Reported by Jared Anderson.
200 BREASTSTROKE – FINALS
- NCAA Record: 1:47.91, Will Licon (TEX), 2017
- American Record: 1:47.91, Will Licon (TEX), 2017
- U.S. Open Record: 1:47.91, Will Licon (TEX), 2017
- 2017 NCAA Champion: Will Licon, Texas
Top 8 finishers:
- Ian Finnerty, Indiana – 1:50.17
- Andrew Seliskar, Cal – 1:50.42
- Mark Szaranek, Florida – 1:51.71
- Conner McHugh, Minnesota – 1:52.00
- Alex Evdokimov, Cornell – 1:52.38
- Connor Hoppe, Cal – 1:52.89
- Tommy Cope, Michigan – 1:52.84
- James Guest, Georgia – 1:53.75
Indiana’s Ian Finnerty went out very aggressive, opening up a lead of more than a body length early. But he faded hard in the final 50 as Cal’s Andrew Seliskar closed. But Finnerty still had enough in the tank to get home, winning in 1:50.17 to Seliskar’s 1:50.42.
Florida’s Mark Szaranek moved up to 3rd in 1:51.71, with Minnesota’s Conner McHugh rolling into fourth in 1:52.00.
Cornell’s Alex Evdokimov was fifth, and behind him, Cal’s Connor Hoppe moved up to 6th – another gain of one point for the Golden Bears.
In the B final, Texas A&M’s Mauro Castillo went 1:52.00 to run away with the win. Indiana’s Levi Brock dropped to 16th, marking a loss of 6 points from seed for IU, which has struggled to hold seeds tonight.
Seliskar strikes me as the type of swimmer who was amazingly good throughout HS and college, just not quite enough to win any individual events at NCAAs, but has potential to explode as a pro.
He had a sub-par 4IM final but otherwise swam all top-10 times in his other events I think.
Great career, kinda of suffered from being too good at too many events + valuable point scorer at big meets to truly dedicate himself to mastering one event
I hope he can go on to swim professionally. He has that kind of talent I think.