2022 SEC Championships, Day 3 Finals: Kieran Smith Captures 400 IM

Kieran Smith; Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

2022 SEC Championships, Day 3 Finals: Kieran Smith Captures 400 IM

As problems in a swimming postseason go, Florida has some pretty good ones. For one, they’re in a strong position two days into the 2022 SEC Championships despite being without a two-time NCAA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist in Bobby Finke. They can lose the 400 IM NCAA champ and slot in another swimmer capable of winning, as the Gators did Thursday night.

And they have to spend March deciding whether they want Kieran Smith, for his second-best event, to choose between two in which he’s capable of winning a title.

Smith opted for the 400 IM on Thursday instead of the 200 freestyle, promptly winning it and using the final 150 yards to trounce the field. His leadoff leg of the 200 free remains faster than the time used by Matt Sates to win the event Wednesday. And more importantly, the Gators’ lead atop the team standings has grown again, now out near 250 points.

The full event-by-event recap is below.

2022 SEC Championships Links

Men’s team standings

 Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 21                  
 
  1. University of Florida             744   2. Georgia, University of            496
  3. University of Tennessee         483.5   4. University of Alabama             481
  5. Texas A&M University            457.5   6. Auburn University               414.5
  7. Missouri                          344   8. Kentucky, University of           322
  9. Louisiana State University        305  10. South Carolina, University of   221.5

Men’s 400 individual medley

For a while, it looked like Kieran Smith might be in trouble, thanks to a charge by Georgia’s Andrew Abruzzo on breaststroke. But Smith turned on the gets, coming home in a Finke-ian 24.75 to win by nearly four seconds in 3:39.33. It’s an NCAA B cut, but it’s his fastest of the season, improving the third-fastest time in the NCAA this season.

Georgia made its bid to close to gap atop the team standings by going 2-3, Ian Grum nudging Abruzzo by four tenths in 3:43.23. Florida’s Mason Laur was fourth in 4:34.84, slower than prelims. Florida finished ninth and 10th in the B final but lost points when Nicholas Hernandez-Tome was disqualified.

Event 17  Men 400 Yard IM
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 3:33.42  3/24/2017 Chase Kalisz, Georgia
          SEC: S 3:33.42  3/24/2017 Chase Kalisz, Georgia
     SEC Meet: M 3:35.76  2/16/2018 Hugo Gonzalez, Auburn
         Pool: P 3:36.21  2/16/2017 Chase Kalisz, Georgia
                 3:39.16  A
                 3:51.46  B
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Smith, Kieran S  SR Florida-FL        3:43.26    3:39.33 B       32  
    r:+0.70  23.17        50.13 (26.96)
        1:18.68 (28.55)     1:45.80 (27.12)
        2:16.31 (30.51)     2:48.05 (31.74)
        3:14.58 (26.53)     3:39.33 (24.75)
  2 Grum, Ian P      JR Georgia-GA        3:44.61    3:43.23 B       28  
    r:+0.75  23.39        50.77 (27.38)
        1:18.66 (27.89)     1:46.07 (27.41)
        2:18.91 (32.84)     2:51.61 (32.70)
        3:17.88 (26.27)     3:43.23 (25.35)
  3 Abruzzo, Andrew  SR Georgia-GA        3:43.85    3:43.65 B       27  
    r:+0.75  23.44        50.72 (27.28)
        1:19.41 (28.69)     1:47.60 (28.19)
        2:19.34 (31.74)     2:52.02 (32.68)
        3:18.28 (26.26)     3:43.65 (25.37)
  4 Laur, Mason A    FR Florida-FL        3:43.40    3:43.84 B       26  
    r:+0.64  23.66        51.06 (27.40)
        1:19.61 (28.55)     1:47.31 (27.70)
        2:18.60 (31.29)     2:51.29 (32.69)
        3:18.23 (26.94)     3:43.84 (25.61)
  5 Erzen, Anze F    JR Texas A&M-GU      3:45.21    3:45.42 B       25  
    r:+0.71  23.55        51.09 (27.54)
        1:20.15 (29.06)     1:48.43 (28.28)
        2:20.32 (31.89)     2:52.74 (32.42)
        3:20.61 (27.87)     3:45.42 (24.81)
  6 Rathle, Jacques  FR Auburn-SE         3:45.93    3:45.92 B       24  
    r:+0.70  23.93        51.37 (27.44)
        1:20.32 (28.95)     1:48.73 (28.41)
        2:20.17 (31.44)     2:52.86 (32.69)
        3:19.63 (26.77)     3:45.92 (26.29)
  7 Rosely, Zane T   SO Kentucky-KY       3:45.85    3:46.35 B       23  
    r:+0.59  23.84        50.92 (27.08)
        1:20.00 (29.08)     1:48.38 (28.38)
        2:20.53 (32.15)     2:53.14 (32.61)
        3:20.51 (27.37)     3:46.35 (25.84)
  8 Perera, Nichola  SR Alabama-SE        3:45.47    3:47.78 B       22  
    r:+0.61  23.83        51.13 (27.30)
        1:20.27 (29.14)     1:48.62 (28.35)
        2:19.99 (31.37)     2:52.48 (32.49)
        3:20.22 (27.74)     3:47.78 (27.56)

Men’s 100 butterfly

The 100 fly is often the collision of technique and speed, given the distance and discipline. Chalk one up on the technique side.

