University of Minnesota Athletics
NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships Day 3 Notes
3/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
DAY THREE FINALS NOTES
CSCAA Diver of the Championships: David Boudia, Purdue
CSCAA Diving Coach of the Championships: Adam Soldati, Purdue
CSCAA Swimmer of the Championships: Nathan Adrian, California
CSCAA Swimming Coach of the Championships: David Durden, California
• California wins the team title for the third time and for the first time since 1980.
• California’s winning score of 493 is the fewest by a champion since Auburn had 480.5 in 2006. The 22.5 point gap between first and second place is the smallest since Texas edged Stanford by 11 (512-501) in 2002.
• Virginia made it’s best finish ever at the NCAA Championships, placing seventh. The Cavaliers’ best previous finish was ninth in 2009.
• The top six team finishers were identical to 2010, just in a slightly different order (California-Texas-Stanford-Arizona-Florida-Auburn).
• Michael McBroom became the first 1650 freestyle champion for Texas (14:32.86). The sophomore wins the event in his former home pool after transferring from Minnesota after his freshman season where he placed fourth in the event. The 2010 champion, Chad LaTourette of Stanford, tied for second with Georgia’s Martin Grodzki in 14:34.80.
• Virginia’s Matt McLean finished fourth in the 1650 free, giving him three top four finishes at the meet. McLean won the 500 free on Thursday and was fourth in the 200 free on Friday.
• Cory Chitwood of Arizona repeated as the 200 backstroke champion. He went a career-low 1:38.84, making him the sixth-fastest performer ever in the event. He held off Indiana’s Eric Ress, who was second in 1:38.96. Chitwood is Arizona’s only champion in the 200 backstroke.
• With two top eight finishers in the 1650 free and the 200 backstroke, Texas trimmed California’s lead to 8.5 points (355-346.5).
• Nathan Adrian of California made it three straight titles in the 100 freestyle after barely making the championship final field with the eighth and final spot. Adrian broke the University Aquatic Center record of 41.17 set by Cesar Cielo (Auburn) at the 2007 NCAA Championships. Adrian’s time of 41.10 is just .02 off his personal best set in 2009 and is the third-best time ever. Adrian is also one of seven swimmers to win the event at least three times, joining California alums Matt Biondi (1985-87) and Anthony Ervin (2000-02).
• Texas’ Eric Friedland held off California’s Martti Aljand to win the national title in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 1:52.43, breaking the University Aquatic Center record of 1:52.71 set by Vladislav Polyakov of Alabama in 2007. Friedland is the sixth Longhorn to win the 200 breast and the first since Brendan Hansen won four straight from 2001-04. Frieldland improved from a seventh place finish as a sophomore.
• Texas briefly took over the team points lead by .5 points over California after the 200 breast (426.5-426).
• Georgia’s Mark Dylla broke the NCAA record in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:40.60 to win the national title. He touched out Stanford’s Bobby Bollier by .16 seconds. Bollier was also the runner-up in the 500 freestyle on Thursday. Dylla is Georgia’s second champion in the event joining Gil Stovall in 2008. Dylla is third-fastest performer ever in the 200 butterfly.
• Nick McCrory of Duke repeated as the NCAA champion in platform diving. He scored an NCAA championships record 548.90 points, breaking his own record from 2010. Purdue’s David Boudia just missed a sweep of the diving events, finishing second.
• California defended its 400 free relay title with a time of 2:47.39. It was also California’s ninth title in the event.
DAY THREE PRELIMS NOTES
• Indiana sophomore Eric Ress looks to become IU’s seventh 200 backstroke champion and first since 1973. He posted the top time of the prelims in 1:39.52, nearly a second ahead of Florida’s Marco Loughran. The championship final field in the 200 back is very young with a freshman, six sophomores and two juniors. A swim-off for the eighth spot will take place between Texas’ Cole Cragin and Auburn’s Kyle Owens.
• Auburn’s Adam Brown owns the top prelim time in the 100 free at 41.75. Texas’ Jimmy Feigen was second in 42.01. Two-time defending champion Nathan Adrian of California just cracked the final in eighth at 42.39.
• Texas’ Nick D’Innocenzo posted the top time in the 200 breaststroke at 1:53.46, just ahead of his teammate, Eric Friedland. Texas has three in the championship final, with Scott Spann holding eighth place going into the final.
• Stanford’s Bobby Bollier broke the University Aquatic Center record in the 200 butterfly with the top time of 1:41.63. He broke Dan Madwed of Michigan’s time of 1:41.70 set at the Big Ten Championships last month. Madwed posted the third-best time of 1:42.40.
