NCAA Men’s Championships: Brendan Burns Repeats in 100 Backstroke With Outside Smoke; ‘Why I Came Back’

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Outside smoke in lane 1, Brendan Burns is an NCAA champion once again.

The Indiana swimmer returned for his fifth year with some unfinished business and claimed the 100-yard backstroke title in 43.86 – a repeat title that was always possible but seemed unlikely with his lane placement.

Burns jumped out of the pool and let loose a roar.

“I was kind of caught up in the moment,” Burns said. “It was so awesome having our entire team there, our fans and my entire family. It was pure caught-up-in-the-moment. The swim was great. The year has been rocky personally, looking myself in the mirror and realizing my own journey in the sport is coming to an end a lot sooner than I would have liked. That has been very humbling, but to have moments like this with my teammates is a reminder of why I came back.”

Burns broke Ryan Murphy‘s pool record in the event (43.99) and snagged another NCAA title with a late push from lane 1 and a stellar last push-off on the final 25.

“If you have a lane, you have a chance,” Burns said. “It is something that all swimmers young and old can attest to. That is what I had in me. My prelims swim was pretty terrible and I just flushed that out, and I knew I had (that title swim) in me. I just wanted to get my hand on the wall for my team. Being in lane 1 helped me focus on my own race and not get caught up in what was going on. Some of those guys are going to win Olympic medals this summer, but from lane 1, I just wanted to focus on the race that I had.”

NC State fifth-year Kacper Stokowski was second at 43.89, just three hundredths behind Burns.

Florida senior Adam Chaney led at the halfway point and ended up third in 43.99.

Arizona State sophomore Hubert Kos was fourth (44.13), followed by Cal senior Destin Lasco (44.22), who was the top seed coming into finals.

Arizona State sophomore Owen McDonald was sixth (44.46), followed by Georgia sophomore Ruard Van Renen (44.75) and Florida freshman Jonny Marshall (44.86).

It was Burns’ third overall title after winning the 200 fly in 2022.

Saturday he will do a grueling double with the 200 fly and 200 back.

“I am definitely doing both 200s. I switched this year because one of my process-oriented goals was leaving no stone unturned. This was something I had never tried before and I just wanted to leave it out there for my team. We have a great opportunity to move up in the team standings and I have a really big responsibility to my teammates to make sure I do what I am capable of. I am really excited about that opportunity.”

Event 12  Men 100 Yard Backstroke
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 43.35  3/25/2022 Luca Urlando, Georgia
         Meet: M 43.35  3/25/2022 Luca Urlando, Georgia
     American: A 43.35  3/25/2022 Luca Urlando, Georgia
   U. S. Open: O 43.35  3/25/2022 Luca Urlando, Georgia
         Pool: P 43.99  3/24/2017 Ryan Murphy, California
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Final ===                        
 
  1 Burns, Brendan         5Y Indiana             44.51      43.86P  20  
    r:+0.61  10.28        21.26 (10.98)
          32.57 (11.31)       43.86 (11.29)
  2 Stokowski, Kacper      5Y NC State            44.08      43.89P  17  
    r:+0.67  10.32        21.40 (11.08)
          32.67 (11.27)       43.89 (11.22)
  3 Chaney, Adam           SR Florida             44.24      43.99P  16  
    r:+0.67  10.15        21.09 (10.94)
          32.32 (11.23)       43.99 (11.67)
  4 Kos, Hubert            SO ASU                 44.39      44.13   15  
    r:+0.56  10.36        21.20 (10.84)
          32.63 (11.43)       44.13 (11.50)
  5 Lasco, Destin          SR California          44.00      44.22   14  
    r:+0.65  10.42        21.48 (11.06)
          32.84 (11.36)       44.22 (11.38)
  6 McDonald, Owen         SO ASU                 44.25      44.46   13  
    r:+0.52  10.36        21.48 (11.12)
          33.03 (11.55)       44.46 (11.43)
  7 Van Renen, Ruard       SO Georgia             44.21      44.75   12  
    r:+0.61  10.37        21.52 (11.15)
          32.91 (11.39)       44.75 (11.84)
  8 Marshall, Jonny        FR Florida             44.52      44.86   11  
    r:+0.65  10.36        21.42 (11.06)
          33.05 (11.63)       44.86 (11.81)
 
                        === Consolation Final ===                        
 
  9 Modglin, Will          FR Texas               44.58      44.20    9  
    r:+0.66  10.27        21.18 (10.91)
          32.71 (11.53)       44.20 (11.49)
 10 Hayes, Aiden           JR NC State            45.11      44.55    7  
    r:+0.53  10.30        21.60 (11.30)
          33.27 (11.67)       44.55 (11.28)
 11 Janton, Tommy          SO Notre Dame          44.91      44.75    6  
    r:+0.61  10.39        21.35 (10.96)
          32.97 (11.62)       44.75 (11.78)
 12 Dolan, Jack            5Y ASU                 44.86      44.79    5  
    r:+0.67  10.48        21.62 (11.14)
          33.14 (11.52)       44.79 (11.65)
 13 Seeliger, Bjorn        SR California          44.80      44.81    4  
    r:+0.81  10.22        21.13 (10.91)
          32.94 (11.81)       44.81 (11.87)
 14 Morley, Cooper         SO Penn St             45.12      45.28    3  
    r:+0.63  10.67        21.82 (11.15)
          33.59 (11.77)       45.28 (11.69)
 15 Stoffle, Aidan         5Y Auburn              45.01      45.30    2  
    r:+0.55  10.41        21.43 (11.02)
          33.11 (11.68)       45.30 (12.19)
 16 Buff, Scotty           FR Florida             45.20      45.33    1  
    r:+0.59  10.53        21.72 (11.19)
          33.35 (11.63)       45.33 (11.98)
 
                 Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 12                  
 
  1. Arizona St                        303   2. Florida                           272
  3. California                      252.5   4. Indiana                           178
  5. NC State                          174   6. Texas                             136
  7. Tennessee                         106   8. Stanford                          101
  9. Virginia Tech                      92  10. Georgia                            88
 11. Auburn                             72  12. Notre Dame                         61
 13. Michigan                         60.5  14. Louisville                         57
 15. Ohio St                            53  16. Alabama                            50
 17. Texas A&M                          43  18. Smu                                41
 19. Virginia                           27  20. Florida St                         24
 21. Missouri                           19  22. Towson                             17
 22. Minnesota                          17  24. Wisconsin                          16
 25. Arizona                            15  25. Miami (Fl)                         15
 27. Brigham Young                       7  28. Utah                                6
 28. Lsu                                 6  28. Penn St                             6
 31. Purdue                              5  32. GW                                  3
 33. UNC                                 2

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