Pac-12 Men’s Championships, Day 2 Finals: Leon Marchand Blasts NCAA Record in 500 Free; ASU Sweeps the Night

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Pac-12 Men’s Championships, Day 2 Finals: Leon Marchand Sets NCAA Record in 500 Free

Leon Marchand is a great many things. You would not suspect that a distance swimmer is among them, not when he arrived at Arizona State and not on the international stage for France.

And yet … no man in NCAA history has covered 500 yards of freestyle faster than Marchand.

Instead of swimming the Night 2 event at the Pac-12 Men’s Championships in which he holds an NCAA record, Marchand simply went out and set another one in the 500 free, going 4:06.18. It kicks off what for all the world looks set to be a rampage by Arizona State at the final Pac-12 Championships.

All the action from the first full night sessions at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.

Pac-12 Men’s Championships Team Scores

Combined Team Scores - Through Event 9                      
  1. Arizona State University          401   2. Stanford University             304.5
  3. University of California-Berk     237   4. University of Arizona           224.5
  5. University of Southern Calif      221   6. University of Utah                111

500 freestyle

It’s the first full night and the superlatives are running low on Leon Marchand already. He had set the Pac-12 record at 4:07.81 last year, and Thursday’s swim reinforced it. He was the second seed out of the morning in 4:12.56 and was more than six seconds quicker at night. His time of 4:06.18 downs the 4:06.32 that Kieran Smith set pre-pandemic at the 2020 SEC Championships. (You can consider the caveat of if Smith would’ve gone quick at NCAAs, certainly).

By hundreds for Marchand

First – 46.32
Second – 49.53
Third – 49.96
Fourth – 49.85
Fifth – 50.52

A quick accounting: He’s now part of the NCAA record-setting 200 medley relay, holds the record in the 400 IM, the 200 IM and the 200 breaststroke. And he’s still got two more NCAAs left in his career.

Teammate Zalan Sarkany, the top seed from prelims, was under the pool record (Trenton Julian of Cal in 2021) to grab silver in 4:09.19. Daniel Matheson was fourth for the Sun Devils, with Julian Hill fifth.

Rex Maruer of Stanford grabbed the bronze medal.

Beyond the record, it was a slow A final. Keaton Jones went 4:13.73 to win the B final, which would’ve slotted him behind Maurer in the A final had he not gone 4:19 in the morning. Krzysztof Chmielewski of USC also missed the top eight and was three seconds faster at night in 4:14.00, which would’ve been fourth.

Event 6  Men 500 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 4:06.32  2/19/2020 Kieran Smith, Florida
       PAC-12: M 4:07.81  2023      Leon Marchand, ASU
 PAC-12 Champ: P 4:09.49  2021      Trenton Julian, CAL
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Marchand, Leon         JR ASU               4:12.56    4:06.18N  20  
                 22.04        46.32 (24.28)
        1:10.83 (24.51)     1:35.85 (25.02)
        2:01.08 (25.23)     2:25.81 (24.73)
        2:50.62 (24.81)     3:15.66 (25.04)
        3:41.42 (25.76)     4:06.18 (24.76)
  2 Sarkany, Zalan         SO ASU               4:12.28    4:09.19P  17  
                 22.23        46.75 (24.52)
        1:11.64 (24.89)     1:36.94 (25.30)
        2:02.13 (25.19)     2:27.51 (25.38)
        2:53.22 (25.71)     3:18.78 (25.56)
        3:44.34 (25.56)     4:09.19 (24.85)
  3 Maurer, Rex            FR STAN              4:15.62    4:12.58   16  
                 23.07        48.23 (25.16)
        1:13.74 (25.51)     1:39.41 (25.67)
        2:05.04 (25.63)     2:30.75 (25.71)
        2:56.46 (25.71)     3:22.20 (25.74)
        3:47.84 (25.64)     4:12.58 (24.74)
  4 Matheson, Daniel       JR ASU               4:16.40    4:14.81   15  
                 23.52        48.90 (25.38)
        1:14.82 (25.92)     1:40.81 (25.99)
        2:06.86 (26.05)     2:32.95 (26.09)
        2:58.99 (26.04)     3:24.78 (25.79)
        3:50.30 (25.52)     4:14.81 (24.51)
  5 Hill, Julian           SR ASU               4:15.79    4:15.26   14  
                 22.99        48.38 (25.39)
        1:14.26 (25.88)     1:40.14 (25.88)
        2:06.49 (26.35)     2:32.89 (26.40)
        2:58.85 (25.96)     3:24.65 (25.80)
        3:50.41 (25.76)     4:15.26 (24.85)
  6 Kopp, Tyler            SR CAL               4:14.96    4:15.31   13  
                 23.68        49.22 (25.54)
        1:14.84 (25.62)     1:40.63 (25.79)
        2:06.66 (26.03)     2:32.77 (26.11)
        2:59.10 (26.33)     3:25.30 (26.20)
        3:50.78 (25.48)     4:15.31 (24.53)
  7 McFadden, Henry        FR STAN              4:16.61    4:18.35   12  
                 23.53        48.84 (25.31)
        1:14.80 (25.96)     1:41.10 (26.30)
        2:07.43 (26.33)     2:33.84 (26.41)
        3:00.21 (26.37)     3:26.51 (26.30)
        3:52.77 (26.26)     4:18.35 (25.58)
  8 Forst, Preston         SR STAN              4:16.31    4:20.93   11  
                 23.70        49.36 (25.66)
        1:15.37 (26.01)     1:41.73 (26.36)
        2:08.02 (26.29)     2:34.36 (26.34)
        3:00.83 (26.47)     3:27.57 (26.74)
        3:54.54 (26.97)     4:20.93 (26.39)