• California posted the top time in the 400 freestyle relay in 2:49.61, just ahead of Auburn (2:49.73). California is looking to defend its national title which it won in 2:48.78 last year.
QUOTES
California Head Coach David Durden
On winning a championship over second-place Texas and overcoming the Longhorns in the end:
“Our guys don’t really get caught up in points. They enjoy racing fast and we had pretty much everything that could happen in a meet happen. We had (junior) Nolan Koon lose his cap and goggles in the 200 breaststroke; we had one of our guys in the 800 free relay get a cut on the head and was bleeding right before that race. We just have had so many bizarre things happen in this meet and it was just kind of surviving until the finish. That last relay was a survival mode. They just put the pedal to the metal on the race and it was great.”
On the team’s expectations coming into the meet:
“Going into the meet we felt we had a good opportunity to win it with the athletes that we had. It wasn’t just about going there to win, it was coming here and swimming fast as a group and have this experience as a team. That’s where we tried to keep their mind the entire three days.”
On winning California’s first swimming title in 31 years and what it means to the team and the school:
“I think that question probably needs to be directed towards those guys. It’s a collected effort. They knew the foundation that they laid and we’ve just continued to build upon that over the last few years. It’s exciting to see the finished product here.”
1,650 Free
Michael McBroom, So., Texas
On the lifetime-best swim:
“Yeah, I dropped 18 seconds so I was pretty excited. I was just trying to hold an even pace the whole race and then take it home at the end of it.”
200 Back
Cory Chitwood, Jr., Arizona
On his plan for the race:
“I talked to Frank (Busch) before the race and sort of got a game plan going, and decided we were going to have to just go after it. That really isn’t my style and that’s something I’m trying to fix. At the 100 I knew I was right next to (Eric Ress), and at the 50 I turned right next to him again. I just knew that I just had to lay it all down on that last 50, and luckily I came out on top.”
100 Free
Nathan Adrian, Sr., Cal
On what he changed from last year:
“Everything that happened last year we made sure to move forward and learn from it. Dave and I—and all of the coaches, really—we changed up the training schedule a little bit and made sure that I would go a lot faster at the end of the season as opposed to going some pretty fast in-season times, and I think that’s really made the difference.”
200 Breast
Eric Friedland, Jr., Texas
On his mindset going into the race:
“We dug ourselves a pretty big hole the first couple days, so we had to be pretty much perfect today to have a chance of even winning. So my coach was just like, Just go out and be tough. So I went after it and I just held on for the last 50.”
200 Fly
Mark Dylla, Sr., Georgia
On if win erases disappointment of last year’s disqualification:
“It makes this year just that much more special. Last year was tough. I struggled with that for quite a while and it just kind of became one of those things where you got to get motivated again. I actually have worked every single day since last year’s disappointment to do what I did tonight and can’t be more thrilled I think would be the best word at this point.”
Platform Diving
Nick McCrory, So., Duke
On being consistent:
"My consistency has been a big part of my diving, especially in the NCAA competitions. I really like springboard even though I consider myself more of a platform specialist. I train a lot of both. … Platform is definitely my favorite, but I really like competing springboard. Over the past few years I’ve definitely gotten to be more consistent, just trusting everything and being able to count on myself.”
400 Free Relay
Josh Daniels Sr., California
On the win:
"I'm speechless really. This win, you know, I said it last year during a press conference actually. We got second place at Texas and I said you know what we're going to be back next year and look where we are. That's just a testament of our hard work that we put in this year. This team is--we're dedicated to each other, we're dedicated to racing hard and having fun. That's exactly what we did. We did exactly what we wanted to do. We raced and we had fun this year and look what happened. We're on top."
Tom Shields So., California
On the role of the assistant coaches:
"Greg Meehan is awesome. It think he's like our second head coach. Kind of awesome. I don't know, I can't really articulate how cool he is, how clutch he is for us as a team. I think Dave will say that too. Dave's an awsome coach. It's awesome that we have so much wisdom around us theres also so much support. It's like parental care almost. It's pretty cool."
Nathan Adrian Sr., California
On the win after three decades and what it says to the incoming freshmen class:
"I think they should be excited as we are right now that we just took home a national title. I think anybody looking at this team as a high school senior knew what we were capable of. I've said it before, I'll say it again, It's tough to replace a group of seniors that we have. I think Dave and Greg did an amazing job doing that now and I dont think they'll be hurting at all from it next year."
Players Mentioned
