Mikel Schreuders Wins Mizzou’s First-Ever Men’s SEC Swimming Title

2019 SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, February 19 – Saturday, February 23
• Gabrielsen Natatorium, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: Texas A&M Women (3x), Florida men (6x)(results)
• Live results
• Live Video – SEC Network
• Championship Central

Missouri senior Mikel Schreuders pulled something off on Thursday evening in Athens that no other Missouri male swimmer has before: win an SEC event title. Schreuders came out on top of the 200 free in a new SEC Meet Record of 1:31.27 (breaking his previous Meet Record of 1:31.61, set in a relay leadoff on Tuesday).

It seems too-hard-to-believe, but the Missouri Tigers, prior to Thursday night, had never before won an SEC event title in men’s swimming. The team, which has been under the leadership of Greg Rhodenbaugh since it joined the conference in the 2012-2013 season, has previously used the approach of Rhodenbaugh’s former mentor Frank Busch: get as many cuts as possible mid-season, and then train straight through the SEC Championships to focus on NCAAs. The result: even when the team might’ve had the best swimmer or second-best swimmer in the conference in an event. Michael Chadwick and Fabian Schiwngenschlogl come to mind. Chadwick, in 2015, was 5th in the 100 free at NCAAs, but only 7th that same season in the event at SECs. He was the 2nd-fastest SEC swimmer at nationals that year, behind only Alabama’s Kristian Gkolomeev.

Schreuders’ title-winning swim was not only a breakthrough for his program, but a significant personal breakthrough. His previous best time in the 200 free was a 1:32.92, done at last year’s NCAA Championships. His previous season-best time was a 1:33.54, which is a solid NCAA qualifying time (it only took 1:34.44 to qualify last year, and this year Swimulator estimates that it would take 1:34.06). And still, he went for it at SECs, and was rewarded with a huge time drop and an SEC title, though it bucks the system. He now ranks 2nd nationally behind only Andrew Seliskar of Cal.

While there have been a few big swims at this year’s meet (Schreuders and freshman Jack Dahlgren have both had big drops), and the Tigers are just 11 points back in the team scoring, the broader trend seems similar to past years’ patterns for Missouri. It’s not clear that the philosophy has actually undergone any wholesale-changes under the interim leadership of Andy Grevers of the program while Rhodenbaugh awaits the conclusion of a Title IX investigation, or if a handful of swimmers have just shown up with the meet-of-their-lives.

The interesting data point is that the Tigers have still given back 89 points as compared to pre-meet Swimulator projections at this meet, in spite of big drops like Schreuders’. After the meet, Andrew Mering will have more data to see what the time drops did, and we’ll be able to compare that to previous years to see how the specific time drops will compare.

But for now, Schreuders’ win is a celebratory moment for the Tigers. They’ve had 2 SEC men’s diving champions (David Bonuch won the 1 meter and 3 meter in 2013); and they’ve had 3 female SEC champions: Katharine Ross in the 100 breast in 2016; Loren Figueroa on the 1-meter in 2013; and Lauren Reedy on the 1-meter in 2017. That makes for 5 total champions in the team’s 7 years in the league.