University of Minnesota Athletics
NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships Day 1 Notes
3/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
DAY ONE FINALS NOTES
• Stanford won the 200 freestyle relay for the ninth time but the first time since 2003. The Cardinal broke their own American record set in the prelims with a time of 1:15.26. California was a close second in 1:15.34, making in the second-closest 200 free relay in NCAA history.
• Cal senior Nathan Adrian tied the University Aquatic Center record in the 50 free leading off the 200 free relay in 18.74. He tied Fred Bousquet (Auburn) who went an 18.74 at the 2005 NCAA Championships. At the time, Bousquet was the first NCAA swimmer to go under 19 seconds in the event.
• Virginia senior Matt McLean won his first national title in the 500 freestyle, clocking a time of 4:10.15, winning by 3.79 seconds over Stanford’s Bobby Bollier. McLean becomes the fourth NCAA champion for Virginia and first since 2000. Stanford picked up 30 points in the event and opened an 18-point lead on second-place Texas through two events.
• Austin Staab of Stanford won the 200 individual medley in 1:41.57, breaking the pool record time of 1:41.71 set by Ryan Lochte of Florida at the 2005 NCAA Championships. It’s the second national title for Staab who won the 2009 title in the 100 butterfly. Austin Surhoff of Texas, the defending champion in the event, placed fourth in 1:43.58. Stanford led by 17 points after the 200 individual medley over Texas.
• Nathan Adrian of California shattered the American record in the 50 freestyle, winning in 18.66. He also broke the University Aquatic Center record held by Adrian set in the 200 free relay and by Bousquet in 2005. His time is the fourth-fastest ever in the event. It is the second NCAA title in the event for Adrian, also winning in 2009 with a time of 18.71. He is the 18th swimmer to win the 50 free at least twice. Adrian was the runner-up as a junior to Cincinnati’s Josh Schneider. Adrian has won four NCAA individual titles. Auburn’s Adam Brown also went an 18.72 to finish second.
• David Boudia of Purdue repeated as NCAA champion in 1-meter diving with a score of 461.00. It also marked his fifth NCAA title overall.
• California blew away the field in the 400 medley relay to defend its title, winning by 3.82 seconds with a time of 3:02.28. Texas was a distant second in 3:06.10. The Golden Bears also broke the pool record, besting Northwestern’s time of 3:04.40 from 2007. The title gives Nathan Adrian of Cal seven total NCAA titles (four individual, three relays).
• Texas squeezed past Stanford in the team race with the runner-up finish in the 400 medley relay. Texas leads with 139 points, followed by Stanford (136), California (134), Auburn (110.05), Arizona (99), Virginia (74), Florida (70), Southern California (62), Michigan (57) and Texas A&M (49).
DAY ONE PRELIMS NOTES
• Auburn posted the top time of the prelims in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:15.50. The Tigers have won four of the last five titles in the event, interrupted only by California last season.
• Stanford set a new American record in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:15.84, which qualified second in for the finals.
• Adam Brown of Auburn led off the Tigers’ 200 free relay in 18.79, making him the fifth-fastest performer ever in the 50 free.
• Virginia’s Matt McLean posted the top time in the 500 free out of the fifth of six heats in 4:12.26. Stanford’s Bobby Bollier was second, also in that heat, with a time of 4:14.84. Florida’s Conor Dwyer, the defending NCAA champion, posted the third-best time of 4:15.55.
• Stanford’s Austin Staab posted the top time of the morning in the 200 individual medley in 1:42.91. Arizona has two finalists with Cory Chitwood (third) and Austen Thompsen (sixth).
• California’s Nathan Adrian qualified first in the 50 free in 18.76, just .05 seconds off his career-best time from 2009. Adrian was the national champion that season. Adam Brown of Auburn also went under 19 seconds for the second time of the day in 18.91 to qualify second.
• Texas posted the top time in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:05.61, ahead of Florida (3:07.27) and Ohio State (3:07.68). Texas hasn’t won the event since 2004 with the all future Olympian team of Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Ian Crocker and Garrett Weber-Gale.
• Texas and Stanford lead the field with four individual swimming championship finalists for the evening while Arizona, California and Auburn each have three. Cal and Auburn also have four consolation finalists.
QUOTES
200 Free Relay
Alex Coville, Sr., Stanford
On the relay:
“I think the 200 freestyle relay really served as a jumping-off point for the rest of the evening. Bobby (Bollier) turned out a great 500 freestyle right after that, as did Chad (LaTourette). And then Austin (Staab) finished off that 200 IM. There was a lot of energy right after it.”
500 Free
Matt Mclean, Sr., Virginia
On coaching advice for the race:
“Mark’s [Bernardino] big on toughness. He’s really impressed that upon me and he just told me exactly what I need to do before the race—get out there and do what I was capable of doing, execute, stay calm and have fun. ”
50 Free
Nathan Adrian, Sr., California
On the new American record:
“I’ve been hoping to go best time ever since they banned the suits and that’s my first one so I’m really excited about that.”
200 IM
Austin Staab, Sr., Stanford
On his race:
“It was a really good 200 IM. It definitely wasn’t an event that I was looking at at the beginning of the year. It was just an event that the coaches threw me in for the Cal dual meet because they figured that I would score more points rather than the 50 free or the 100 free or even the 200 fly. They threw me in there and I did pretty well, and they decided to put me in the 200 IM at Pac-10s. I did pretty well there, and here I am.”
1-Meter Diving
David Boudia, Jr., Purdue
On today’s 1-meter competition and looking ahead to tomorrow:
“I struggled today, and I learned a lot from this morning. I’ve just got to go out there and have fun, and that’s what I did tonight. So looking at the 3-meter tomorrow, I’m just going to go out there and enjoy it for my last NCAAs.”
400 Medley Relay
Guy Barnea, Sr., California
On leading off relay with the third best split of the race:
“I knew I had to be among the firsts in the backstroke and I had to go with my personal best to do that. I was together with two other guys and we were the fastest three. Once Damir [Dugonjic] goes in the water we have the very good breaststroke, fly and freestyle. They are the best in the nation in the 100 so we just wanted to extend the lead as much as we can and not look back. ”
