24 Pool Records Fall in Utah-BYU Dual Meet for State Supremacy

Utah vs. BYU

• February 9-10, 2024
• Richards Building Pool, BYU, Provo, Utah
• Short Course Yards (25 yards), two-day dual
• Full Meet Results
• Team Scores
  • Utah Women 161.5 – BYU Women 100.5
  • #24 BYU Men 149 – HM Utah Men 113

A single day dual meet format stretched over two days resulted in record-setting swims last weekend as northern Utah rivals Utah  and BYU split the decisions last weekend. The Utah women won 161.5-100.5, while the 24th-ranked BYU men won 149-113 over Utah, which also earned votes in the most recent SwimSwam Power Rankings.

Utah left their stamp on the Richards Building Pool, setting 24 facility records in two days. The BYU women also set three Pool Records in the meet. The pool opened fall of 2018.

“I am very happy about today,” said Utah head coach Jonas Persson. “The women were extraordinarily good and I’m so excited they were able to pull off the win and win with a big margin. The men swam really well, but it wasn’t quite enough to get away with the win. That’s OK, as we still have three-and-a-half weeks left of the season and we’re looking really good for conference championships coming up.”

Women’s Meet Recap

Of the 24 Pool Records broken in two days of competition, half were won in the women’s meet.

Pool Records Broken:

Utah had several double winners, but most notable among them  were Summer Stanfield, a former LSU Tiger, and Norah Hay, who each broke a pair of individual records.

Stanfield won the 200 fly in 2:00.00 (1:58.80 with the altitude allowance) and the 200 IM in 2:01.43 (2:00.23 with the altitude allowance). That converted time in the 200 fly is very close to her personal best in that event that was done at the 2020 SEC Championships.

Junior Norah Hay, meanwhile, won the 100 back in 53.83 and 200 back in 1:55.90. That 1:55.90 (and incidentally the altitude converted time) is her new personal best based on actual time recorded.

The host Cougars were led by sophomore Mackenzie Lung (formerly Mackenzie Miller), who picked up wins in both the 100 breast and 200 breast in new Pool Records and personal best times. In the 100, she swam 1:00.87, and in the 200 she swam 2:10.98, clearing her previous personal bests of 1:01.06 and 2:11.94 from the 2022 Mizzou Invitational.

If she can repeat those best times at the MPSF Championships (she wasn’t able to last year), she is a gold medal contender in both after UCSD’s Katja Pavicevic transferred to UNC this season.

In a few cases, there were multiple swimmers under the old Pool Record. For example, in the 200 free, Lily Milner led the way in 1:48.78, but her teammate Isabella Riso (1:49.05) and BYU’s Kara Martinson (1:49.51) were also under the old building best.

Men’s Meet Recap

The men’s programs, which are higher-ranking nationally than their women’s counterparts, broke the same number of records – 12 – as the women did, with Utah getting 4 and BYU getting 8.

The BYU men, the best team they’ve had in years, declared in-state dominance over Utah with a 36-point margin of victory, making a statement by opening with a 1-2 finish in the 200 medley relay (1:25.79 & 1:27.83), with the winners dipping under the Pool Record.

“This meet is so much fun,” said BYU head swimming coach Shari Skabelund. “Utah’s gotten the better of us in recent years but this time we really focused in on winning and showed up.”

The haul for BYU included star Jordan Tiffany breaking his own Pool Record in the 200 IM for the third-straight meet. He swam 1:44.62, dominating the race and breaking his own record of 1:45.56 from January. That’s actually the third time he’s set the Pool Record – entering the season he held it at 1:48.75, a time done while swimming for Lone Peak High School in 2019.

Tiffany would later win the 100 fly in 45.72, breaking his own record of 46.42 from last year.

Tiffany’s season best of 44.85 from the mid-season invite ranks him tied for 7th in the NCAA this season.

Another double individual winner and record-breaker for BYU was Brad Prolo, a 24-year-old redshirt senior. He won the 200 fly in 1:44.01, beating out Utah’s Evan VanBrocklin (1:44.06), with both going under Prolo’s former Pool Record of 1:46.71.

In an unusual combo, Prolo later won the 200 breast in 1:55.94 – leading four swimmers under the Pool Record and beating Utah’s star Jaek Horner (1:56.04). That swim for Prolo is a lifetime best and is only .09 seconds away from BYU’s school record held by Emerson Edwards, who was 3rd in this race.

Luigi Riva from Milan, Italy also had a big meet, setting the Pool Record in the 50 free in 19.53, ranking him now 3rd-best in school history. He would later clip the 100 free on a lead-off leg in the men’s 400 free relay in 43.94, taking the Pool Record from Utah’s Evan Van Brocklin, who tied it at 43.97 in the individual event earlier in the meet.

In addition to his two individual Pool Records and relay record as part of the 200 medley, Prolo also swam a lifetime best time in the 100 fly (47.15).

While BYU comfortably led the scoring in the men’s meet Utah got a few good shots in too.

That includes a 52.31 from Jaek Horner in the 100 breast, who was the NCAA leader until Jake Foster made a surprise return for the Texas Longhorns in January. That swim is Horner’s first time under 53 seconds in a dual meet. This year, with an NCAA qualification already secured, his task will be to peak at NCAAs – something he was unable to do last year in his national championship debut.

Tomas Chocholaty broke the pool record in the mile, swimming a 15:27.85  at altitude. For the Utah freshman, that’s about 14 seconds off his mid-season time, but in the event most-impacted by altitude, that might be the best swim he’s had.

He also won the 500 free in 4:28.37.

Brandon Miller put up a lifetime best in spite of the altitude to sweep the men’s backstroke races. In the 100, he swam 48.59, which slid under the 48.66 that he went mid-season, and in the 200 back he went 1:44.28 – which is only a best time when altitude converted.

He didn’t swim the 100 backstroke last season, but with a shifted focus has dropped his 100 back by a second-and-a-half this year.

The Utah women, BYU women, and BYU men all completed their regular season with this meet. The Utes will head to the Pac-12 Championships in Federal Way from February 28 – March 2, while BYU makes their Big 12 Championship debut from February 27-March 2 in Morgantown, West Virginia.

The Utah men have one remaining dual meet on February 17th when they host USC.