NCAA Men’s Swimming: #3 Arizona Beats #2 Stanford on Final Relay

Stanford, CA – Senior Ryk Neethling (Bloemfontein, South Africa/Grey HS) won three events and No. 3 Arizona pulled out the 400 freestyle relay to defeat No. 2 Stanford 124-119 Saturday afternoon at deGuerre Pool. Stanford falls to 3-3 overall on the season and 1-1 in the Pac-10. The Wildcats improve to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-10.

Stanford jumped out on top by taking the 400 medley relay, but Neethling won the 1000 free and the 200 free back-to-back to give the Wildcats the lead. Neethling broke the pool record in his come-from-behind win over Stanford junior Adam Messner (Ann Arbor, MI/Dexter HS) in the 200, taking the lead in the last 50 yards. Both posted NCAA automatic qualifying times. Neethling, the 1999 NCAA Swimmer of the Year, also won the 500 free for Arizona.

Cardinal junior Steven Brown (Reno, NV/Reno HS) won the 200 individual medley to give Stanford a brief lead, but the Wildcats quickly regained the advantage. For Stanford, freshman Randall Bal (Fair Oaks, CA/Bella Vista HS) won the 200 backstroke to narrow the gap, but the Wildcats still led 110-97 going into the 200 breaststroke, the second-to-last event. Stanford junior Rob Canales (San Jose, CA/Bellarmine Prep) led a one-two-three sweep in the 200 breaststroke to tie the meet at 113, but Arizona pulled out the 400 free relay to conclude the meet.

Stanford returns to action at deGuerre Pool Tuesday, hosting Pacific at 1:00 p.m.

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