2024 NCAA Men’s Championships: Day 1 Relay Analysis – Records, Records Everywhere

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 The Meet
• Live Results
• Day 1 Live Recap

200 Medley Relay – Timed Final

• NCAA Record: 1:20.55 – Arizona State (J. Dolan, L. Marchand, I. Kharun, J. Kulow), 2024
• Meet Record: 1:20.67 – NC State (K. Stokowski, M. Hunter, N. Korstanje, D. Curtiss), 2023
• American Record: 1:21.66 – Florida (A. Chaney, J. Smith, S. Buff, M. McDuff), 2024
• S. Open Record: 1:20.55 – Arizona State (J. Dolan, L. Marchand, I. Kharun, J. Kulow), 2024
• 2023 Champion: 1:20.67 – NC State (K. Stokowski, M. Hunter, N. Korstanje, D. Curtiss), 2023

Podium:

1. Florida (A. Chaney, J. Smith, J. Liendo, M. McDuff) – 1:20.15 *NCAA, Meet, U.S. Open Record*
2. Arizona State (J. Dolan, L. Marchand, I. Kharun, J. Kulow) – 1:20.55
3. NC State (A. Hayes, S. Hoover, L. Miller, Q. McCarty) – 1:20.98 *American Record*
4. Cal – 1:21.01
5. Tennessee – 1:21.91
6. Indiana – 1:22.10
7. Stanford – 1:22.43
8. Auburn – 1:22.57

Florida stunned top-seeded Arizona State with a win in the 200 medley relay, as Adam Chaney, Julian Smith, Josh Liendo, and Macguire McDuff put together four of the fastest legs in the water, breaking the NCAA, championship meet, and U.S. Open records along the way.

NC State’s Aiden Hayes led off with the fastest 50 backstroke of all time, going 20.07 to put the Wolfpack in the lead. Florida’s Chaney was second with 20.29, just .10 ahead of Cal’s Bjorn Seeliger. Arizona State’s Jack Dolan went 20.55, while Will Modglin of Texas was 20.56.

Backstroke Leg

NOTE:
*The Penn State and Louisville relays were disqualified for early takeoffs on the 3rd leg.
**Disqualified swimmers.

Liam Bell of Cal cranked a 22.25 breaststroke leg, passing Leon Marchand’s 20.27 from last year’s NCAAs as the top 50 breast relay split ever. Florida’s Julian Smith was the next-fastest with 22.55, while ASU’s Marchand went 22.59. Henry Bethel of Auburn (22.84) and Denis Petrashov of Louiville (22.91) were the only other sub-23s. (Louisville’s relay was DQd for an early start on the #3 leg.)

Breaststroke Leg

NOTE:
*The Penn State and Louisville relays were disqualified for early takeoffs on the 3rd leg.
**Disqualified swimmers.

The momentum shifted on the third exchange when Florida’s Josh Liendo split a lightning-fast 18.97 on the butterfly leg, moving out to 3/4 of a body-length lead over Arizona State headed into the final leg. Luke Miller of NC (19.35), Ilya Kharun of ASU (19.47), Indiana’s Tomer Frankel (19.56), Andrei Minakov of Stanford (19.57), Tennessee’s Jordan Crooks (19.70), Michigan’s Tyler Ray (19.86), and Dare Rose of Cal (19.97) were all under 20 seconds.

Butterfly Leg

NOTE:
*The Penn State and Louisville relays were disqualified for early takeoffs on the 3rd leg.
**Disqualified swimmers.

ASU’s Jonny Kulow blasted a 17.94 on the end of the Sun Devils’ relay, and while he closed the gap by .40, it wasn’t enough to catch Florida’s Macguire McDuff (18.34). NC State’s Quintin McCarty anchored in 18.16 to squeak past Cal for 3rd place at the finish. Other notable anchors included Tennessee’s Guilherme Santos (18.36), Cal’s Jack Alexy (18.40), Georgia’s Dillon Downing (18.43), Arizona’s Tommy Palmer (18.45), and LSU’s Jere Hribar (18.50).

Freestyle Leg

800 Freestyle Relay – Timed Final

• NCAA Record: 6:03.42 – Texas (L. Hobson, C. Carrozza, P. Larson, C. Foster), 2024
• Meet Record: 6:03.42 – Texas (L. Hobson, C. Carrozza, P. Larson, C. Foster), 2024
• American Record: 6:03.42 – Texas (L. Hobson, C. Carrozza, P. Larson, C. Foster), 2024
• S. Open Record: 6:03.42 – Texas (L. Hobson, C. Carrozza, P. Larson, C. Foster), 2024
• 2023 Champion: 6:03.42 – Texas (L. Hobson, C. Carrozza, P. Larson, C. Foster), 2024

Podium:

1. Cal (G. Jett, D. Lasco, J. Alexy, R. Hanson) – 6:02.26 *NCAA, Meet, U.S. Open Record*
2. Arizona State (L. Marchand, H. Kos, P. Sammon, J. Hill) – 6:04.95
3. Texas (L. Hobson, C. Carrozza, N. Germonprez, C. Taylor) – 6:05.33
4. Florida – 6:08.00
5. Georgia – 6:08.13
6. Indiana – 6:08.26
7. Louisville – 6:08.32
8. Stanford – 6:08.77

Swimming in the second-to-last heat, Texas’s Luke Hobson led off with 1:29.13, breaking the NCAA record in the 200 free that had belonged to Harvard’s Dean Farris since 2019. Then, in the very next heat, Leon Marchand of Arizona State undercut the new NCAA mark by become the first man in history to swim under the 1:29 barrier, clocking a 1:28.97.

Four more swimmers broke 1:31 on their leadoffs: Gabriel Jett of Cal (1:30.32), Chris Guiliano of Notre Dame (1:30.36), Alabama’s Charlie Hawke (1:30.66), and Rafael Miroslaw of Indiana (1:30.76).

Another three were sub-1:32: Gal Cohen Groumi of Michigan (1:31.07), Louisville’s Murilo Sartori (1:31.68), and Macguire McDuff of Florida (1:31.82).

Leadoff Leg

With over a body-length lead of the field, Marchand handed off to Hubert Kos, while Cal’s Jett was followed by Destin Lasco. Lasco had 1.35 seconds to make up, and he did so just after flipping at 350. He came home in 22.95 over his last 50 yards, compared to Kos’s 24.74.

Cal’s Jack Alexy, the #3 leg, had the second-fastest rolling split of the night with 1:30.50. Their anchor, Robin Hanson (1:31.84), was 14th.

Jake Mitchell of Florida anchored in 1:30.89, the only other sub-1:31. Georgia’s Bradley Dunham (1:31.28), Alabama’s Kaique Alves (1:31.29), Coby Carrozza of Texas (1:31.32), Guy Brooks of Indiana (1:31.33), Stanford’s Henry McFadden (1:31.45), and Georgia’s Jake Magahey (1:31.47) were all under 1:31.5.

Rolling Splits