NCAA Swimming Notebook: Cal Dominance, Fast-Risers and the 200 Free… Again

mike thomas, men's ncaa swimming championships

Cal senior Mike Thomas -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Editorial content for the 2019 NCAA DI Championship coverage is sponsored by SwimOutlet.com. See full event coverage.

How good has Cal been so far at the men’s NCAA swimming championships? Well, consider this. Through the first two days of competition, a Cal swimmer has finished first or second in every final, championship or consolation, individual or relay.

That’s two individual wins for Andrew Seliskar in the 200 IM and Ryan Hoffer in the 50 free, a victory in the 200 free relay and runner-up finishes for Pawel Sendyk in the 50 free (behind Hoffer), Sean Grieshop in the 500, the 800 free relay and 400 medley relay. And the Golden Bears swept the B-finals on Thursday, with Trenton Julian in the 500 free, Mike Thomas in the 200 IM and Michael Jensen tying Drew Kibler in the 50 free.

Yes, that streak would be snapped in the very first race Friday night, where Cal had no B-finalists in the 400 IM but three A-finalists who finished second, third and fifth. For the night, Cal had eight A-finalists and Seliskar’s national title in the 200 free.

If you’re counting at home, that means Cal has now finished no lower than seventh in every event contested. That’s why the Bears hold a 43-point lead and why, barring some shocking turn of events Saturday, Cal will cruise to its first national title in five years. Some true studs, yes, but unmatched depth.

Dean Farris — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

*Okay, but enough for now about Cal and runaway runner-up Texas. Looking further down the standings, plenty of teams have put up landmark performances for their programs in Austin. Like the Ivy League team that was in seventh after Thursday and is now eighth.

The format of an NCAA championships, where only the top 16 swimmers in the country score points, allows teams with superstar talent to ride one or two individuals to a high finish. That’s Harvard, with superstar junior Dean Farris.

Farris was the headliner when he led off the Crimson’s 800 free relay in 1:29.15, the fastest 200 free in history, but his teammates ended up swimming well enough to take seventh overall. Farris later finished sixth in the 50 free and then won in the 100 back in the second-fastest time in history. His 18.42 split in the 200 free relay propelled Harvard into the championship final.

Harvard enters the final day with a shot at an overall top-10 finish, which Farris admitted was a team goal after his relay leadoff record Wednesday. The last time Harvard finished in the top ten? 1963. Harvard last finished in the top-15 in 1998. Last year, the team was 18th.

*Meanwhile, Virginia scored more points in Wednesdays 800 free relay than the Cavalier managed at last season’s entire meet. Associate head coach Tyler Fenwick was only too happy to point that out after Ryan Baker, Sam Schilling, Joe Clark and Cooper Wozencraft propelled the Cavaliers to an eighth-place finish in the opening relay. That was good for 22 points, up from 19 last year.

The Cavaliers had seven total scoring swims at last year’s meet, none higher than 12th. Ted Schubert finished 14th in the 400 IM and 15th in the 200 fly, Robby Giller took 15th in the 400 IM, Clark ended up 14th in the 100 back and Zach Fong was 12th in the 200 fly. Both the 400 medley and 400 free relays ended up 16th.

Different story in 2019. After the 800 free relay, the Cavaliers had two consolation finals swims Thursday before Brendan Casey became the first Cavalier to qualify for an A-final since head coach Todd DeSorbo’s staff took over in 2017. Virginia also qualified four individuals and one relay for a B-final Friday, and the Cavaliers will head to the final day in 11th place with 72 points.

*Nation’s Capital Swim Club, best known as the club Katie Ledecky grew up swimming for, has 11 swimmers competing at the men’s NCAA championships. Some names you surely know, like 200 IM national champion Seliskar. Carsten Vissering, the runner-up in the 100 breast behind Ian Finnerty, and John Shebat, fourth in Friday’s 100 back, both hail from NCAP.

The full list of NCAP swimmers also includes Auburn’s Spencer Rowe, Harvard’s Grant Goddard, Indiana’s Brandon Hamblin, Michigan’s James Jones, Stanford’s Matthew Hirshberger, Texas’ Sam Pomajevich, the Virginia Tech duo Lane Stone and Blake Manoff.

NCAP coach Pete Morgan gave Swimming World a handwritten list of all NCAP swimmers at the meet and which coach they swam for. He included a 12th name: Wisconsin coach Yuri Suguiyama, who coached for the club (and coached Katie Ledecky) before departing for Cal in 2012. The full handwritten list is below.

nations-capital-swimmers-men-ncaa-2019-1

*The 200 free has become insanely deep. We’ve discussed plenty the Farris relay leadoff and Seliskar’s individual national championship. But looking a little deeper, consider how fast swimmers had to go to make it back.

Cal’s Bryce Mefford finished 17th in prelims in 1:33.06. Last season, that time would have been good enough for ninth in prelims and then to win the B-final at night. Just four years ago, that time would have been good enough for third overall, at a meet where only two men broke 1:33 from a flat start.

This year, not including relay leadoffs 16 broke 1:33, and four swam flat-start times under 1:32. Fourteen swimmers split under 1:32 on the 800 free relay. No event has improved more and more rapidly than the 200 free.

*At least four swimmers at NCAAs this year are the sons of Olympians. Michigan sophomore Gus Borges is the son of four-time Brazilian Olympian Gustavo Borges, who captured four Olympic medals in his career, and Indiana freshman Michael Brineger’s mother is 1976 U.S. Olympian Jennifer Hooker.

The other two Olympic children that we know of both swim for Cal: Trenton Julian and Karl Ardvidsson. Julian’s mother is Kristine Quance-Julian, who swam the 100 breast and 200 IM for the United States at the 1996 Olympics and won gold as a member of the 400 medley relay. Meanwhile, Ardvidsson’s father Par Arvidsson also swam for Cal and won gold for Sweden in the 100 fly at the 1980 Olympics.

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Jonas Stephan Johnson

5 years ago

Because I am a swimmer.