NCAA Division I Men’s Championships: Virginia’s Matt McLean Breaks Through With 500 Free Victory

Visit Swimming World's Event Landing Page for complete coverage of the meet.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, March 24. VIRGINIA's Matt McLean gave his program its fourth NCAA title ever with a dominant victory in the men's 500-yard free at the NCAA Division I Men's Championships.

McLean rocketed to victory with a sterling time of 4:10.15. That effort stands 10th all time, and nearly clipped McLean's techsuit-fueled lifetime best of 4:10.00 set in 2009. McLean won by more than three seconds, as Stanford's Bobby Bollier turned in the runner-up time with a second-place 4:13.94. That is not the most dominant 500 free win in NCAA history. John Konrads of USC downed teammate James Corfman by 9.20 seconds, 4:50.7 to 4:59.9, back in 1963.

Florida's Conor Dwyer fell to a surprising third with a 4:13.98 after winning last year with a 4:13.64. Texas' Jackson Wilcox (4:15.85), Michigan's Sean Ryan (4:15.99), Stanford's Chad La Tourette (4:16.15), Auburn's Zane Grothe (4:16.82) and Texas' Michael McBroom (4:21.03) also swam in the finale.

Michigan's Ryan Feeley claimed the B final title in 4:17.29, while Georgia's Martin Grodzki took 10th overall in 4:18.42. Michigan's Hassann Abdel Khalik (4:19.52), California's Sam Mertz (4:20.01), Virginia's Jan Daniec (4:20.05), Southern California's Richard Charlesworth (4:20.19), South Carolina's Michael Flach (4:21.66) and Indiana's Ryan Hinshaw (4:22.85) completed the consolation field.

Stanford jumped into the lead with 70 points, while Texas held second with 52 points. Virginia (46), Auburn (44) and California (39) made up the rest of the top five.

Top 10 Average Scoring Running Projections*:
Texas (130.125), Stanford (128.75), California (126.375), Arizona (103.5), Auburn (101.25), Virginia (79.875), Florida (68.625), USC (61), Michigan (61), Texas A&M (47.5)

* Average Scoring Projections based on the average points allotted to an A finalist (14.75) and a B finalist (4.625). Double points for relays.

Swimming World's NCAA Division I Men's Championships Notes Package Sponsored by NISCA

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x