Destin Lasco of Cal Becomes Fastest Freshman Ever in 100 Back with 44.55

2021 NCAA MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

  • When: Wednesday, March 24 – Saturday, March 27, 2021
  • Where: Greensboro Aquatic Center / Greensboro, NC (Eastern Time Zone)
  • Prelims 10 AM/ Finals 6 PM (Local Time)
  • Short course yards (SCY) format
  • Defending champion: Cal (1x) – 2019 results
  • Streaming:
  • Championship Central
  • Psych Sheets
  • Live Results

Cal freshman Destin Lasco slashed 66 hundredths off his personal best time in the 100 back in prelims on Friday to qualify second for the final with 44.55. That ranks him first among all NCAA freshman, beating the previous recordholder, Ryan Murphy also of Cal, by .08.

Out in 21.74, he came home in 22.81 to take .66 off his previous PB of 45.21 from the Cal-Stanford dual meet in November 2020. He is seeded second behind Texas A&M’s Shaine Casas for tonight’s final. The top seven qualifiers were all under 45 seconds in morning heats.

Top 10 Freshmen 100 Backstroke Times

1. Destin Lasco, Cal – 44.55
2. Ryan Murphy, Cal – 44.63
3. Kacper Stokowski, Florida – 44.90
4. Ralf Tribuntsov, USC – 44.95
5T. Adam Chaney, Florida – 44.99
5T. Luca Urlando, Georgia – 44.99
5T. Robert Glinta, USC – 44.99
5T. Austin Katz, Texas – 44.99
9. Nic Albiero, Louisville – 45.05
10. Gabriel Fantoni, Indiana – 45.17

Lasco also moved to ninth on the all-time list of U.S. 100 backstrokers, moving past Ryan Lochte who led off the Florida relay at 2006 NCAAs in 44.60.

  1. Murphy, Ryan – 43.49 – 2016 NCAA DI-men
  2. Stewart, Coleman – 43.62 – 2020 UNC “Janis Hape Dowd” Invite
  3. Farris, Dean – 43.66 – 2019 NCAA DI-men
  4. Casas, Shaine – 43.87 – 2020 Art Adamson Invitational
  5. Thoman, Nick – 44.07 – 2013 Winter Nationals
  6. Poti, Zachary – 44.14 – 2020 PAC–12 Champs men
  7. Shebat, John – 44.35 – 2017 NCAA DI-men
  8. Grevers, Matt – 44.49 – 2013 Winter Nationals
  9. Lasco, Destin – 44.55 – 2021 NCAA DI-men
  10. Lochte, Ryan – 44.60r – 2006 NCAA DI-men

Lasco is also ranked ninth on the all-time list of U.S. 200 backstrokers and will have a chance to improve his standing on Saturday.

  1. Murphy, Ryan – 1:35.73 – 2016 NCAA DI-men
  2. Shebat, John – 1:36.42 – 2019 NCAA DI-men
  3. Katz, Austin – 1:36.45 – 2019 NCAA DI-men
  4. Casas, Shaine – 1:36.54 – 2020 ST TEX First Chance Invit
  5. Lochte, Ryan – 1:36.81 – 2007 Winter Nationals
  6. Clary, Tyler – 1:37.58 – 2009 NCAA DI-men
  7. Stewart, Coleman – 1:37.71 – 2020 ACC Champs men
  8. Carr, Daniel – 1:37.87 – 2020 PAC-12 Champs men
  9. Lasco, Destin – 1:38.13 – 2021 MEN’S PAC12 SWIMMING/DIVI
  10. Godsoe, Eugene – 1:38.21 – 2012 OK Elite Meet

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Runnergrl37
3 years ago

This kid is legit.

mds
3 years ago

Wonder happened in his 400 Medley relay leadoff? Good, but not nearly as impressive as his other swims in the meet.

200 Free — 1:32.13 flying start relay leg compared to 1:33.28 leadoff at conference
200 IM — 1:40.01 (1:40.61 prelim; 1:45.91 season best; 1:44.59 life best from 3/18; not swum at conference)

100 Back —
400 MR leadoff — :45.28(:22.33, 22.95, .66RT) season best of :45.21 (won Pac-12 at :45.30)
prelim — :44.55 (:21.74, :22.81, .66RT)

.73 faster in morning swim than relay final, including .59 difference on first 50. I realize he had swum a phenomenal 200 IM earlier in the evening, but if that were to have affect, it would seem normally to… Read more »

jhm6th
Reply to  mds
3 years ago

To me it looked like his timing was a bit off on his first turn in the relay. Didn’t look like he got the cleanest push off.

cold is a mentality
Reply to  mds
3 years ago

heard he slipped off the start!

