Swimming World's NCAA Division I Landing Page
COLLEGE STATION, Texas, March 28. WHILE California's Sean Mahoney took the race out quicker than the field, Georgia's Neil Versfeld had way more in the tank heading home with an NCAA and U.S. Open record in the 200-yard breast.
Versfeld clocked a time of 1:51.40 to break Mahoney's NCAA record of 1:51.96 set during prelims. The effort also surpassed Brendan Hansen's 1:51.74 set in 2006 as the fastest time ever. Hansen, however, remains the American-record holder since Versfeld is South African.
The triumph is only the second for Georgia all time in the event. The previous victory went to Matthew Buck back in 1996 when he clocked a 1:56.62.
Mahoney claimed second place with a time of 1:52.34, which is still a top 10 time ever, while Stanford's Paul Kornfeld finished third with a 1:52.55 after winning last year. Auburn's Adam Klein (1:52.96) and Stanford's John Criste (1:52.98) also broke 1:53.
Auburn took a slight one-point lead with 437 points, while Texas stood second with 436 points. Stanford (399.5), California (318) and Florida (271) rounded out the top five.
