Michigan and Louisville Get Automatic NCAA Bids In 400 Medley Relays at USA Swimming Nationals

Michigan team cheering their swimmers in the 500 freestyle.

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

GREENSBORO – The 400-yard medley relays capped off a thrilling night of competition at the USA Swimming nationals with some great battles for the win in both the women’s and men’s events.

In the women’s medley relay, Michigan and Louisville separated from the pack in the fastest timed-final heat early. Clara Smiddy’s 52.26 gave Michigan a two-second lead after backstroke, and a 59.56 from Louisville’s Andee Cottrell whittled the lead down to a second. Butterfly standout Kelsi Worrell blasted past Zoe Mattingly with a 51.11 split to give Louisville a lead of one second. But Ali DeLoof was not to be outdone, posting a 48.02 on the freestyle leg to catch Louisville’s Andrea Kneppers and give the Wolverines the win with a 3:33.91 to Louisville’s 3:34.35. Michigan beat the NCAA automatic qualifying time, while Louisville missed it by just one tenth of a second. The two teams sit fourth and fifth among college teams so far this season.

UCLA put up a strong time of 3:36.31 for third. SwimMAC Carolina (3:38.15), UCLA’s B team (3:38.57), SwimMAC’s B team (3:39.37), Lakeside (3:39.94) and Indiana (3:40.20) placed in the top eight.

The Louisville men continued to show off their strong relay powers, not only winning the 400 medley relay tonight but going 1-2 in the event. With a 46.19 on the backstroke leg from Grigory Tarasevich, Louisville had a body length lead after 100 yards. Thomas Dahlia kept the lead with a 52.42 on breaststroke, and Pedro Coutinho put together a 46.70 butterfly split to hammer home the lead. A 43.21 from Caryle Blondell sealed the deal, and the Cardinals won with a 3:08.52. That’s under the NCAA automatic qualifying time of 3:09.40.

What’s even more impressive is that Louisville secondary team almost got under the automatic qualifying time with a 3:09.55. Unfortunately for Louisville, only one team per school can race at the NCAA championships. Louisville’s A team now has the fastest time in college swimming this season, while the B team is tied with Florida for the No. 2 spot.

Ohio State University was also strong in the men’s relay, posting a 3:10.04 for third place and fourth in the collegiate standings. Michigan was fourth with a 3:11.26, followed by Indiana (3:13.11), Michigan’s B team (3:13.19), Pittsburgh (3:16.05) and SwimMAC Carolina (3:16.70).

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