Swims That Flew Under the Radar at the Men’s NCAA Championships
Last week, we covered swims that flew under the radar among the slew of historically fast times at the NCAA Women’s Championships. This week, it was the turn of the men to swim for history in an exciting team battle.
Wednesday
The men’s 800 freestyle relay was a furiously fast affair, where Cal took the top honors with the first sub-6:00 performance (5:59.75). Nestled in sixth were the Indiana Hoosiers, who were led off by transfer Owen McDonald. He smashed a new personal best to swim a 1:31.14. The Hoosiers as a team massively moved up from their seed.
Indiana ranked 14th coming into the meet, seeded at a 6:11.39. With the combined efforts of McDonald, Rafael Miroslaw (1:31.30), Kai van Westering (1:32.79) and Tomer Frankel (1:31.53), the Hoosiers finished with 26 points as they clocked 6:06.76.
Thursday
LSU sophomore Jovan Lekic brought a hammer to his lifetime best in the 500 freestyle prelims on Day Two, chopping four seconds for a 4:08.55, good for the fourth seed in the final. He faded a bit in finals, placing eighth at a 4:10.55, but still bettered his previous lifetime best coming into the meet.
Carles Coll Marti, a fifth year out of Virginia Tech, slipped under the 1:40 barrier in the 200 individual medley for the first time in the morning heats with a 1:39.82. He held his seed in finals, lowering his personal best by three tenths to finish fourth in 1:39.52. Coll Marti is the 2024 short course world champion in the 200 breaststroke. He contested that event on the final day of the meet, finishing third in 1:48.89.
In the 50 freestyle, a mind boggling 18.92 was required to make it into the B-Final. Indiana’s Finn Brooks produced a statement swim in the morning, cracking 19.00 for the first time with an 18.86.
Friday
Yale continued to have a solid showing with Nicholas Finch recording a finals appearance. The freshman swam a 44.57 in the 100 butterfly, good for 11th in his first NCAAs.
The 400 individual medley B-final was won by North Carolina State’s Kyle Ponsler, who torched his personal best. The junior rose from 14th after prelims to ninth overall at a 3:37.42.
Youssef Ramadan pulled somewhat of a dirty double in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. After finishing eighth in the 100 butterfly (44.15), Ramadan backed it up with a 10th-place finish in the 100 backstroke (44.72). The Virginia Tech Hokie was the 2023 NCAA champion in the 100 butterfly.
Lost in the sea of talent in the 400 medley relay was a huge swim by the Georgia men. Coming out of heat two in lane eight, Ruard Van Renen (43.86), Kristian Pitshugin (51.37), Luca Urlando (43.15) and Reese Branzell (42.00) took over five seconds off their seed for a 3:00.38.
Saturday
This swim obviously did not fly under the radar, but Zalan Sarkany’s 1650 freestyle cannot go without mention. The junior came into the meet as the seventh seed. Sarkany stormed to the lead and never looked back, holding between 26.1 and 26.2 for the entire swim, and ending up with a 14:21.29 for gold.
Kentucky ended up with two athletes in the top eight of the 1650 free, as Carson Hick (14:30.35) took sixth out of the morning heats. His teammate, Levi Sandidge, was eighth at 14:31.08.
Lamar Taylor has been making waves for Tennessee this year. After claiming a DII national title last year, he finished ninth in the country in the 100 free style at the Division I level, tying with Luke Hobson at 41.31.
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Ponsler was 2nd in the B final of the 400 IM at the 2024 NCAA, with a 3:39.28 (sub-3:40…)
But while he had been well under 3:40 before, 3:37.42 is a huge and noteworthy improvement.
Oh no! That’s my mistake. What a fantastic swim