2018 MEN’S NCAA SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, March 21 – Saturday, March 24
- Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center – Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Prelims 10 AM / Finals 6 PM (Central Time)
- Defending champion: Texas (3x) (results)
- Psych Sheet
- Championship Central
- Event-by-Event Previews
- Team Power Rankings: Final Edition
- Live Stream
- Live Results
There are way too many storylines and great swims at this year’s men’s NCAAs to really give everyone the credit they deserve, and one of the teams that’s flown under the radar a bit this week has been Louisville. Through last night’s competition, the Cardinals sit in 8th place overall.
18 year-old freshman Nicolas Albiero, son of Louisville head coach Arthur Albiero, had a great meet last month at ACCs, and it looks like he had something more in the tank for his first NCAA championship meet. He’s been on all five of Louisville’s relays, dropped time in the 100 back yesterday en route to a 6th-place finish, and this morning, shaved 0.04s off his 200 fly time to break his own National Age Group Record that he set at ACCs in February.
Here’s a comparison of Albiero’s splits from today and ACCs:
| NCAAs | ACCs | |
| 1st 50 | 22.47 | 22.94 |
| 2nd 50 | 26.06 | 26.14 |
| 3rd 50 | 26.10 | 25.98 |
| 4th 50 | 26.41 | 26.02 |
| Total Time | 1:41.04 | 1:41.08 |
Albiero took it out about a half second faster today than he did last month, with the 1st and 4th splits being around a half second faster and slower, respectively, each, than in February.
Other freshmen showed up big this morning in the 200 fly. Cal’s Trenton Julian (who’s 19) dropped over a second off of his seed time to move up from 20th on the psych sheet to take 6th in prelims in a time of 1:40.63. That makes him the 4th-fastest freshman ever in this event, behind only two-time champion Joseph Schooling, who’s now missed the A-final for the 2nd year in a row, last year’s runner-up Zheng Quah, and Andrew Seliskar, who previously held the NAG that Albiero broke in February. Quah and Seliskar also swim for Cal, giving the Golden Bears three of the four fastest freshmen ever in this event.
The other freshman to make finals today in the 200 fly was Texas’s Samuel Pomajevich, who couldn’t quite match his seed time of 1:40.82, and placed 10th, just behind Albiero, with a 1:41.07.
