Video produced by Coleman Hodges.
Reported by Jared Anderson.
200 BREASTSTROKE – FINALS
- NCAA – 1:48.66 – Kevin Cordes, Arizona – 2014
- Championship – 1:48.66 – Kevin Cordes, Arizona – 2014
- American – 1:48.66 – Kevin Cordes, Arizona – 2014
- US Open – 1:48.66 – Kevin Cordes, Arizona – 2014
- 2014 Champion – Kevin Cordes, Arizona – 1:48.66
Arizona’s Kevin Cordes opened up a solid lead over the first 50 yards of the 200 breast, and it looked like things might already be over, with Cordes likely the best closer in short course breastroking history.
But Texas’s Will Licon started moving into contention around the 100, and the dynamic of the race completely changed. Cordes, typically long, powerful and controlled through an entire 200, seemed like a different swimmer late in the race. In a phrase probably never written on SwimSwam before, Kevin Cordes appeared to shorten up.
Cordes typically opens his race with 4 strokes a length, and accelerates his tempo to 5 strokes or so over the final 75. But Cordes jumped to 5 strokes one length earlier than that, and was up to 6 strokes per length for the last 50. Licon, meanwhile, surged forward and timed his finish better than Cordes, nipping him for the NCAA title 1:49.48 to 1:49.53. Those two stand up as the 4th- and 5th-fastest times ever swum in the event.
Cal’s Chuck Katis was in the hunt until the end, and moves into the top 10 in history with a 1:50.54 that earned him bronze. Meanwhile Georgia’s Nic Fink dropped under 1:51 for the first time in his illustrious career, going 1:50.80. Incredibly, before this meet, Cordes was the only man ever under 1:51 – in just one race, we had three more men break that barrier.
Missouri senior Sam Tierney took 5th in 1:51.96, and behind him, Alabama’s Anton McKee went 1:52.91 for sixth.
Closing out the A final were South Carolina freshman Nils Wich-Glasen and Michigan senior Richard Funk. Wich-Glasen was 1:53.60 and Funk put up a 1:53.81, continuing the strong run of swimming for the Michigan men tonight.
