arena Swim of the Week: Jackson Lustig Moves To #3 In D2 History With 1:42.14 200 Fly

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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.

Last weekend was flooded with exceptional performances in college swimming, and while the Division I standouts stole most of the headlines, there were also some big-time swims from D2 and D3 programs.

Highlighting that was McKendree’s Jackson Lustig, who came into the Mizzou Invite riding a ton of momentum after posting a very fast early-season time of 1:45.35 in the 200 fly back in October.

Lustig, a sophomore with the Division II Bearcats, qualified first out of the men’s 200 fly heats at the Mizzou Invite in a time of 1:43.64, undercutting his previous best set at last season’s NCAAs by two one-hundredths (1:43.66).

He then went head-to-head with Mizzou’s Clement Secchi in the final, leading early before ultimately placing second in a time of 1:42.14, shattering his previous best time and school record by a second and a half.

Split Comparison

Lustig’s time also moves him up from seventh into third all-time in Division II history, trailing only Alex Kunert (1:41.19) and Marius Kusch (1:42.04), who have combined to win the last five national titles in the 200 fly for Queens.

Kunert is competing this season, but won’t defend his title at D2 NCAAs as Queens is in the midst of reclassifying to Division I.

All-Time Performers, Men’s 200 Fly (SCY) – NCAA Division II

1. Alex Kunert (Queens), 1:41.19 – 2019
2. Marius Kusch (Queens), 1:42.04 – 2017
3. Jackson Lustig (McKendree), 1:42.14 – 2022
4. Matthew Austin (Queens), 1:42.96 – 2015
5. JunHan Kim (Drury), 1:42.99 – 2011

Secchi, a French native who transferred to Mizzou from McGill in U SPORTS over the summer, edged out Lustig over the last 50 to touch first in 1:41.81, which at the time was the fastest in the nation.

Now that the dust has settled from the first round of invites, Secchi ranks fourth and Lustig sits fifth in the NCAA as a whole, by far the top ranking for a Division II swimmer this season.

2022-23 NCAA Rankings, Men’s 200 Fly (SCY) – All Divisions

1. Leon Marchand (ASU), 1:39.57
2. Alex Colson (ASU), 1:40.78
3. Gal Cohen Groumi (Michigan), 1:41.40
4. Clement Secchi (Missouri), 1:41.81
5. Jackson Lustig (McKendree), 1:42.14
6. Andrew Gray (ASU), 1:42.18
7. Joaquin Gonzalez Pineiro (Florida), 1:42.30
8. Brendan Burns (Indiana), 1:42.45
9. Martin Espernberger (Tennessee), 1:42.56
10. Tomer Frankel (Indiana), 1:42.72

Lustig also set new best times and McKendree School Records to place third in the 100 fly (46.74) and fourth in the 200 IM (1:47.50), and added another PB of 45.58 in the 100 free leading off the team’s 400 free relay.

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