By Chris Fantz
200 Backstroke
Heat 1: First race of the day commences with a two-man heat between Princeton’s Kaspar Raigla and Texas A&M’s Paul-Marc Schweitzer. The sophomore Schweitzer would lead early and extend to a body-length lead to win in 1:45.81.
Heat 2: Nick Karpov of USC turned first and held the lead at 50 yards. Texas swimmer Austen Surhoff moved up and had the fastest 100 split in 49.9. MSU’s Jacob Jarzen looked to challenge on a great last wall. Jarzen would touch first in 1:42.34, followed by Surhoff in 1:42.47
Heat 3: Auburn’s Kyle Owens led out with the fastest 50 so far, but Alex Lendrum of USC, the seed's top heat, edged him out at the 100. Auburn senior Max Murphy pulled ahead and tried to hold on. At the wall, it would be Lendrum in 1:42, just ahead of Jacob Hanson of Eastern Michigan and Mathias Gydesen of Cal .
Heat 4: Stanford’s David Nolan began smooth and controlled, turning just after teammate Matthew Thompson who would lead through 150. Arizona’s Michael Sheppard challenged, but it would be the late surge of Nolan that got the victory in 1:40.54. Thompson held on for second place.
Heat 5: The fifth and final heat provided an opportunity for redemption by Cory Chitwood of Arizona after a slip in the 100 back. Chitwood would lead early with a relaxed stroke and long underwaters. Matthew Swanston of Stanford raced hard right beside him, trying to earn his own big finals swim. Chitwood fairly cruised to a heat win at 1:40.75 and looked nonchalant hanging on the wall as he checked the overall seeds on the scoreboard.
100 Freestyle
Heat 1: Florida Gator Jack Wagner won in 43.76.
Heat 2: Charlie Moore of Texas began with a blistering first 50 and led wire-to-wire for the heat win in 43.53.
Heat 3: Fabio Gimondi of Cal posted the best time so far of 43.48 to the delight of Cal fans, including spectator and American Record holder Nathan Adrian.
Heat 4: Arizona’s Adam Small powered to a lead early and was challenged by James Turner of Florida. Small touched first, posting a 43.51.
Heat 5: Michael Arnold of Georgia led for three lengths in lane one before being overtaken by Giles Smith of Arizona who won in 43.20.
Heat 6: Florida’s Bradley Deborde got out ahead and stayed there to win in 43.14, followed by Auburn’s James Disney-May.
Heat 7: Ohio State’s Jason Schnur turned first at 25 and 50. Jimmy Feigen of Texas moved up and eased ahead to touch first in 42.98.
Heat 8: Auburn’s Drew Modrov had the fastest first length, but Aaron Wayne of Stanford overtook by the 50. Marcelo Chierighini of Auburn touched first in 42.31.
Heat 9: USC’s Vladimir Morozov blasted out on the field and posted a 42.13 at the wall. He would take over the top seed going into tonight’s championship final, followed by Chierighini and Wayne.
200 Breaststroke
Heat 1: Wisconsin’s Michael Weiss led from the start in lane 4. PSU’s Mitchell Scherer tried to hold onto second, but faded. Weiss finished first in 1:55.78.
Heat 2: Cal’s Martin Liivamagi got out quickly before 100 breast champ Kevin Cordes of Arizona pulled even where the pair stayed through the 100. From lane 6, Carlos Almeida of Louisville moved ahead entering the final 50. Almeida took the heat in 1:52.82. Cordes would follow at 1:53.19.
Heat 3: Austen Thompson of Arizona took the lead and held it for nearly 100 yards until Nolan Koon of Cal pulled ahead. A second Cal swimmer, Trevor Hoyt then pulled ahead. Hoyt powered away leading the field and finished strong to finish in 1:53.34, closely followed by his teammate Koon.
Heat 4: Carl Mickelson of Arizona, the No. 1 seed, showed his speed early with the fastest first 100. He led by a body length over second at the 125 and lengthened the gap to finish in a strong 1:53.50.
Almeida of Louisville would take the top spot for tonight, followed by 100 breast champion Cordes from Arizona.
200 Butterfly
Heat 1: Woody Joye from Arizona swam alone at the lead in lane 5, followed by Ben Hinshaw from California. Joye touched first in 1:45.25.
Heat 2: Texas freshman James Cooper moved ahead from the dive and led for 50, only to see Indiana’s Stephen Schmuhl pull ahead in lane 1. He would hold on for the top swim of the morning so far in 1:44.44.
