What started out as a tight team race turned into a celebration of champions. In a span of just 22 minutes two american, three NCAA and three US Open records went down. While records fell by the wayside, the University of Michigan took home its NCAA title - its twelfth overall and first since 1995. Michigan scored 480 points, 73.5 more than defending champion California. A strong third day propelled Arizona into third with 313.5 points. The battle for the final trophy went down to the wire, but Vlad Morozov capped a brilliant meet with 40.26 split to put USC into fourth with 289 points - one more than Texas and 2.5 more than Florida. Stanford - despite two relay disqualifications - finished 7th in 282. In winning the title, Michigan became the first team to win NCAA titles under four different coaches-Mike Bottom, Matt Mann, Jon Urbanchek, and Gus Stager.The Wolverines led from the first event - the 200 Freestyle Relay - but the win was anything but overwhelming. This year's championship - in part because of the new qualifying procedures - turned out to be one of the closest championships in terms of point distribution. Indeed five different schools won relays for the first time and the margin between first and twentieth place was the narrowest since the introduction of the 200 Freestyle and 200 Medley Relays. It isn't a case of parity - its a case of several good teams.
Connor Jaeger roared to a 14:27.18 in the 1650 Free. In doing so the Michigan Junior bested a pair of previous NCAA champions in the 1650 including runner-up Michael McBroom (Texas) and Martin Grodzki (Georgia) who finished 11th. Jaeger flirted with Grodzki's record for the first 1100 yards and despite meet announcer Sam Kendrick's pleadings the crowd just couldn't squeeze any more turnover out of the Wolverine. From the team standpoint, the race gave Michigan the winning margin for the meet.
In the 200 Backstroke. Wisconsin's Andrew Teduits set the tone early. The Badger sophomore turned in 47.60 and dared David NOlan and the field to keep up with him. Teduits didn't fall off however and posted the fastest 4th 50 to extend his lead and grab the win in 1:38.27. Nolan finished second in 1:39.31 just ahead of Jacob Pebley (1:39.71). Eastern Michigan's Jacob Hanson became the highest-finishing Mid-Major of the meet.
Next, USC's Vladimir Morozov notched his first 'official' record of the meet with a 40.76 in the 100 freestyle. The race came two days after he split a 17.86 on the Trojans' 200 Free Relay. Morozov hit the 50 mark in 19.14 - a time that would have placed him third in the 50 freestyle. The blistering pace took its toll but by that time he was rolling home well ahead of Auburn's Marcelo Chierighini. Joao DeLuca finished third in 42.27. That was a lifetime best for the Louisville Cardinal - but at 1.5 seconds behind Morozov - looked pedestrian by comparison.
Kevin Cordes put on the swim of the night, if not the year, in the 200 breaststroke. The Arizona sophomore, who obliterated his previous record in the morning with a 1:49.79 sliced another second off of his NCAA, American and US Open Records. Cordes set an unreal pace - 52.19 at the 100. What was more amazing is that Cordes closed with a 27.90 - 8/10 faster than his third split leaving fans to wonder what might lie ahead. It's a scary prospect considering Cordes' final split was 3/10 faster than any other swimmers' split. Cordes' teammate Carl Mickelson overcame a disappointing 9th place finish in the 100 breast to complete a 1-2 Wildcat win.
The record-setting wasn't over however. Tom Shields gave California one last hurrah when the Senior won the 200 Butterfly in 1:39.65. The time was a NCAA record and tied Michael Phelps' American record. Shields was denied a win in the 100 backstroke a day earlier and tonight, with the pressure of a team championship off of his back he swam his best race of the weekend. Shields was nearly a full second ahead of Florida's Marcin Cieslak. Michigan's Dylan Bosch finished third in 1:41.37.
