Hugo Gonzalez Swims 1:53.53 in 200 Breaststroke Time Trial

2021 MEN’S  PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Sunday, February 28 – Wednesday, March 3
• Houston, TX (Central Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: Cal (3x) (results)
• Prelims: 11:00 AM Central Time (Days 2-4); Finals: 6:00 PM Central Time (Days 1-4)
• Championship Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Stream
• Day 1 Time Trials Results

Cal junior Hugo Gonzalez swam a 1:53.53 in the 200 yard breaststroke to highlight a Sunday afternoon time trials session at the Pac-12 men’s championships.

That’s a new lifetime best for him, officially, undercutting the 1:53.98 that he swam at a pre-conference meet near the end of his freshman season when he was still representing Auburn. He did, however, swim a 200 breaststroke during the 200 IM event at Pac-12s last year, taking an intentional DQ, and swimming 1:51.63. Because he didn’t swim it in the correct event, that time doesn’t land on his official record, though Cal recognizes it as the #4 swim in school history anyway.

His Sunday time trial swim ranks him 17th nationally in the event so far, which means he’ll get an NCAA Invite in that event – though the versatile Spaniard could enter other events for NCAAs.

Last season, he was entered in the 200 IM, 400 IM, and 200 breaststroke, and was the top seed in the 400 IM and #4 seed in the 200 breast.

This week, he has entries in the 200 IM, 400 IM, 200 back, and 200 breaststroke to select from. Internationally, he’s been pushing more toward his backstroke races than his breaststroke races, but at the NCAA level, he’s got A-final potential in both events.

His was the most significant result of the time trials session, with most of the trialists missing their seed times. The exception there is Utah senior Felix Chiun, who swam a 43.75 in the 100 free. That takes four-tenths of a second off his previous best time and a full second off his seed time. That swim moves him up a spot to 9th in Utah’s all-time rankings.

After his teammate Deryk Cooper split a 42.35 on the Utes’ 400 free relay anchor, the Utah 400 free relay looks like it could be a good result on the final day of competition. While they’re unlikely to catch the sprint-deep Cal Bears, they have a shot at beating the USC Trojans, which would be a moral victory for the team.