Lokermotion
3 years ago

Bobo GiGi will be pleased to see Lasco making great progress!

Former Big10
3 years ago

In terms of Freshman of the year, what a tough choice… hard to go against Maghey (butchered that..), but Lasco is en fuego

Penguin
Reply to  Former Big10
3 years ago

what about Foster pending tonight’s results?

25Backstroke
Reply to  Penguin
3 years ago

I think if Lasco wins the event he gets it, but if he doesn’t and Foster A-Finals in 200 Back + wins 400 IM he gets it.

Swimmer
Reply to  Penguin
3 years ago

as of now I’d give the nod to Lasco. Lasco is better in both of the events they overlap in and has also been a bigger factor in relays.

Former Big10
Reply to  Penguin
3 years ago

It’s a toss up, if he wins. Personally, I’ve been way more impressed with Lasco. Bigger time drops, more movement from his seed placements.

On the year as a whole… uhh, three way tie?

Ol’ Longhorn
Reply to  Former Big10
3 years ago

Lasco’s on 2, maybe 3 relays. Foster 1.

Peyton
Reply to  Former Big10
3 years ago

Winning individually with a more competitive time time matters. So Magahey outscores Lasco. But tomorrow we’ll see Matt Brownstead and Matt King enter the chat.

Ol' Longhorn
3 years ago

Shaine’s going to have a race on his hands in the 2 back. Also, with Durden’s OT trials magic, Lasco’s going to cause some noise at Trials.

BearlyBreathing
3 years ago

It’s great to seem him flourishing in Berkeley.
Cal seems to have their future in sprint free and backstroke set up for the next 3 years.
Who replaces Hoffer on their fly legs next year?

Riccardo
3 years ago

Wonder what happened on the relay last night? If he put this swim together yesterday they probably win the relay.

Not trying to be critical. It’s a long meet and there are ups and downs for people, in a typical year some people have as many as 14 swims. Just seemed like 45.2 was quite a ways off.

Bobthebuilderrocks
Reply to  Riccardo
3 years ago

Yeah and if Kibler swam 2 free relay, Texas would’ve gotten 3rd over 6th. “What if’s” are a bad thing to be focusing on

Pvdh
Reply to  Riccardo
3 years ago

Freshman in a high pressure situation. Nerves might have thrown him off a bit. Still 45.2 isn’t something to hang your head on. Especially not gaffer a 1.40 2IM

Last edited 3 years ago by Pvdh
Penguin
Reply to  Pvdh
3 years ago

I don’t think nerves are any more of a factor for him than any upperclassman. It’s a solid, not perfect, swim after a 1:40 2 IM

Hint of Lime
Reply to  Riccardo
3 years ago

Someone said in the live recap/prelims article that Lasco slipped on the start

Riccardo
Reply to  Hint of Lime
3 years ago

That would make sense looking at the splits

Pvdh
3 years ago

This kid is on that dresssl trajectory

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  Pvdh
3 years ago

Except he didn’t bomb at his first NCAAs in his second event.

Mr Piano
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
3 years ago

Bro you really hate Dressel geez lol. Bro Dressel took 6 months off leading up to the NCCA season. It’s amazing that he had the swims that he did.

Ol’ Longhorn
Reply to  Mr Piano
3 years ago

1st, 11th, and 14th are facts that even your hero worship can’t erase. Kinda think Lasco’s freshman meet was a tad bit better — and oh yeah, while you’re talking about lapses in training, Lasco had that little thing called COVID in California, ffs.

Jay Ryan
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
3 years ago

Didn’t Dressel win the 50 (tie) as a freshman?

Ol’ Longhorn
Reply to  Jay Ryan
3 years ago

Yeah, then 11th in the 100 free and 14th in the 100 fly. Hence my comment when his meet was being compared to Lasco’s.

Pvdh
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
3 years ago

Really had to dig down for that one didn’t ya

Imagine making everyone who has ever been proud to make a ncaa b final feel like crap just to take a potshot 😂

Last edited 3 years ago by Pvdh
sven
Reply to  Pvdh
3 years ago

I don’t think the guys making the B-final at NCAAs are that sensitive. Dressel underperformed in his other two events freshman year. I don’t know why it’s controversial for Ol’ Longhorn to say that Lasco is having a better freshman meet than Dressel

About Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant is the mother of four daughters, all of whom swam in college. With an undergraduate degree from Princeton (where she was an all-Ivy tennis player) and an MBA from INSEAD, she worked for many years in the financial industry, both in France and the U.S. Anne is currently …

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