Jack Bauerle: The lay of the land is changing (Video)

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^{Reported by Jared Anderson.} 

200 FREESTYLE – FINALS

• NCAA Record: 1:31.20, Simon Burnett, 2006
• American Record: 1:31.31, Ricky Berens, 2013
• U.S. Open Record: 1:31.20, Simon Burnett, 2006
• Pool Record: 1:31.20, Simon Burnett, 2006
• 2015 Champion: 1:32.03, Cristian Quintero

Top 3:

1. Townley Haas, Texas – 1:30.46
2. Matias Koski, Georgia – 1:31.54
3. Simonas Bilis, NC State – 1:32.10

A second-straight record from before the super-suit ban went down to a young Texas swimmer as freshman Townley Haas belted a 1:30.46 to shatter American, U.S. Open and NCAA records in the 200 free.

That’s a whale of a swim, even better than the 1:30.52 he split on opening night in the 800 free relay. That swim was the fastest relay split ever, and now Haas has actually bettered that time from a flat start. It was sheer speed the entire way, with Haas going out in 43.6 to the 100 and building a lead of almost a full second by that point.

Georgia’s Matias Koski was also quick, going 1:31.54 for second. That’s the 5th-fastest swim of all-time, and shows off Koski’s impressive range: he won the 1650 last year and is now among the fastest 200 freestylers in history.

NC State’s Simonas Bilis wetn 1:32.10 for 3rd, touching out Florida’s Jan Switkowski (1:32.14). Places 3 through 7 were all extremely close, with just seven tenths of a second separating them.

It’s been a tougher day for NC State after a hot start, but the 200 free was a nice jump-start for their momentum. Along with Bilis’s bronze, in the B final Ryan Held held onto 9th place, dropping eight tenths to go 1:32.41, and Soeren Dahl remained in 10th place with a 1:33.20, also faster than his morning swim.