Minnesota Has the Dirtiest Pool Record Board in the NCAA

2023 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

…and they don’t even have a pool record board in the pool. Well, at least not one a physical one.

But semantics aside, the University of Minnesota’s pool has a list of accolades that’s worth blushing over. The first man under 19 was in this pool. The first man under 18 was in this pool. The first woman under 21 was in this pool.

Here’s how Minnesota’s men’s pool records stood heading into this week:

Event Swimmer Team Time Date
50 Free Caeleb Dessel Florida 17.63 3/22/18
100 Free Caeleb Dressel Florida 39.90 3/24/18
200 Free Townley Haas Texas 1:29.50 3/22/18
500 Free Townley Haas Texas 4:08.60 3/22/18
1000 Free Larsen Jensen/
Anton Ipsen
USC/
NC State
8:44.73 3/17/07/
3/24/18
1650 Free Anton Ipsen NC State 14:24.43 3/24/18
100 Back Coleman Stewart NC State 44.58 3/23/18
200 Back Austin Katz Texas 1:37.35 12/7/19
100 Breast Ian Finnerty Indiana 49.69 3/23/18
200 Breast Ian Finnerty Indiana 1:50.17 3/24/18
100 Fly Caeleb Dressel Florida 42.80 3/23/18
200 Fly Andreas Vazaios NC State 1:38.60 3/24/18
200 IM Jan Switkowski Florida 1:39.54 3/22/18
400 IM Abraham DeVine Stanford 3:35.29 3/23/18
200 Free Relay Caeleb Dressel, Jan Switkowski, Enzo Martinez-Scarpe, Jack Szaranek Florida 1:14.39 3/22/18
400 Free Relay Ryan Held, Justin Ress, Jacob Molacek, Coleman Stewart NC State 2:44.31 3/24/18
800 Free Relay Andreas Vazaios, Ryan Held, Jacob Molacek, Justin Ress NC State 6:05.31 3/21/18
200 Medley Relay Robert Glinta, Carsten Vissering, Dylan Carter, Santo Condorelli USC 1:21.82 3/24/18
400 Medley Relay Gabriel Fantoni, Ian Finnerty, Vinicius Lanza, Blake Pieroni Indiana 3:01.07 2/22/18
1 Meter (6 dives) Michael Hixon Indiana 493.6 2/22/18
3 Meter (6 dives) Steele Johnson Purdue 540.55 2/24/18
Platform (6 dives) Brandon Loschiavo Purdue 523.65 2/24/18

Those italicized times were all-time records. The strike-through records have already been broken in the last two days.

Last night, two pool records were broken as NC State’s 200 medley relay and Texas’ 800 free relay were both all-time records.

Tonight, the carnage continued, with three pool records. First, Luke Hobson took down Townley Haas‘ pool record by over a second in the 500, going 4:07.37 to erase the former Lonhgorn’s mark of 4:08.60 from 2018.

But that was just a prelude. Next, ASU’s Leon Marchand swam the fastest 200 IM ever, causing swim fans everywhere to let loose a torrent of emotions as he clocked a 1:36.34. The previous pool record had actually just been set this morning, when Cal’s Destin Lasco went 1:38.32 in prelims (how dirty is that?). Before this morning, the pool record was a 1:39.54, set by Florida’s Jan Switowski at the 2018 NCAA Championships.

Of course, the icing on the cake was the 200 free relay. The old pool record, another 2018 NCAA Championship mark, was a 1:14.39, also set by Florida. The Gators demolished their own pool record, and of course, also swam the fastest time ever, clocking a 1:13.35 to erase Auburn’s legendary super suited record. Cal was also under both marks tonight with a 1:13.82.

In fact, only one pool record survived the night…a certain 17.63 set by Caeleb Dressel, once again at the 2018 NCAA Championships.

The upshot is that after tonight, nine of the 19* men’s NCAA swimming records have been set in Minnesota’s pool, and we are almost certain to see more go down in the next two days.

*19 includes the 1000 free, which is an official NCAA event, but isn’t contested at the D1 Championships.

When SwimSwam’s Andrew Mering looked at some of the pools that had seen certain barrier go down (e.g., first man under 40 seconds in the 100 free), Minnesota was high on the list with five such swims. Only three sessions into NCAAs, the pool has seen three more such-records:

  • NC State became the first team to go under 1:21 in the 200 medley relay with a 1:20.67 last night.
  • Leon Marchand was the first man to go under 1:37 in the 200 IM with his 1:36.34 tonight.
  • Florida and Cal both got under the 1:14 barrier with a pair of 1:13s in the 200 free relay.

Women’s Pool Records

While not quite as eye-popping as the men’s (virtual) pool record board, the Freeman Aquatic Center has seen plenty of fast times on the women’s side as well.