Heat 3: Cal’s Austin Brown led after 25, but Daniel Madwed of Michigan and Cal’s Robert Sullivan moved ahead. Bobby Bollier of Stanford went, too and soon overtook the lead at 150 yards in. Bollier held on to win in 1:42.57.
Heat 4: Alabama’s Alex Coci got out at the start and led for 100 yards. Tommy Glenn of Brown held to his hip, but Coci maintained his lead. Marcin Cieslak of Florida moved up for a close victory at 1:43.22, followed by Coci.
Heat 5: Tom Shields from Cal went out long, smooth, and in the lead. Relaxed underwater work kept him there for 75 yards until Neil Caskey of Texas overtook from lane 2 and made a strong move on the entire field. Shields would go 13 yards on his last dolphin and finish first in 1:41.99. This would be the top swim so far, followed by Caskey and Bollier.
400 Free Relay
Heat 1: Southern California moved ahead early at the hands of Vladimir Morozov. USC maintained a solid lead into the anchor leg by Jeff Daniels with Arizona’s Adam Small chasing. USC finished first in 2:50.51.
Heat 2: Jimmy Feigen of Texas took the Longhorns out to a strong early lead. Paul Murray of Florida State would follow. In lane 4, James Disney-May tried to lift Auburn back into the race. Texas still led at the 200 after Austen Surhoff’s finish, but it looked to be a three-team race between FSU, Auburn, and Texas. Auburn’s Drew Modrov tore up the third leg to give Marcello Chierighini the lead, which he would maintain to the finish for 2:51.06.
Heat 3: Cal, Stanford, and Virginia all held even for 200 yards. Cal’s Tom Shields took a lead into the last leg and dominated on the strength of his kick, but Stanford’s anchor, Aaron Wayne, touched first in 2:51.49.
USC’s time would hold up for the top seed ahead of Auburn and Stanford.
Platform Diving
Round 1: Arizona's Ben Grado opens with the lead after starting out with an 81.6 effort. Conor Murphy of Indiana (75.2) leads three-meter stars David Bonuchi of missouri (73.6) Drew Livingston of Texas (72) and Kristian Ipsen of Stanford (69.75). Matt Cooper of Texas (67.5) begins in sixth followed by John Santeiu of Auburn and Mauricio Robles-Rodrigues of Tennessee who tie at 64.5 for seventh.
Round 2: Grado (165.75) continues his hot start with his second straight rip. Livingston (147.2) moves up a pair of spots into second while Kentucky's Greg Ferrucci (134.4) climbs from outside the top 10 into third. Ipsen (134.15) jumps up one spot as does Cooper (131.5).
Round 3: Grado (231.75) holds the lead for the third straight round but Livingston (221.45) is now hot on his tail. Cooper (210.7) is now right behind his teammate in third while Big 12 rival Bonuchi (203.95) is fourth. Ipsen (201.35) drops one spot to fifth while Ferrucci (195.9) slides from third to sixth.
Round 4: Livingston (313.85) crushes his fourth round dive to turn a 10-plus point deficit into a 13-plus point lead over Grado (300.75). Cooper (286.60) remains in third, gaining ground on Grado. Logan Shinholser of Virginia Tech (275.10) drills his fourth round effort to jump from sixtht to fourth. Murphy (268.40) climbs from eighth to fifth with two rounds to go.
Round 5: Livingston (381.05) increases his lead while teammate Cooper (362.50) jumps Grado (360.15) for second. Both Shinholser (342.30) and Murphy (340.40) hold their fourth and fifth round spots, respectively. Bonuchi (325.90), Ryan Hawkins of Virginia Tech (314.45) and Zac Nees of Indiana (309.40) round out the top 10.
Round 6: Drew Livingston of Texas (447.65) is less than stellar on his final dive but still grabs the top position over Arizona's Ben Grado (441.65). Matt Cooper of Texas (424.9) switches spots with Grado while Virginia Tech's Logan Shinhoolser (421.5) and Indiana's Conor Murphy (412.4) stay in fourth and fifth, respectively, for the third consecutive round. David Bonuchi of Missouri (402.70), Ryan Hawkins of Virginia Tech (381.65), and Zach Nees of Indiana (379.80) all hold their positions from round six to qualify for the evening championships final. Greg Ferrucci of Kentucky (356.80) will be the top seed heading into consols.