McKendree Sophomore Fabio Dalu Erases NCAA D2 Record in 1000 Free with 8:54.10

2021 NCAA Division II Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

Day One

Men’s 1000 Yard Freestyle – Fastest Heat

  • NCAA DII Record: 8:56.76 – Alex Kunert, Queens (NC) (2019)
  • Meet Record: 8:57.06 – Mitch Snyder, Drury (2009)

Top 8:

  1. Fabio Dalu, McKendree – 8:54.10
  2. Ondrej Zach, Northern Michigan – 9:04.88
  3. Jonas Soerensen, Wingate – 9:08.13
  4. Matthew Daniel – St. Leo – 9:11.21
  5. Eric Hieber, Grand Valley – 9:11.69
  6. Christian Hedeen, UIndy – 9:11.86
  7. Vincent Jaworski – 9:13.33
  8. John Stewart, Delta State – 9:14.66

McKendree sophomore Fabio Dalu kicked off the 2021 NCAA Division II Men’s Championships with a new Division II and meet record in the 1000 free. It was his second national title in the 1000 free in as many years; he won last year with 8:59.50 (after having gone 8:58.36 earlier in the season), becoming McKendree’s first-ever national champion in the 1000.

This year, seeded with an 8:57.35 from the 2021 Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships, he dropped another 3.25 seconds from his previous PB to take down both the meet record of 8:57.06, which had been set by Mitch Snyder of Drury in 2009, and the overall NCAA Division II record of 8:56.76 that had belonged to Alex Kunert of Queens since 2019.

Dalu dominated the field from the outset. He jumped to a quick lead and continued to build with each turn. By the 500, he was about half a pool length ahead of the field. Dalu split 4:24.99/4:29.11, swimming in open water the whole way.

Below are his splits, compared to Kunert’s. Had they been swimming side-to-side, Kunert would have been about 3-4 seconds faster than Dalu over the first half of the race. Dalu would have caught up at around the 700 mark before leaving Kunert in his wake.

  Kunert, 2019 NCAA D2 Dalu, 2021 NCAA D2
50 22.94 24.39
100 48.43 (25.49) 50.73 (26.34)
150 1:14.64 (26.21) 1:17.50 (26.77)
200 1:41.16 (26.52) 1:44.40 (26.90)
250 2:07.74 (26.58) 2:11.08 (26.68)
300 2:34.19 (26.45) 2:37.77 (26.69)
350 3:00.67 (26.48) 3:04.57 (26.80)
400 3:27.57 (26.90) 3:31.30 (26.73)
450 3:54.73 (27.16) 3:58.14 (26.84)
500 4:22.26 (27.53) 4:24.99 (26.85)
550 4:49.82 (27.56) 4:51.79 (26.80)
600 5:17.39 (27.57) 5:18.72 (26.93)
650 5:45.07 (27.68) 5:45.82 (27.10)
700 6:12.85 (27.78) 6:12.93 (27.11)
750 6:40.77 (27.92) 6:39.97 (27.04)
800 7:08.59 (27.82) 7:07.18 (27.21)
850 7:36.10 (27.51) 7:34.31 (27.13)
900 8:03.68 (27.58) 8:01.62 (27.31)
950 8:31.08 (27.40) 8:28.50 (26.88)
1000 8:56.76 (25.68) 8:54.10 (25.60)

Dalu now ranks among the top-10 for the season:

  1. 8:45.38 – David Johnston, University of Texas
  2. 8:48.04 – Will Gallant, Mission Viejo Nadadores
  3. 8:48.39 – Alex Zettle, Unattached
  4. 8:49.88 – Zach Yeadon, Unattached
  5. 8:49.95 – Jack Hoagland, Unattached
  6. 8:51.37 – Liam Custer, Sarasota Sharks
  7. 8:52.15 – Michael Brinegar, Unattached
  8. 8:53.73 – Jake Magahey, Unattached
  9. 8:54.10 – Fabio Dalu, McKendree
  10. 8:54.95 – Jake Foster, Unattached

 

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Fabio’s roommate
3 years ago

He was my roommate, goated

Last edited 3 years ago by Fabio’s roommate
Bakedwheatie
3 years ago

FREESTYLE BOOM

FabioIsTheGOAT
3 years ago

Y’all must have forgot 🤷🏻‍♂️

yellow
3 years ago

Love any championship where Ledecky gets second

ACC
Reply to  yellow
3 years ago

I’m pretty sure there have only been 3 or 4 non-DI college men faster than Ledecky in the 1650. Might be even fewer in the 1000 since DIII doesn’t do it in championship meets.

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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