Event Record Holder School/Team Time Date
50 Free Abbey Weitzeil California 20.90 12/5/19
100 Free Abbey Weitzeil California 46.52 12/5/19
200 Free Missy Franklin California 1:40.31 3/21/14
500 Free Brittany MacLean Georgia 4:32.53 3/20/14
1000 Free Hayley Peirsol Auburn 9:29.86 3/10/07
1650 Free Brittany MacLean Georgia 15:27.84 3/22/14
100 Back Regan Smith Riptide 49.16 3/14/21
200 Back Regan Smith Riptide 1:47.81 3/13/21
100 Breast Breeja Larsen Texas A&M 57.23 3/21/14
200 Breast Emma Reaney Notre Dame 2:04.06 3/22/14
100 Fly Maggie MacNeil Michigan 49.26 2/26/21
200 Fly Olivia Carter Michigan 1:51.62 12/4/21
200 IM Maya DiRado Stanford 1:52.50 3/20/14
400 IM Maya DiRado Stanford 3:58.12 3/21/14
200 Free Relay Maddy Schaefer, Lia Neal, Felicia Lee, Katie Olsen Stanford 1:26.23 3/20/14
400 Free Relay Maddy Schaefer, Felicia Lee, Maya DiRado, Lia Neal Stanford 3:10.83 3/22/14
800 Free Relay Rachel Acker, Caroline Piehl, Elizabeht Pelton, Missy Franklin California 6:54.94 3/21/14
200 Medley Relay Julia Cook, Anna Elendt, Olivia Bray, Bridget Semenuk Texas 1:34.26 12/1/21
400 Medley Relay Olivia Bray, Anna Elendt, Emma Sticklen, Kelly Pash Texas 3:25.96 12/2/22
1 Meter (6 dives) Sarah Bacon Minnesota 361.3 2021
3 Meter (6 dives) Laura Ryan Georgia 423.15 2014
Platform (5 dives) Amy Cozad Indiana 390.05 2013

None of those swims currently rank as the fastest-ever currently, but Missy Franklin‘s 1:40.31 to win the 200 free at the 2014 NCAA Championships was a new record at that point. Likewise, Regan Smith‘s 49.16 at a local invite meet in 2021 was an American and US Open record, although not a NCAA record, since she was competing for her club team during the run-up to the Olympics.

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Seth
1 year ago

I wonder what the LCM/SCM pool records would be.
I believe when nationals were held as SCM world records were broken.
Phelps, Lochte and Tom Malchow all have swam at this pool as well, probably setting fast LCM times.

Looks like NCA championships/US open/ Grand Prix meets are popular events to have fast times.

Yeehaw
1 year ago

I’m the idiot for thinking this article was going to be about a lack of cleanliness at Minnesota. Great to see it was much more positive

Age Of Winters
1 year ago

I thought I saw record boards in the background when the swims were live on ESPN+. The camera angle is different for the swims posted now on swimswam. If you go to this site, scroll down, the first picture appears to show maroon/yellow scoreboards – http://www.minnesotaswimcamps.com/

Admin
Reply to  Age Of Winters
1 year ago

I’ll have James and Robert look, but they didn’t see them – so maybe they were taken down? We asked the Minnesota SID to make sure we weren’t missing something, and he agreed that there were no physical record boards.

a swimmer from mn
Reply to  Braden Keith
1 year ago

I swim there locally at meets, and there is no board of pool records. They have boards for the U of MN team records. They also have history around the top of the stands that covers their B1G wins and their teams throughout the years. By the diving well there are banners that have wins of either NCAA championships or B1G wins but I can’t remember which it is.

BigBoiJohnson
1 year ago

Maybe the university should hire better janitors then?

Let’s go to Luckenbach
1 year ago

Neil Walker was the first man under 45 seconds in the 100 back in 1997 in the twin cities.

PFA
Reply to  Let’s go to Luckenbach
1 year ago

You just just brought up a good point who was the first man under 1:40 in the 2 back and when and where did it happen?

John
Reply to  PFA
1 year ago

I believe Aaron Piersol was the first under 1:40, possibly in Austin.

Fred Bousquet was the first man under 18 seconds in the 50. That swim happened at NCAA’s in Minneapolis too.

Let’s go to Luckenbach
Reply to  PFA
1 year ago

Neil would have at that same meet, but he broke his hand leading off the 200 Med Relay. I think he split 20.8. Didn’t swim last day.

Ricky_peepee
Reply to  Let’s go to Luckenbach
1 year ago

Neil walker the 🐐

MN bias
1 year ago

Regan Smith’s 49.16 was also a US Open/American record when she swam it in 2021 & she’s still the 3rd-fastest all-time performer behind Walsh and Berkoff

Andy Hardt
1 year ago

So out of 19 men’s swimming yards records, the Minnesota pool has 9 of them. One more and it will be a majority!

Last edited 1 year ago by Andy Hardt
EverybodyWangChungTonight
1 year ago

Austin Katz, that’s a name I haven’t heard in awhile

Bud
Reply to  EverybodyWangChungTonight
1 year ago

That’s the thing about those tier 2/3 college stars
The ones who are amazing at the NCAA level but not good enough to stick around(or don’t want to due to other life plans)
One moment they’re household names and then next thing you know they’re gone until you stumble upon them on LinkedIn while applying for an internship

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