Drew Kibler Throws Down 4:08 500 Freestyle at Texas First Chance; Casas Blasts 44 100 Back

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Drew Kibler Throws Down 4:08 500 Freestyle at Texas First Chance; Casas Blasts 44 100 Back

The Texas Longhorn men hosted Texas A&M and SMU on Friday night as the men swimming put up some impressive swims after such a long time away from the racing pool. Texas had its first intrasquad meet last week with suits on, and they had their first real taste of action with other teams present, as meets with more than one team have been hard to come across.

Results

The highlight of the night came from junior Drew Kibler, who threw down a 4:08.26 in the 500 freestyle as he moved to fourth all-time with his swim. Last year, Kibler was a 4:11 and seeded sixth ahead of NCAAs before the meet was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With this speed on display today, Kibler could have challenged Kieran Smith for all he was worth at NCAAs, as the latter blasted a 4:06 in the 500 to break the American record last season.

Kibler moved up to fourth all-time, as three Longhorns now sit in the top five.

Kibler won ahead of Johnthomas Larson (4:15.80) of the Longhorns, and Mark Theall (4:20.01) of Texas A&M.

All-Time Rankings Men’s 500 Free

4:06.32, Kieran Smith, 2020
4:07.25, Zane Grothe, 2017
4:08.19, Townley Haas, 2019
4:08.26, Drew Kibler, 2020
4:08.42, Clark Smith, 2017

Texas A&M junior Shaine Casas blasted a 44.40 in the 100 backstroke, which is a new best time from his 44.48 last season. Casas improved on his 9th place ranking on the all-time list, as he is looking to be in good shape ahead of the new Olympic year in 2021. Texas’ Alvin Jiang (45.92) finished second ahead of Chris Staka (48.21).

All-Time Rankings Men’s 100 Back

43.49, Ryan Murphy, 2016
43.66, Dean Farris, 2019
43.98, Coleman Stewart, 2019
44.07, Nick Thoman, 2013
44.10, Zane Waddell, 2020
44.14, Zachary Poti, 2020
44.33, Mark Nikolaev, 2019
44.35, John Shebat, 2019
44.40, Shaine Casas, 2020
44.49, Matt Grevers, 2013

Casas returned later in the session with a second place finish in the 400 IM at 3:38.22, behind Texas freshman Carson Foster (3:35.27), who blasted the 17-18 national age group record. Foster now sits second all-time only behind Chase Kalisz (3:33.42). Sophomore Jake Foster finished in third with an impressive 3:43.30.

This is a huge swim for Foster, as he has emerged as a potential spoiler for a number of events at next year’s Olympic Trials.

Sophomore Caspar Corbeau won the 100 breaststroke with a lifetime best of 51.96, ahead of fellow sophomore from Texas A&M Andres Puente Bustamante (52.55). Longhorn junior Charlie Scheinfeld (53.32) placed third in the race.

Texas senior Sam Pomajevich won the 200 butterfly with a 1:42.93, in a tight race with Longhorn underclassmen Coby Carrozza (1:43.37) and Ethan Harder (1:43.78).

Junior Daniel Krueger took the 50 freestyle victory with a 19.16, which was a best time for him after he was a 19.19 last season. Krueger had the top time in the nation last year in the 100 freestyle as his 50 hasn’t been as strong. Coco Bratanov (19.86) finished second for the Aggies ahead of Texas’ Jake Sannem (20.09).

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