2023 Men’s Big Ten Championships: Day 2 Finals Live Recap

2023 MEN’S BIG TEN SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS 

• Wednesday, February 22 – Saturday, February 25, 2023
• Canham Natatorium, Ann Arbor, MI
• Defending Champions:
  • Men: Indiana (1x)
• Live Results
• Live Video
• Championship Central
• Fan Guide
• Day 1 Finals Live Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Live Recap
• Day 2 Up/Downs

Indiana, Ohio State, and Michigan are in prime position to separate themselves from the rest of the field at the 2023 Men’s Big Ten Championships on Thursday night. Of the 32 ‘A’ finalists tonight, our top three teams have 25 of them.

SCORES AFTER DAY 1

1. Ohio State / Indiana – 118
2. (tie)
3. Michigan – 112
4. Purdue/Minnesota/Wisconsin – 100
5. (tie)
6. (tie)
7. Northwestern – 92
8. Penn State – 88

Tonight’s session will begin with the 500 free, 200 IM, and 50 free before a break from pool action for the 1-meter diving finals. The evening will conclude with timed finals of the 400 medley relay.

The first showdown of the night should be a fun one as top 500 free qualifier Bar Soloveychik of Minnesota aims to steal the crown from defending champion Jake Newmark of Wisconsin.

In the 200 IM, Indiana’s Luke Barr (1:43.14) and Purdue’s Nick Sherman (1:43.24) were separated by just a tenth of a second during prelims this morning, but defending champion Gal Groumi (1:44.08) is lurking close behind.

And in the 50 free, Indiana’s Van Mathias blew away his lifetime best this morning (19.16) to claim the top seed for what could be a wide open race against Michigan’s Bence Szabados (19.19), Ohio State’s Ruslan Gaziev (19.24), and Michigan’s Cam Peel (19.24).

500 FREESTYLE – FINALS

• Meet Record: 4:09.29, Felix Auboeck (2018)
• Pool Record: 4:12.52, Conner Jaeger (2014)
• 2022 Champion: Jake Newmark (Wisconsin) – 4:12.43
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 4:11.40
• 2022 NCAA Invite: 4:14.96

Top 8:

1. Jake Newmark (Wisconsin) – 4:12.96
2. Bar Soloveychik (Minnesota) – 4:14.45
3. Charlie Clark (Ohio State) – 4:15.35
4. Eduardo Moraes (Michigan) – 4:17.75
5. Mikey Calvillo (Indiana) – 4:18.45
6. Warren Briggs (Indiana) – 4:18.62
7. Mason Edmund (Ohio State) – 4:18.63
8. Sam Campbell (Ohio State) – 4:22.21

Wisconsin junior Jake Newmark defended his title with a time of 4:12.96, holding off top qualifier Bar Soloveychik of Minnesota (4:14.45) by about a second and a half. Newmark was about half a second slower than his winning time from last year (4:12.43) and about a second and a half behind the NCAA ‘A’ cut this year.

Ohio State junior Charlie Clark rounded out the podium in third place with a 4:15.35, while Michigan sophomore Eduardo Moraes was slightly off his personal-best 4:17.38 from prelims. The Buckeyes boasted the most swimmers in this A-final courtesy of Clark, Mason Edmund (4:18.63) and Sam Campbell (4:22.21).

200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY – FINALS

• Meet Record: 1:41.05, Vini Lanza (2019)
• Pool Record: 1:41.14, Kyle Whitaker (2014)
• 2022 Champion: Gal Groumi (Michigan) – 1:41.54
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:41.22
• 2022 NCAA Invite: 1:43.36

Top 8:

1. Gal Groumi (Michigan) – 1:41.20
2. Nick Sherman (Purdue) – 1:42.62
3. Eitan Ben-Shitrit (Michigan) – 1:43.31
4. Kaiser Neverman (Minnesota) – 1:43.97
5. Luke Barr (Indiana) – 1:44.06
6. Jared Daigle (Michigan) – 1:44.28
7. Alex Quach (Ohio State) – 1:44.43
8. Ansel Froass (Michigan) – 1:44.48

Gal Groumi shot out to a 21.78 fly split to lead off the 200 IM and never relinquished the lead en route to his second-straight victory in this event with a time of 1:41.20. That’s just about a tenth of a second off his lifetime best from last year’s NCAA Championships, and a few tenths faster than last year’s Big Ten win.

Groumi posted the fastest splits in the field on the backstroke (25.05) and freestyle (24.58) legs. He was only .15 seconds away from Vini Lanza‘s meet record and .06 seconds away from Kyle Whitaker‘s nine-year-old pool record.