200 individual medley

Leon Marchand’s presence was deeply missed by Arizona State in the 200 IM.

Nah, just kidding. The Sun Devils swept the podium and added a fifth-place finish for good measure, Hubert Kos earning gold in 1:38.77. He bested teammate Owen McDonald, who had led the way out of prelims, for the win. McDonald secured silver in 1:39.35.

David Schlicht cleaned up the bronze medal in 1:41.68, well clear of Stanford’s Rick Mihm. Cale Martter was fifth for Arizona State.

Of note in the B final was Ron Polonsky, who ripped a time of 1:41.25 that would’ve bene good for bronze. But he was locked out of the A final with a 1:43.98 in prelims.

 Event 7  Men 200 Yard IM
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:36.34  3/23/2023 Leon Marchand, Arizona State
       PAC-12: M 1:36.34  2023      Leon Marchand, ASU
 PAC-12 Champ: P 1:37.81  3/2/2023  Leon Marchand, ASU
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Kos, Hubert            SO ASU               1:41.33    1:38.77   20  
                 20.42        44.53 (24.11)
        1:14.15 (29.62)     1:38.77 (24.62)
  2 McDonald, Owen         SO ASU               1:40.57    1:39.35   17  
                 21.10        45.41 (24.31)
        1:15.36 (29.95)     1:39.35 (23.99)
  3 Schlicht, David        SR ASU               1:42.02    1:41.68   16  
                 22.18        48.10 (25.92)
        1:17.02 (28.92)     1:41.68 (24.66)
  4 Mihm, Rick             SR STAN              1:42.69    1:42.10   15  
                 22.48        48.14 (25.66)
        1:17.37 (29.23)     1:42.10 (24.73)
  5 Martter, Cale          SO ASU               1:43.36    1:42.28   14  
                 22.37        48.55 (26.18)
        1:17.35 (28.80)     1:42.28 (24.93)
  6 Holmes, Gibson         FR STAN              1:43.74    1:43.40   13  
                 22.62        47.91 (25.29)
        1:18.06 (30.15)     1:43.40 (25.34)
  7 Swift, Sean            JR CAL               1:43.88    1:43.74   12  
                 22.80        49.23 (26.43)
        1:18.61 (29.38)     1:43.74 (25.13)
  8 Maurer, Luke           SR STAN              1:43.86    1:45.47   11  
                 22.62        48.66 (26.04)
        1:19.64 (30.98)     1:45.47 (25.83)

50 freestyle

Add another accolade for Arizona State, and three more medals. Jack Dolan won the mini ASU match race that was the final of the 50 free by going 18.61 seconds. His time took down the meet record that has stood since 2014 in the hands of Brad Tandy of Arizona (18.80).

Ilya Kharun was a shade slower than in the morning to earn silver in 18.84. Jonny Kulow was the only other one to break 19 seconds in 18.92. Tommy Palmer of Arizona finished fourth.

Arizona State also finished seventh and eighth thanks to Cam Peel and Patrick Sammon, respectively.

