The No.8 Stanford men suffered their first dual meet loss of the season today at the hands of No.12 USC, by a score of 167-133.
USC got off to a good start, edging out Stanford in the 200 medley relay 1:27.31 to 1:27.76. A 21.84 lead-off from Ralf Tribuntsov gave USC a lead they would never relinquish.
USC followed up with a 1-2 performance in the 1000 free, with Pawel Furtek (9:07.17) taking the win and Ted Singley (9:10.21) finishing 2nd.
Reed Malone, Patrick Mulcare, and Carsten Vissering made it five straight event wins to start the meet off for the Trojans. Malone won the 200 free in 1:37.21, just ahead of Stanford’s Cole Cogswell (1:37.60). Mulcare won the 100 back over Stanford’s Ryan Dudzinski, 48.22 to 48.47. Vissering then had a dominant performance in the 100 breaststroke, winning in 53.80.
Gray Umbach got Stanford’s first win of the meet in the 200 fly, finishing in 1:44.90 ahead of teammates Andrew Liang and Abrahm Devine who made it a 1-2-3 for the Cardinal.
Kyle Grissom got USC right back in the win column taking the 50 free in 20.16, one-one hundredth of a second ahead of teammate Ralf Tribuntsov.
During the diving break, USC saw their divers go 1-2 in the 1-meter event, with Collin Pollard (354.60) taking the win over Dashiell Enos (326.85).
After just missing out on a win in the 50 free where he placed third, Stanford’s Sam Perry pulled off a win in the 100 free, in 43.79 over Tribuntsov of USC (44.19) and his teammate Spencer DeShon (44.69).
Patrick Mulcare then picked up his second victory of the meet, taking the 200 back in 1:43.24. USC continued their domination, as Steven Stumph (1:57.85) and Carsten Vissering (1:58.82) went 1-2 in the 200 breaststroke, and Pawel Furtek picked up his second win of the meet in the 500 free (4:25.52) over teammate Reed Malone (4:25.92).
Andrew Liang gave Stanford their third win of the meet in the 100 fly in 47.10, and teammate Gray Umbach continued his solid meet finishing 2nd in 47.40.
During the second diving break, Deon Reid (421.35) led a 1-2-3 finish for USC in the 3-meter event.
In the last individual event of the meet, Patrick Mulcare made it 3-for-3 on the day with a win in the 200 IM in 1:46.85, clearing Stanford’s Max Williamson by over a second (1:47.91).
Stanford closed out the meet on a high note going 1-2 in the 400 free relay, with USC having to settle for 3rd and 4th. Stanford A (2:57.06), Stanford B (2:57.17) and USC A (2:57.33) were very close throughout the race.
Stanford race again February 20th at home against Cal, while USC will face Utah in Salt Lake City on the 20th. After a massive win against Cal on Friday and dominating Stanford today, it is clear that the Trojans are on the rise.
Patrick Mulcare is the swimmer to watch. He’s only a freshman and has a lot of innate talent, focus, and passion. He’s an intelligent swimmer who has an inner sense of body awareness.
Fine college swimming, but remarkably not a single swim from this meet would have been a winner in the ASU-UofA meet, most USC-Stanford winners being 3rd-5th best times between the meets.
The Arizona dual was suited