2016 MEN’S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, March 23 – Saturday, March 26
- McAuley Aquatic Center – Atlanta, GA
- Prelims 10AM/Finals 6PM (Eastern Time)
- Defending Champion: Texas (results)
- Championship Central
- Live stream: Wednesday/Thursday prelins & finals, Friday/Saturday prelims / Friday/Saturday finals on ESPN3
- Live results
Race video courtesy of Gator Swimming on Twitter:
Dressel wins the 50-free prelims with an 18.29 — nearly breaks his own American & U.S. Open Records. #GoGators pic.twitter.com/kO9dAdfFTe
— Gator Swimming (@GatorsSwimDv) March 24, 2016
50 FREE – PRELIMS
- NCAA Record: Caeleb Dressel, Florida, 18:23
- American Record: Caeleb Dressel, Florida, 18:23
- U.S. Open Record: Caeleb Dressel, Florida, 18:23
Pool Record: Caeleb Dressel, 18.32 (earlier today)- 2015 Champion: Caeleb Dressel, Florida, 18.67
Florida’s Caeleb Dressel managed to outdo his relay leadoff in the individual prelim, going 18.29 to break the pool record for the second time today. Dressel sits just six hundredths off his American and NCAA record from SECs, and has a legitimate shot to take the record into the 18.1s tonight.
It’s not very often a swimmer leads the NCAA 50 free prelims by half a second, but Dressel accomplished that rare task this morning. Dressel is exactly a half-second up on NC State’s Simonas Bilis – and Bilis had a great swim himself. The Wolfpack senior shaved .12 seconds off his lifetime-best prior to this meet, going 18.79 to stay consistent with his 18.76 lifetime-best leadoff in the 200 free relay. Bilis has now moved up to #9 all-time with that swim.
Michigan’s Paul Powers is third at 18.99, a tenth off his Big Ten record from the conference rounds. NC State will also add ACC Champion Ryan Held (19.01) to the final, with Missouri’s Michael Chadwick (19.06) and Georgia’s Michael Trice (19.16) jumping in from the SEC.
Texas’s John Murray has the last guaranteed finals spot in 7th at 19.17. A single hundredth behind him, we’ve got a three-way swim-off cued up for the final championship heat lane. That’s between 2014 NCAA 50 free champ Kristian Gkolomeev of Alabama, Auburn’s latest breakout sprinter Peter Holoda and Texas sophomore Brett Ringgold. All three men were 19.18 this morning.
Update: All three men went faster in the swim-off, with Gkolomeev rolling to a 19.04 for the A final spot. Ringgold was 19.09 – a new lifetime-best – for second, and he and Holoda (19.13) will take the two inside lanes of the B final tonight.
Top 8 Qualifiers:
- Caeleb Dressel, Florida – 18.29
- Simonas Bilis, NC State – 18.79
- Paul Powers, Michigan – 18.99
- Ryan Held, NC State – 19.01
- Michael Chadwick, Missouri – 19.06
- Michael Trice, Georgia – 19.16
- John Murray, Texas – 19.17
- T-8 Peter Holoda, Auburn – 19.18
- T-8 Brett Ringgold, Texas – 19.18
- T-8 Kristian Gkolomeev, Alabama – 19.18
Caeleb now has the 5 fastest times in history within 1 month and soon to be 6. Remarkable.
Who cares about Caeleb??? Swim Fangs?
Has anyone else noticed that there seems to be a lot of turbulence? It looks like a wave pool before they start.
Who was it who finished second in that heat?
NC State’s Bilis
The touch pad didn’t register his finish and had him at 20.7…. they fixed that thankfully.
Has it been long enough for Coach to regrow his stache?