Rafael Gu of Stanford won the B final in 19.36, which would’ve been fifth. Stanford took the top three spots in the B final and had Jonathan Tan finish fifth.

Event 8  Men 50 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 17.63  3/22/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
       PAC-12: M 18.27  2022      Bjorn Seeinger, CAL
 PAC-12 Champ: P 18.80  2014      Brad Tandy, ARIZ
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Dolan, Jack            SR ASU                 18.94      18.61P  20  
                  8.98         18.61 (9.63)
  2 Kharun, Ilya           FR ASU                 18.82      18.84   17  
                  9.32         18.84 (9.52)
  3 Kulow, Jonny           SO ASU                 19.17      18.92   16  
                  9.13         18.92 (9.79)
  4 Palmer, Tommy          SO ARIZ                19.30      19.08   15  
                  9.19         19.08 (9.89)
  5 Tan, Jonathan          FR STAN                19.35      19.40   14  
                  9.26        19.40 (10.14)
  6 Selin, Artem           JR USC                 19.17      19.41   13  
                  9.26        19.41 (10.15)
  7 Peel, Cam              SR ASU                 19.30      19.43   12  
                  9.22        19.43 (10.21)
  8 Sammon, Patrick        JR ASU                 19.36      19.55   11  
                  9.48        19.55 (10.07)

200 freestyle relay

With their performance in the 50 free, the only battle for Arizona State in the 200 free relay was against legality in their relay pickups. That set, they coasted to victory and a pool record in 1:14.59, trimming .05 off a season-best time. Cam Peel, Jack Dolan, Ilya Kharun and Jonny Kulow comprised the team. Peel led off in 19.23, quicker than the individual event. The others were in the 18-mids.

Stanford was second in 1:15.68, with Jonathan Tan leading off in 19.31. Arizona finished third in 1:15.97, an NCAA A cut. California was fourth in 1:16.84, though the Golden Bears already have an A cut this year.

Event 9  Men 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
==================================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:13.35  3/23/2023 Florida
                          J. Liendo, A. Chaney, E. Friese, M. McDuff
       PAC-12: M 1:13.82  2023      Univ of California, Berkeley, CAL
                          Seeliger, Alexy, Bell, Lascoi
 PAC-12 Champ: P 1:15.00  2022      Univ of California, Berkeley
                          Seelinger, Alexy, Carr, Peng
    School                                 Seed     Finals Points 
==================================================================================
  1 ASU  'A'                            1:14.64    1:14.59P  40  
     1) Peel, Cam SR                  2) Dolan, Jack SR               
     3) Kharun, Ilya FR               4) Kulow, Jonny SO              
                 19.23        37.58 (18.35)
          56.14 (18.56)     1:14.59 (18.45)
  2 STAN  'A'                           1:16.75    1:15.68   34  
     1) Tan, Jonathan FR              2) Minakov, Andrei JR           
     3) Gu, Rafael SO                 4) Voss, Avery JR               
                 19.31        38.11 (18.80)
          56.93 (18.82)     1:15.68 (18.75)
  3 ARIZ  'A'                           1:17.04    1:15.97   32  
     1) Palmer, Tommy SO              2) Miller, Seth SR              
     3) Donovan, Jack JR              4) Daleiden Ciuferri, Ralph SO  
                 19.10        38.06 (18.96)
          56.95 (18.89)     1:15.97 (19.02)
  4 CAL  'A'                            1:15.55    1:16.84   30  
     1) Hanson, Robin JR              2) Jones, Roman FR              
     3) Crews, Kai JR                 4) Hatton, Colby SO             
                 19.67        38.53 (18.86)
          57.68 (19.15)     1:16.84 (19.16)
  5 USC  'A'                            1:18.11    1:18.00   28  
     1) Selin, Artem JR               2) Parker, Mateo JR             
     3) Syrkin, Danny SR              4) Makrygiannis, Vaggelis JR    
                 19.48        38.86 (19.38)
          58.55 (19.69)     1:18.00 (19.45)
  6 UTAH  'A'                           1:19.37    1:19.20   26  
     1) Woodall, Will FR              2) Horner, Jaek GS              
     3) VanBrocklin, Evan SO          4) Stachelek, Davis SO          
                 19.92        39.45 (19.53)
          59.30 (19.85)     1:19.20 (19.90)

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