Lasco and Marchand Post 1:38s in Fastest 200 IM Prelims Ever; 1:40.91 Takes 8th

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
• Championship Central
• Event Page
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Official Psych Sheets
• Virtual Championship Program
• SwimSwam Pick Em’s Contest
• Qualified relay teams

Thursday Prelim Heat Sheets

200 IM

• NCAA Record: Caeleb Dressel (FLOR): 1:38.13
• NCAA Meet Record: Andrew Seliskar (CAL): 1:38.14
• American Record: Caeleb Dressel (FLOR): 1:38.13
• US Open Record: Caeleb Dressel (FLOR): 1:38.13
• Pool Record: Will Licon (TEX): 1:40.04

Top 8 finishers:

1. Destin Lasco (CAL): 1:38.71 (Pool Record)
2. Leon Marchand (ASU): 1:38.83
3. Carson Foster (TEX): 1:40.07
4. Trenton Julian (CAL): 1:40.35
5. Carles Coll Marti (VT): 1:40.45
6. Hugo Gonzalez (CAL): 1:40.47
7. Luca Urlando (UGA): 1:40.65
8. Jake Foster (TEX): 1:40.91

I would call the 200 IM prelims this morning fast, but that honestly doesn’t feel like it does the situation justice. Where to start? Well, Cal sophomore Destin Lasco and Arizona State freshman Leon Marchand swam the #3 and #4 fastest times in history this morning. They also became just the 4th and 5th swimmers ever to go under 1:39 in the event. Here are the all-time top 10 performances in the SCY 200 IM:

The only thing left to do with these two is a split comparison between Caeleb Dressel‘s NCAA Record from 2018, and Andrew Seliskar‘s Pac-12 Record from 2019:

A couple of interesting things here. One, Marchand was out very fast. Even faster than Dressel’s NCAA Record swim through the first 150. Next, despite Lasco being one of the top backstrokers in the NCAA today, and someone many think could break the 200 back NCAA record lat er this week, he has the slowest back split out of the 4 swimmers listed above. Now that could be purposeful, because he has the fastest breast split of anyone in this group. There’s some chance, however, that it means Lasco could have a bit more in the tank for his backstroke leg in tonight’s race.

Outside of Lasco and Marchand, this was hands down the fastest 200 IM prelims we’ve ever seen at NCAAs. Caspar Corbeau swam a 1:40.98 and didn’t make the ‘A’ final. To put it in context, last year it took 1:42.21 in prelims to make the ‘A’ final, but this year 1:42.21 would have placed 16th, barely sneaking into the B final. Also, something we don’t often see in prelims of the 200 IM: the top 9 finishers this morning all swam season bests. For many, it was a career best.