2023 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- March 22-25, 2023
- Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center | Minneapolis, MN
- SCY (25 yards)
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Florida freshman Josh Liendo became the first swimmer to ever post a sub-43 split on the 100 butterfly leg during the Gators’ record-breaking win in Friday night’s 400 medley relay.
The 20-year-old Canadian Olympian recorded a split of 42.91, nearly half a second faster than Joseph Schooling’s 43.34 while at Texas in 2016. Liendo split 43.35 at last month’s SEC Championships, missing Schooling’s mark by just .01 seconds.
Splits Comparison
| Josh Liendo, 2023 NCAAs | Joseph Schooling, 2016 NCAAs | |
| 50 Fly | 19.54 | 19.83 |
| 100 Fly | 42.91 (23.37) | 43.34 (23.51) |
Florida ended up finishing in 2:58.32, the fastest of three teams in this race under the old NCAA record of 2:59.22 set by Schooling’s Texas squad back in 2017. Liendo was joined by Adam Chaney (44.28), Dillon Hillis (50.23), and Macguire McDuff (40.90).
Split Comparison
| TEXAS, 2017 NCAAS | FLORIDA, 2023 SECS | FLORIDA, 2023 NCAAS |
| John Shebat – 44.58 | Adam Chaney – 44.17 | Adam Chaney – 44.28 |
| Will Licon – 49.75 | Dillon Hillis – 50.63 | Dillon Hillis – 50.23 |
| Joseph Schooling – 43.60 | Josh Liendo – 43.35 | Josh Liendo – 42.91 |
| Jack Conger – 41.29 | Macguire McDuff – 41.33 | Macguire McDuff – 40.90 |
| 2:59.22 | 2:59.48 | 2:58.32 |
Liendo’s relay performance came after he placed second in the individual 100 fly event with a 43.40 behind Virginia Tech’s Youssef Ramadan (43.15). He’ll have another shot at individual NCAA title on Saturday night in the 100 free, where’s seeded third (41.22) behind Tennessee’s Jordan Crooks (41.17) and Cal’s Bjorn Seeliger (40.90).
400 YARD MEDLEY RELAY — TIMED FINALS
NCAA Record: 2:59.22 — Texas (J. Shebat, W. Licon, J. Schooling, J. Conger), 2017Meet Record: 2:59.22 — Texas (J. Shebat, W. Licon, J. Schooling, J. Conger), 2017- American Record: 3:01.51 (R. Murphy, C. Hoppe, M. Josa, M. Jensen), 2017
U.S. Open Record: 2:59.22 — Texas (J. Shebat, W. Licon, J. Schooling, J. Conger), 2017Pool Record: 3:01.07 — Indiana (G. Fantoni, I. Finnerty, V. Lanza, B. Pieroni), 2017- 2022 Champion: Cal (D. Lasco, R. Whitley, T. Julian, B. Seeliger) — 3:00.36
Top 8:
- Florida (A. Chaney, D. Hillis, J. Liendo, M. McDuff) — 2:58.32 (NCAA Record)
- Indiana (B. Burns, J. Matheny, T. Frankel, R. Miroslaw) — 2:59.09
- Arizona State (J. Dolan, L. Marchand, M. McCusker, J. Kulow) — 2:59.19
- NC State — 3:00.22
- Cal — 3:00.38
- Tennessee — 3:02.05
- Virginia Tech — 3:02.53
- Texas — 3:03.00
Also going under Texas’ previous record was Indiana and Arizona State, who both had jaw-dropping splits of their own.
Brendan Burns followed up his 100 backstroke victory with a 43.82 lead-off for the Hoosiers, and then Josh Matheny (50.31), Tomer Frankel (43.70) and Rafael Miroslaw (41.26) closed things out to place the team second in 2:59.09.
Led off by Jack Dolan in 44.62, under his 100 back best time set in this morning’s prelims (44.78), ASU had Leon Marchand take over on the breaststroke leg, as he dropped the fastest split in history (49.23) to put the Sun Devils in the lead. Max McCusker (44.55) and Jonny Kulow (40.78) closed things out as they took third in 2:59.18.
fastest flying split of all time… and it’s still slower then Dressel’s flat start. this is so funny to me
I wonder if my fastest 25 fly from a start would even come close to their last 25 of the 100.
Freshman doesn’t really the same here. Josh won Olympic and World individual medals! Similar to Leon…he was an Olympic finalist in 2 events before landing on ASU campus. Not taking anything away from their achievements, but not a normal frosh. It is a lot easier to make a champion with a thoroughbred!
Josh and Leon came in as special freshman but please be accurate in describing there histories.
Josh was a Canadian Olympian but made NO individual finals and his two relays made finals but DID NOT medal. He won 4 individual Bronzes in FINA Worlds, 2 LCM and 2 SCM. He won a SCM Relay World Gold. He won an individual Gold at the next step down competition Commonwealth Games (100 Fly).
Leon was an Olympic finalist in one event (400 IM) before coming to ASU. He was a SEMI-finalist in the 200 butterfly.
Each were certainly useful recruits but neither the ready made full champions described.
Very impressive all around and presumably only faster next year