NCAA Men’s Championships: Destin Lasco Downs Ryan Murphy’s American Record
Generation after generation, the California backstroke group rolls deep. Destin Lasco has long been a big part of that. Saturday’s swim only solidified his place in its lore.
Lasco lowered Ryan Murphy’s NCAA and American record from 2017 with a swim of 1:35.37. It downs the mark of 1:35.73 that Murphy set in 2016. It also downs the U.S. Open and NCAA record set by Hubert Kos of Arizona State last year at 1:35.69.
“It is so hard to explain. Some of my best races I have just gone blank. Seeing that 1:35 low on the board was so satisfying because I was chasing that record for four years,” Lasco said. “It makes it sweeter. It feels like a dream come true. Ryan is a mentor to me every day. I am just so happy I got the record back to Cal. We are known as backstroke-U.”
Lasco, the reigning champion, set the pace in prelims at 1:36.05. Lasco was fifth at the midpoint Saturday night but worked his third 50 to the tune of 23.89. He had the fastest final 50, too, in 24.01.
After winning the 200 IM, Lasco didn’t have a great swim in the 100 backstroke, which helped motivate him.
“Not swimming the way I wanted yesterday, I wanted to come back with a vengeance and show them who Destin Lasco is, and it worked,” he said.
That held off Kos of Arizona State, who went 1:35.90, also under the pool record. Kos was third last year behind a momentum-shifting Cal 1-2. The shoe was on the other foot this year from the Sun Devils. The biggest Arizona State swim was from Owen McDonald, who clocked in at 1:36.63, 1.5 seconds quicker than prelims to go from an outside lane to third. He had been fifth last year.
The Sun Devils are 81 points clear of Florida and 85.5 up on California.
Jonny Marshall of Florida was fourth in 1:37.04. Brendan Burns, the 100 back champ, was seventh. NC State’s Kacper Stokowski finished fifth for the second straight year.
Aidan Stoffle of Auburn went 1:38.36 to win the B final, with Cal’s Keton Jones second.
Team Scores
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 16 1. Arizona St 402 2. Florida 321 3. California 316.5 4. Indiana 263 5. NC State 242 6. Texas 166 7. Tennessee 147 8. Stanford 144 9. Virginia Tech 116 10. Georgia 106 11. Notre Dame 96 12. Auburn 88 13. Louisville 80 14. Ohio St 79 15. Michigan 68.5 16. Texas A&M 65 17. Smu 54 18. Alabama 50 19. Virginia 41 20. Minnesota 40 21. Florida St 34 22. Southern California 24 23. Miami (Fl) 21 24. Missouri 19 24. Arizona 19 26. Towson 17 27. Wisconsin 16 28. Pittsburgh 15 29. Lsu 11 30. UNC 9 31. Penn St 8 32. Brigham Young 7 33. Utah 6 34. Purdue 5 35. GW 3 36. Northwestern 1
Event 16 Men 200 Yard Backstroke
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NCAA: N 1:35.69 3/9/2024 Hubert Kos, ASU
Meet: M 1:35.73 3/26/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
American: A 1:35.73 3/26/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
U. S. Open: O 1:35.69 3/9/2024 Hubert Kos, ASU
Pool: P 1:36.05 3/30/2024 Destin Lasco, California
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
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=== Championship Final ===
1 Lasco, Destin SR California 1:36.05 1:35.37N 20
r:+0.66 22.83 47.47 (24.64)
1:11.36 (23.89) 1:35.37 (24.01)
2 Kos, Hubert SO ASU 1:37.03 1:35.90P 17
r:+0.71 22.50 47.36 (24.86)
1:11.72 (24.36) 1:35.90 (24.18)
3 McDonald, Owen SO ASU 1:38.21 1:36.63 16
r:+0.63 22.81 47.29 (24.48)
1:12.21 (24.92) 1:36.63 (24.42)
4 Marshall, Jonny FR Florida 1:37.84 1:37.04 15
r:+0.76 22.21 46.79 (24.58)
1:11.35 (24.56) 1:37.04 (25.69)
5 Stokowski, Kacper 5Y NC State 1:37.90 1:38.15 14
r:+0.54 22.38 47.34 (24.96)
1:13.10 (25.76) 1:38.15 (25.05)
6 Dunham, Bradley 5Y Georgia 1:37.58 1:38.43 13
r:+0.64 22.86 47.48 (24.62)
1:12.91 (25.43) 1:38.43 (25.52)
7 Burns, Brendan 5Y Indiana 1:38.18 1:38.62 12
r:+0.61 23.37 47.79 (24.42)
1:12.92 (25.13) 1:38.62 (25.70)
8 Janton, Tommy SO Notre Dame 1:38.36 1:40.25 11
r:+0.62 23.23 48.44 (25.21)
1:14.35 (25.91) 1:40.25 (25.90)