.82. They combined for new NCAA, Meet, U.S. Open, and Pool records with a blistering 2:43.40, shattering the mark that Florida swam just last season and bringing the mark sub-2:44.

After the lead-off leg, Florida clawed their way back into 2nd place by the halfway point with Adam Chaney‘s 40.80 split. Julian Smith split 41.30 and Macguire McDuff anchored in 40.83, bringing the Gators to a 2nd place finish in 2:44.21, just off their time from last year. Their 2nd place finish secured their 3rd place in the team standings, two points ahead of Indiana.

Cal took third .25 seconds behind Florida. After Alexy’s lead-off, the Golden Bears went with Lasco (41.91), Matthew Jensen (41.11), and Bjorn Seeliger (40.65), swimming a 2:44.46 to seal their 2nd place finish in the team race.

Final Scores

1. Arizona State — 523.5
2. Cal — 444.5
3. Florida — 378
4. Indiana — 376
5. NC State — 318
6. Tennessee — 231
7. Texas — 189
8. Stanford — 177
9. Virginia Tech — 172
10. Notre Dame — 132
11. Georgia — 116
12. Auburn — 100
13. Ohio State — 92
14. Michigan — 87.5
15. Louisville — 84
16. Texas A&M — 81
17. Virginia — 80.5
18. SMU — 59
19. Alabama — 56
20. Minnesota — 40
21. Florida State — 34
22. USC — 31
23. Purdue — 25
24. LSU / Pitt — 24
25. —
26. Miami (FL) — 21
27. Missouri / Arizona — 19
28. —
29. Towson — 18
30. Penn — 17
31. Wisconsin — 16
32. Brown — 11
33. UNC — 9
34. Penn St — 8
35. BYU — 7
36. Utah — 6
37. George Washington — 3
38. Northwestern — 1