NCAA Men’s Championships: Brendan Burns Grabs Top Seed in Tight 100 Backstroke Heats

Brendan Burns -- Photo Courtesy: Luke Jamroz Photography

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NCAA Men’s Championships: Brendan Burns Grabs Top Seed in Tight 100 Backstroke Heats

The unprecedented depth of this year’s NCAA Men’s Championships has been on display in nearly ever event contested thus far, and the same pattern emerged in the 100 backstroke as 12 men broke 45 in prelims, a huge jump from just seven last season. Coming out on top in the early round was Indiana’s Brendan Burns, who clocked a time of 44.36 to edge Adam Chaney of Florida (44.39) by three hundredths. Burns will be competing in two individual events Friday evening after he placed ninth in the 100 fly heats earlier in the session.

Two days after Cal’s Bjorn Seeliger, NC State’s Kacper Stokowski and Chaney swam the three fastest 200 medley relay leadoffs in history, all three swimmers qualified for the 100 back final. Following Chaney in the standings was Stokowski at 44.44, while Seeliger’s 44.58 was good for seventh place, even though he was just 0.22 slower than the top seed in prelims.

Cal’s Destin Lasco (44.48) and Louisville’s Nick Albiero (44.54) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, while Harvard’s Dean Farris returned to a championship final at the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2019 as he qualified sixth in 44.55. Farris was the 2019 NCAA champion in the 100 back and 100 free, and his best time of 43.66 ranks him third all-time behind only Ryan Murphy and Coleman Stewart.

Ohio State’s Hunter Armstrong, who captured a surprising spot at the Tokyo Olympics by finishing second to Murphy in the 100-meter back at last year’s Olympic Trials, finished eighth in 44.72 to find his way into the first NCAA final of his career.

Stanford’s Leon MacAlister, Indiana’s Gabriel Fantoni, Cal’s Daniel Carr and Virginia’s Matthew Menke all had sub-45 performances but found themselves in the B-final, while Virginia Tech’s Forrest Webb and Auburn’s Aidan Stoffle tied for 16th at 45.36, setting up a swim-off for the last scoring position However, that swim-off was called off after Texas’ Alvin Jiang, who was 14th in prelims, scratched the consolation final to focus on the 100 fly and 400 medley relay in the finals session.

Event 12  Men 100 Yard Backstroke
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 43.49  3/25/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
         Meet: M 43.49  3/25/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
     American: A 43.49  3/25/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
   U. S. Open: O 43.49  3/25/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
         Pool: P 43.49  3/25/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
    Name                 Year School               Seed    Prelims        
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Burns, Brendan         JR Indiana                        44.36  
    r:+0.63  21.56        44.36 (22.80)
  2 Chaney, Adam           SO Florida                        44.39  
    r:+0.63  21.16        44.39 (23.23)
  3 Stokowski, Kacper      JR NCSU                           44.44  
    r:+0.62  21.63        44.44 (22.81)
  4 Lasco, Destin          SO California                     44.48  
    r:+0.56  21.70        44.48 (22.78)
  5 Albiero, Nicolas       5Y Louisville                     44.54  
    r:+0.61  21.63        44.54 (22.91)
  6 Farris, Dean           SR Harvard                        44.55  
    r:+0.60  21.25        44.55 (23.30)
  7 Seeliger, Bjorn        SO California                     44.58  
    r:+0.66  20.90        44.58 (23.68)
  8 Armstrong, Hunter      JR Ohio St                        44.72  
    r:+0.68  21.67        44.72 (23.05)
 -----------------------------------------------------------------
  9 MacAlister, Leon       JR Stanford                       44.89  
    r:+0.64  21.54        44.89 (23.35)
 10 Fantoni, Gabriel       5Y Indiana                        44.92  
    r:+0.70  21.78        44.92 (23.14)
 11 Carr, Daniel           5Y California                     44.94  
    r:+0.65  21.43        44.94 (23.51)
 12 Menke, Matthew         JR Alabama                        44.96  
    r:+0.64  21.09        44.96 (23.87)
 13 Mefford, Bryce         5Y California                     45.11  
    r:+0.64  21.74        45.11 (23.37)
 14 Jiang, Alvin           5Y Texas                          45.17  
    r:+0.69  21.79        45.17 (23.38)
 15 Auchinachie, Cameron   5Y Texas                          45.28  
    r:+0.74  21.62        45.28 (23.66)
 16 Webb, Forest           JR VT                             45.36  
    r:+0.66  21.86        45.36 (23.50)
 16 Stoffle, Aidan         JR Auburn                         45.36  
    r:+0.64  21.66        45.36 (23.70)

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