Purdue senior Nick Sherman placed second behind Groumi with a personal-best 1:42.62, dipping under his previous-best 1:42.90 from November. Third-place finisher Eitan Ben-Shitrit of Michigan also improved upon his lifetime best from this morning (1:44.14) by nearly a second with a time of 1:43.31 in the final. Minnesota junior Kaiser Neverman was slightly off his personal-best 1:43.91 from November, which marked a huge time drop from his previous-best 1:46.13 at last year’s Big Tens.

50 FREESTYLE – FINALS

• Meet Record: 18.69, Bowe Becker (2019)
• Pool Record: 19.05, Derek Toomey (2014)
• 2022 Champion: Hunter Armstrong (Ohio State) – 18.93
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 18.88
• 2022 NCAA Invite: 19.28

Top 8:

1. Van Mathias (Indiana) – 19.00
2. Bence Szabados (Michigan) – 19.05
3. Ruslan Gaziev (Ohio State) – 19.20
4. Gavin Wight (Indiana) – 19.26
5. Cam Peel (Michigan) – 19.28
6. Victor Baganha (Penn State) – 19.33
7. Ben Wiegand (Wisconsin) – 19.59
8. James Ward (Ohio State) – 19.66

The time drops just kept coming for Indiana fifth year Van Mathias.

Mathias, who had never broken 20 seconds before the season started, ripped a 19.38 in November before lowering his personal best to 19.16 as the top qualifier in prelims this morning. In tonight’s final, he rose to the occasion with a 19.00, edging Michigan junior Bence Szabados by just .05 seconds at the finish. Mathias also broke a nine-year-old pool record set by Minnesota’s Derek Toomey (19.05) back in 2014.

Szabados shaved two-tenths of a second off his lifetime best from last year’s NCAA Championships. Ohio State put two on the podium as junior Ruslan Gaziev claimed third place with another personal-best time of 19.20, taking .04 seconds off his PB from prelims. Indiana junior Gavin Wight just barely missed a podium finish with his 19.26, which represented a new personal best by three-tenths of a second.

1-METER DIVING – FINALS

• Meet Record: 493.60, Michael Hixon (2018)
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 300

Top 8:

1. Carson Tyler (Indiana) – 431.05
2. Lyle Yost (Ohio State) – 430.95
3. Andrew Capobianco (Indiana) – 406.95
4. Cameron Gammage (Michigan) – 406.30
5. Clay Chaplin (Ohio State) – 376.40
6. Quinn Henninger (Indiana) – 374.75
7. Jordan Rzepka (Purdue) – 364.10
8. Jack Matthews (Ohio State) – 350.75

Michigan sat atop the team standings heading into this event, but after Ohio State and Indiana each placed three divers in the 1-meter A-final, the Wolverines fell into third place (403 points) behind the Buckeyes (433) and Hoosiers (414).

In an absolute nail-biter, Indiana sophomore Carson Tyler edged Ohio State senior Lyle Yost by just a tenth of a point, 431.05 to 430.95. The battle for third place was nearly as tight, with Indiana fifth year Andrew Capobianco beating Michigan sophomore Cameron Gammage by less than a point.

400 MEDLEY RELAY – FINALS

• NCAA Record: 2:59.22, Texas – 2017 NCAA Championships
• Meet Record: 3:00.95 – Indiana, 2022
• Pool Record: 3:06.08, Michigan (2014)
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:04.96

Top 8:

1. Indiana – 3:01.53
2. Wisconsin – 3:06.25
3. Ohio State – 3:06.90
4. Minnesota – 3:07.01
5. Penn State – 3:07.75
6. Purdue – 3:08.36
7. Northwestern – 3:08.84
8. Michigan – DQ

What began as a promising night for Michigan ended poorly when the Wolverines were disqualified for an early take-off while in second place behind Indiana, who triumphed by nearly five seconds in a new pool record of 3:01.53.

Hoosiers senior Brendan Burns led off their medley relay with a 44.78 backstroke split, sophomore Josh Matheny followed with a 50.77 breaststroke split, junior Tomer Frankel threw down a 44.42 butterfly split, and sophomore Rafael Miroslaw anchored with a 41.56 freestyle split. The victory brought Indiana within nine points of Ohio State in the team standings.

Wisconsin (3:06.25) and Ohio State (3:06.90) rounded out the podium in Michigan’s absence. If the Wolverines weren’t disqualified, Gal Groumi and Bence Szabados would have tallied the fastest fly and free splits in the field at 44.36 and 41.52, respectively. Max McHugh fired off the fastest breaststroke split in the field (50.61) for fourth-place Minnesota (3:07.01).

With an extra 56 points, the Wolverines would be right in the mix with Ohio State (487) and Indiana (478), but instead they have some catching up to do in third place with 403.

SCORES AFTER DAY 2

1. Ohio State – 487
2. Indiana – 478
3. Michigan – 403
4. Wisconsin – 341
5. Minnesota – 280
6. Purdue – 240
7. Northwestern – 210
8. Penn State – 204