Luca Urlando, the 200 fly artisan, worked his first 50 and then shed the chasers with his underwaters on the second 50 to win in 44.41. That’s an NCAA A cut, the fastest time in the nation and a pool record. It’s within two tenths of Caeleb Dressel’s meet record from 2017.

Urlando was second at 20.47, beaten by Eric Friese to the midway point. (Not a shock: Friese turned in a 19.64 split on the 200 medley relay on Tuesday.) But Urlando had much more coming home to get the victory. Friese was also under the pool record and earned an A cut of 44.86. Third was 50 free champ Jordan Crooks in 45.33. Danny Kovac of Missouri was fourth in 45.48.

Event 19  Men 100 Yard Butterfly
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 42.80  3/23/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
          SEC: S 42.80  3/23/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
     SEC Meet: M 44.21  2/18/2017 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
         Pool: P 44.87  2/16/2017 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
                 44.96  A
                 47.43  B
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Urlando, Luca R  SO Georgia-GA          45.32      44.41PA       32  
     r:+0.67  9.46        20.47 (11.01)
          32.15 (11.68)       44.41 (12.26)
  2 Friese, Eric E   JR Florida-FL          45.44      44.86PA       28  
     r:+0.64  9.07        20.19 (11.12)
          32.31 (12.12)       44.86 (12.55)
  3 Crooks, Jordan   FR Tennessee-SE        45.60      45.33 B       27  
     r:+0.64  9.39        20.61 (11.22)
          32.62 (12.01)       45.33 (12.71)
  4 Kovac, Danny D   SR Missouri-MV         45.71      45.48 B       26  
     r:+0.62  9.57        20.98 (11.41)
          33.10 (12.12)       45.48 (12.38)
  5 Kammann, Bjoern     Tennessee-SE        45.93      45.57 B       25  
     r:+0.69  9.40        20.99 (11.59)
          33.25 (12.26)       45.57 (12.32)
  6 Mota, Kayky M    SR Tennessee-SE        45.74      45.83 B       24  
     r:+0.63  9.42        20.97 (11.55)
          33.04 (12.07)       45.83 (12.79)
  7 Sesvold, Tyler   SR Alabama-SE          46.06      46.18 B       23  
     r:+0.64  9.88        21.44 (11.56)
          33.93 (12.49)       46.18 (12.25)
  8 Crawford, Jace   SO Florida-FL          45.92      46.45 B       22  
     r:+0.64  9.98        21.82 (11.84)
          33.97 (12.15)       46.45 (12.48)

Men’s 200 freestyle

Back and forth they went in the men’s 200 free, until Matt Sates took control in the final 75 yards. Sates doubled up on titles to go with his 500 free crown, going 1:31.16. That’s a Tennessee pool record and an NCAA A cut. Second was Brooks Curry, who showed the legs late to surge to 1:31.39, also an A cut. Trey Freeman roared up to third in 1:32.20.

The reigning NCAA 500 free champ, Jake Magahey, was fourth. Jack Dahlgren of Missouri set the early pace but faded to fifth in 1:32.34.

For the record, the fastest 200 free time of the week belongs to Kieran Smith, who led off the 800 free relay in 1:30.42. That’ll play into the calculations for NCAAs.

Event 21  Men 200 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:29.15  3/27/2019 Dean Farris, Harvard
          SEC: S 1:29.48  2/23/2021 Kieran Smith, Florida
     SEC Meet: M 1:29.48  2/22/2021 Kieran Smith, Florida
         Pool: P 1:31.65  12/5/2013 Joao De Lucca, Louisville
                 1:32.05  A
                 1:36.32  B
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Sates, Matthew   FR Georgia-GA        1:32.59    1:31.16PA       32  
    r:+0.63  21.48        44.61 (23.13)
        1:07.77 (23.16)     1:31.16 (23.39)
  2 Curry, Brooks V  JR LSU-LA            1:33.49    1:31.39PA       28  
    r:+0.62  21.31        44.75 (23.44)
        1:08.22 (23.47)     1:31.39 (23.17)
  3 Freeman, Trey P  JR Florida-FL        1:33.04    1:32.20 B       27  
    r:+0.66  21.72        45.38 (23.66)
        1:09.00 (23.62)     1:32.20 (23.20)
  4 Magahey, Jake M  SO Georgia-GA        1:33.37    1:32.24 B       26  
    r:+0.71  21.88        45.09 (23.21)
        1:08.66 (23.57)     1:32.24 (23.58)
  5 Dahlgren, Jack   SR Missouri-MV       1:32.84    1:32.34 B       25  
    r:+0.63  21.09        44.01 (22.92)
        1:07.66 (23.65)     1:32.34 (24.68)
  6 Alves, Kaique K  FR Alabama-SE        1:33.65    1:33.33 B       24  
    r:+0.67  21.57        45.25 (23.68)
        1:09.26 (24.01)     1:33.33 (24.07)
  7 Bonson, Michael  SO Auburn-SE         1:33.97    1:34.64 B       23  
    r:+0.71  21.63        45.24 (23.61)
        1:09.89 (24.65)     1:34.64 (24.75)
  8 Mestre, Alfonso  JR Florida-FL        1:34.02    1:34.66 B       22  
    r:+0.68  22.10        46.19 (24.09)
        1:10.87 (24.68)     1:34.66 (23.79)

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