Distance Dominant Florida Gators Rattle Auburn’s 2009 200 Free Relay Record

2022 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 23-26, 2022
• McAuley Aquatic Center, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia (Eastern Daylight Time)
• Prelims 10AM /Finals 6PM
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Live Results
• Official Psych Sheets
• Virtual Championship Program
• SwimSwam Pick Em’s Contest
• Qualified relay teams
• Live stream link

We’ve seen a lot of freakishly fast 200 free relays this year. Last month, the UVA men took down the American Record in the 200 free relay. Tonight, six teams got under 1:15.

And yet, the most stubborn NCAA Record on the books, Auburn’s 2009 1:14.08 performance, still stands.

And who came closest to breaking it? Was the underclassmen-powered UVA? Nope, they ended up 5th at 1:14.70. Longtime sprint powerhouse NC State? No, 1:14.69, with a scorching 18.04 split by Nyls Korstanje.

How about Texas, who won this event three-straight years from 2015 and 2017 and put two men into the 50 free A-final today? 1:14.41, with a total reaction time on the three relay changeovers longer than some Vines (0.88s).

Cal, who won last year with the then-second-fastest time ever? Getting closer. They finished 2nd at 1:14.36, with leadoff Bjorn Seeliger moving up to #2 all-time individually with a 18.27 leadoff.

Wait, was it Florida, the team that had four scorers, including two A-finalists, in the 500 free and two B-finalists, but no A-finalists, in the 50 free?

That would be correct. The Florida Gators team of Adam Chaney, Eric Friese, Will Davis, and Kieran Smith swam the 2nd-fastest time in history tonight with a 1:14.11 to win an epic race.

Yes, we’re being a little facetious here. During the Dressel Era, Florida had some fast 200 free relays, and they won the event in 2018 with a 1:14.39. Then after a post-Dressel 11th-place finish in 2019, they bounced back last year to take 2nd behind Cal, posting the then-6th-fastest time ever. Not only that, but last night they won the 200 medley relay with the fastest time ever.

So, it’s not too unbelievable that Florida would win this relay tonight with the #2 performance of all-time.

Top Ten Performances 200 Free Relay

1. Auburn, 2009 – 1:14.08
2. Florida, 2022 – 1:14.11
3. Stanford, 2009 – 1:14.22
4. Cal, 2021/Cal, 2022 – 1:14.36
5. (tie)
6. Florida, 2018 – 1:14.39
7. Texas, 2022 – 1:14.41
8. Cal, 2019 – 1:14.46
9. Virginia, 2022 – 1:14.47
10. Florida, 2021 – 1:14.48

With Florida’s 1:14.11, Cal’s 1:14.36 (tying last year’s winning time), and Texas’ 1:14.41, three of the top ten performances in history came tonight. Throw in Virginia’s 1:14.47 from ACCs, which still stands as the American Record, and four of the ten fastest times ever have been done this year.

And yet, that Auburn record of 1:14.08 from 2009 just refuses to fall.

Cutting It Close

Here’s a quick look at how Florida’s splits from tonight compare to Auburn’s from 13 years ago:

Florida gave it their best shot, risking a DQ on some incredibly tight relay exchanges, including as-close-as-you-can -0.03s RT from Eric Friese.

Auburn relay RTs: 0.24, 0.20, 0.17 = 0.61
Florida relay RTs: -0.03, 0.07, 0.19 = 0.23

That continues a trend we saw Florida exhibit last night on their record-setting medley relay, where their total reaction time on the three relay exchanges totaled 0.27s, including Friese cutting it close with a 0.00s RT. Last night, Texas had relay exchanges of over 0.20s on every single leg, and ended up losing by only 0.23s.

Clearly, there’s a measured amount of risk that comes when you time relay exchanges as Florida has on these two relays. NC State developed a reputation for drawing relay DQs around the beginning of their rise under Braden Holloway, but Florida shows that when it works, it can work very well and make a huge difference, especially on the shorter relays.

Could Florida Crack the Top Two?

You might notice that Florida currently holds a one-point lead over Cal, 159-158, with Texas leading at 180. According to our stats guru, Andrew Mering, this isn’t too surprising, however, as Florida was actually seeded to be in the lead at the end of today.

While all three teams are swimming well, psych sheet projections put Florida roughly 80 points behind Cal by the end of Saturday, and about 60 points behind Texas. That doesn’t include diving, although Texas whiffed on diving points today.

So, it’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility that the Gators could break the Cal-Texas stranglehold on the top two spots, but a lot would have to go right over the next two days.