Top 5 swims at the men’s NCAA meet (so far)
1) Caeleb Dressel splitting 17.99 in the 200 freestyle relay. In PRELIMS. Because that’s just fast. And it’s the fourth fastest 50 free split in history.
2) Dressel swimming an 18.23 in the 50. Twice. Once as the 200 free relay lead off and once in the individual 50 free finals. Because consistency. Dressel now owns the top ten fastest 50 free times in NCAA history.
3) Texas senior Will Licon and Florida junior Mark Szaranek overcoming three-time Olympic gold medalist and senior Cal Golden Bear Ryan Murphy to tie for first in the 200 IM. ANOTHER TIE, MAN. Murphy had the lead coming off the breaststroke leg, but Licon and Szaranek put their heads down and raced to the finish, clocking in at 1:40.67 and beating Murphy by just six tenths of a second.
4) Licon, the NCAA record holder in the 200-yard breaststroke, went a blazing 49.75 100 breast split in Texas’ 400 medley relay. He was the only breaststroke swimmer under 50 seconds in the field. He’s currently seeded first in the 100 breast with a time of 50.87 after Friday’s prelims. The current record in the 100 breast is 50.04, set by Kevin Cordes in 2014. Will Licon be the first man under 50 seconds in the 100-yard breast? We’ll have to wait and see.
5) Texas’ 400 medley relay team of John Shebat, Licon, Joseph Schooling and Jack Cogner became the first relay to ever go under three minutes in the event. The foursome swam the event in 2:59.22, beating the old record, previously held by Texas, by over a second.
Texas has the lead over California after four sessions. Competition will continue at 6 p.m. Friday at the Indiana University Natatorium.
