2023 Men’s NCAA Championships: Distance Heats Live Recap

2023 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 22-25, 2023
• Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center | Minneapolis, MN
• SCY (25 yards)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• SwimSwam Pick ’em Contest
• Live Results
• 1650 Free Heat Sheet

TEAM SCORES THRU DAY 3

1. Cal – 315
2. Arizona State – 302
3. Texas – 292
4. Indiana – 259
5. Florida – 251
6. NC State – 246.5
7. Tennessee -144
8. Stanford — 112.5
9. Auburn/Virginia Tech — 96
10. (tie)
11. Louisville — 71
12. Virginia — 67
13. Texas A&M — 65
14. Ohio State — 54.5
15. Georgia — 53

The last day of competition at the 2023 Men’s NCAA Championships is here and going into the last finals session, the team scores are tightening up. Cal is in the lead but only 13 points ahead of Arizona State who has Texas on their tail, just 10 points behind.

But, before finals, we have the distance session where four out of the five heats of the 1650 free are competing. The fastest heat will swim in finals, but anyone from the earlier heats also has the chance to win the event or place in the top 16 and score points.

1650 Free Heat Sheet

Ohio State junior Charlie Clark and Auburn sophomore Mason Mathias are the top two seeds in that fourth and fastest heat. Clark placed 8th last season by dropping a lifetime best time of 14:35.38. He has been within six seconds of that this season and is coming off a strong 7th place finish in the 1500 at the 2022 Short Course World Championships. Mathias had a season-best time in the 500 free prelims on Day 2 and he ultimately placed 15th in finals where Clark placed 25th.

Watch out for NC State’s Ross Dant, in lane two. The senior placed 3rd in this event last season and owns a lifetime best time of 14:31, but he hasn’t swum sub-14:40 yet this season.

1650 Freestyle Timed Finals – Slower Heats

• 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: 14:24.43 – Anton Ipson, NC State (2018)
• 2022 Champion: Bobby Finke, Florida – 14:22.28

Top 8:

1. Ross Dant, NC State – 14:30.32
2. Jack Hoagland, Notre Dame – 14:38.64
3. Charlie Clark, Ohio State – 14:41.43
4. Lucas Henveaux, Cal – 14:44.14
5. Alfonso Mestre, Florida – 14:44.50
6. Owen Lloyd, NC State – 14:46.16
7. Alec Enyeart, Texas – 14:47.13
8. Daniel Matheson, ASU – 14:48.21

In heat one, Texas 5th year Alex Zettle had a comfortable lead at the 500-yard mark which continued to build. It looked like his race to lose until Yordan Yanchev of FSU caught him with just 100 yards to go. They were neck-and-neck through the final 50 and Yanchev barreled into the wall to secure the win at 14:56.18, just .18 ahead of Zettle in second  (14:56.36). This was a huge swim for Yanchev who had never broken 15:00.00 before and owns a previous lifetime best time of 15:08.13. Both Zettle and Julian Hill of ASU who placed 3rd had season-best times of 14:57.

There was some Florida distance magic on display in heat two when senior  Alfonso Mestre set the pace fast, building a four-second lead by the 500-yard mark. He held strong until the 1000 when he slowed down a bit,  slipping into 27-mid splits on each 50. His lead was still insurmountable though and Mestre claimed first place in a time of 14:44.50, followed by his freshman teammate Gio Linscheer who finished in second place (14:48.63). Mestre placed 10th in this event last year (14:39.82).

Heat three saw the first sub-14:40 time of the day when Notre Dame’s Jack Hoagland hit the wall first at 14:38.64, crushing his season-best time by 10 seconds. Cal’s Lucas Henveaux took second place in the heat (14:44.14). While Hoagland took control of the race relatively early, Henveaux showed some incredible finishing speed by blasting a 25.98 on the final 50. For context, Hoagland finished the race in 26.37.

Ross Dant had a commanding lead in heat four and, at the halfway mark, he was ahead of his pace from last year which earned him third place. He held strong and hit the wall first with a lifetime best time of 14:30.32,  a time that would have earned second place behind U.S. Olympian Bobby Finke last year. Dant might be giving “outside smoke” a whole new meaning tonight if his time places him on top of the podium – winning out of lane two and winning outside of the final heat. He has a strong chance of it too. Tonight’s top seed Levi Sandidge is entered with a time of 14:31.47.