2021 NCAA Division I Men’s Championship: Cal’s Ryan Hoffer Scorches 18.43 in 50 Free Prelims

Ryan Hoffer. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

The 2021 NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship continued Thursday with the first preliminary session of the meet from Greensboro, North Carolina.

The events scheduled are the 500 freestyle, 200 IM and 50 freestyle.

Texas took an early lead in the meet by winning the 800 freestyle relay on the first night and looks to build on it on Day 2.

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NCAA Championships: 50 Free

Cal’s Ryan Hoffer is the defending NCAA champion at 18.63, which broke a four-year streak of Florida’s Caeleb Dressel, who is the NCAA and American record holder at 17.63, the only man under 18 seconds in history. Auburn’s Cesar Cielo has the second-fastest time in history at 18.47. Michigan has won the event 12 times, followed by Auburn with eight, Tennessee and Stanford with seven apiece and Cal with six. USC’s Joe Bottom, Auburn’s Fred Bousquet and Tennessee’s David Edgar each won the even three times.

Cal senior Ryan Hoffer made a statement in the 50 free prelims, touching the wall in 18.43. The time broke the pool record and makes him the second-fastest performer in history.

Only Caeleb Dressel’s 17.63, set in 2018, has been faster.

Georgia sophomore Dillon Downing took the second seed in 18.8, just ahead of Cal freshman Bjorn Seeliger (18.91). Florida Freshman Adam Chaney followed in 18.98, followed by Virginia Tech freshman Youssef Ramadan (19.08).

Michigan senior Gus Borges took the sixth seed in 19.12, followed by Texas junior Daniel Krueger (19.13) and Pitt senior Blaise Vera (19.17).

With Cal having the two of the top three seeds again, this could be a huge point swing for the Cal Golden Bears as they try to push past Texas. But of course anything can happen in the 50 free.

Event 5  Men 50 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 17.63  3/22/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
         Meet: M 17.63  3/22/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
     American: A 17.63  3/22/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
   U. S. Open: O 17.63  3/22/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
         Pool: P 18.75  2/22/2018 Ryan Held, NC State
    Name                 Year School               Seed    Prelims        
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Hoffer, Ryan           SR California          18.81      18.43P 
     r:+0.65  9.00         18.43 (9.43)
  2 Downing, Dillon        SO Georgia             18.90      18.88  
     r:+0.63  9.11         18.88 (9.77)
  3 Seeliger, Bjorn        FR California          18.84      18.91  
     r:+0.64  9.10         18.91 (9.81)
  4 Chaney, Adam           FR Florida             18.76      18.98  
     r:+0.64  9.06         18.98 (9.92)
  5 Ramadan, Youssef       FR VT                  19.15      19.08  
     r:+0.57  9.42         19.08 (9.66)
  6 Borges, Gus            SR Michigan            19.31      19.12  
     r:+0.68  9.06        19.12 (10.06)
  7 Krueger, Daniel        JR Texas               19.10      19.13  
     r:+0.70  9.19         19.13 (9.94)
  8 Vera, Blaise           SR Pittsburgh          19.03      19.17  
     r:+0.66  9.31         19.17 (9.86)
 -----------------------------------------------------------------
  9 Curry, Brooks          SO LSU                 18.97      19.19  
     r:+0.55  9.31         19.19 (9.88)
 10 Friese, Eric           SO Florida             19.31      19.20  
     r:+0.64  9.23         19.20 (9.97)
 11 Brownstead, Matt       FR Virginia            18.88      19.21  
     r:+0.63  9.19        19.21 (10.02)
 11 Franzman, Jack         JR Indiana             19.14      19.21  
     r:+0.61  9.23         19.21 (9.98)
 13 Peel, Cam              SO Michigan            19.30      19.34  
     r:+0.64  9.23        19.34 (10.11)
 14 Deryk, Cooper          JR Utah                19.46      19.37  
     r:+0.66  9.30        19.37 (10.07)
 15 Varjasi, Peter         SO Florida St          19.54      19.38  
     r:+0.69  9.22        19.38 (10.16)
 16 Izzo, Giovanni         JR NC State            19.47      19.39  
     r:+0.65  9.38        19.39 (10.01)

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