2024 Tennessee Invite
- November 19-22, 2024
- Where: Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center — Knoxville, Tennessee
- Start Times: 10 am ET prelims/5 pm ET finals
- Psych Sheets
- Results on Meet Mobile: “2024 Tennessee Invitational”
- Live Stream
- Day 1 Finals Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Recap | Day 2 Finals Recap
Men’s 400 Medley Relay Timed Final
- NCAA Record: 2:57.32, ASU-2024
- 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:o4.96
- 2025 NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 3:06.37
- Tennessee A- 3:01.62 A
- Virginia A- 3:02.01 A
- Tennessee B- 3:07.16
- Virginia B- 3:08.26
- Kentucky A- 3:10.24
- Kentucky B- 3:14.57
The Virginia men swam to a new school record Wednesday night, swimming to a 3:02.01 in the 400 medley relay. That time was only 0.50 seconds off of the American Record that stands at a 3:01.51 set by Cal in 2017.
| Virginia 2024 | Cal 2017 | |||
| Back | Aikins | 45.55 | Murphy | 44.32 |
| Breast | Nichols | 50.99 | Hoppe | 50.97 |
| Fly | Nicholas | 43.79 | Josa | 44.59 |
| Free | Boyle | 41.68 | Jensen | 41.63 |
| 3:02.01 | 3:01.51 |
Highlighting the relay was first-year Spencer Nicholas who split a 43.79 on the butterfly leg. That time is not far off what it takes to be in the top 10 performances ever as it takes a 43.60. Nicholas was the #6 ranked recruit coming out of high school and entered Virginia with a flat start best of a 45.09. He already swam faster than that best time in prelims on Thursday posting a 45.07.
While Nicholas was faster on the butterfly leg, the biggest difference is the backstroke leg as Ryan Murphy posted a 44.32 lead off for Cal. Jack Aikins split a 45.55 lead off today, faster than his previous best time of a 45.68.
The Virginia men have had success in recent years at relay American Records, previously holding the 200 free relay until NC State broke the record at 2024 NCAAs. The team’s success only looks to grow in the upcoming years, with the #1 ranked recruit Maximus Williamson and #2 ranked recruit Thomas Heilman committed for next fall.
So Nicholas is more like a top 3 swimmer now. What a snag by the orange grapes!
Gonna have to go 42.9 to earn a hyperlink by his name
Meanwhile swimswam commenters explaining how the UVA mens program is awful and all their recruits will defect to Texas
Stoked for the men to be swimming this well at midseason. Next year is looking even better in a lot of ways, but this year might actually be the big year for UVA men’s medleys.
That massive recruiting class will have ample replacements for sprint freestyle splits (and Heilman and Williamson as additional fly and backstroke options), but breaststroke post-Nichols looks…really thin. So thin that I keep wondering if I’m missing something, because DeSorbo wouldn’t have recruited that great of a class without addressing this large of a hole on the team, right? Right??
As an aside their current Class of 2026 recruits don’t seem to have a breaststroker either. Baffling. Is there a transfer we don’t know about or… Read more »
Nicholas swims breast fairly well. I figure Nicholas will go breast and Heilman fly
Maybe? I mean according to SwimCloud his best is a 54.2 from last March. UVA’s fastest behind Nichols this morning was Jay Gerloff with a 54.0 in prelims, and maybe Nicholas would have been around there if he’d swum it. But either way that’s a two and a half second gap from where Nichols was this morning (comparing flat starts) – that’s just not an amount of time any top team can afford to add on a relay leg.
Sorry, I was thinking 2 medley for some reason. I think Nicholas has a 24 low split to his name from this past high school season.
Pretty sure they hosted and recruited a bunch of high tier breaststrokers but didnt land any.
I think they need to look internationally for a breaststroker because post-Nichols and with such a great class coming in next year, it would suck if their medley relays can’t even make top eight because they don’t have a breaststroker.
Honest question- why wasnt there coverage on the team that won the relay, and the focus was on #2?
Because the team that won didn’t almost break the American Record and were more than four seconds away from the closest national record that they were eligible for (US Open/NCAA). They were in fact over two seconds from even the SEC Record.
for an American relay record, all 4 swimmers must be American!
as all 4 UVA swimmers are American, thus the interest!
‘Murica….
Why is this even an article with all the other great swimming going on
Ahhh yes, “why is this even an article” guy. The rarest of guys with their scathing insight about what “isn’t an article”. Asking the big questions, like “why?”. Bringing deep, deep insights to the commentariat.
Thank you, sir, for your beautiful contribution.
You are a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.
And the year BEFORE Heilman, Williamson and company arrive in Cville. But we’ve been told the UVA men are washed…
For the haters, THIS is why this is an article. There has been so much chatter about the UVa men being “washed” ahead of that class of 2025 (which truly is the future of American men’s swimming) then a freshman comes out and splits 43-mid on fly and they almost break the American Record.
I stg some of y’all act like you’ve never watched sports before.
UVA men will own the American record in 2025