{"id":466720,"date":"2021-03-25T15:28:29","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T22:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=466720"},"modified":"2021-03-25T20:13:05","modified_gmt":"2021-03-26T03:13:05","slug":"cal-golden-bears-throw-down-114-3-to-win-200-free-relay-hoffer-splits-18-06","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/cal-golden-bears-throw-down-114-3-to-win-200-free-relay-hoffer-splits-18-06\/","title":{"rendered":"Cal Golden Bears Get Night Started With 1:14.3 to Win 200 Free Relay; Hoffer Splits 18.06"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cal Golden Bears threw down a 1:14.36 in the 200 freestyle relay to win the 2021 NCAA title in a nail-biting finish over the Florida Gators, who were charging hard on the anchor leg. The team of Bjorn Seeliger\u00a0<\/strong>(18.72),\u00a0Ryan Hoffer<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(18.06),\u00a0Daniel Carr <\/strong>(18.51) and Nate Biondi\u00a0<\/strong>(19.07) were under NCAA record pace that Auburn set 12 years ago of 1:14.08 that will stand for another year.<\/p>\n

Florida nearly ran down Biondi on the anchor leg with the team of\u00a0Adam Chaney\u00a0<\/strong>(18.81),\u00a0Will Davis\u00a0<\/strong>(18.59),\u00a0Kieran Smith\u00a0<\/strong>(18.70) and\u00a0Eric Friese\u00a0<\/strong>(18.38) as the Gators are in a fight for third place as a team behind Cal and Texas. Florida’s Smith has a short recovery time before he gets in the final of the 500 free where he will chase after his own American record. It was nearly the closest winning margin for a team as Auburn still holds that distinction from winning by 0.07 over Cal in 2000.<\/p>\n

“For (my dad Matt Biondi) and all of our Cal alumni, the day before this meet, they made sure to let us know their support and that they were going to be watching,” Biondi said. “My back foot was shaking quite a bit, but hats off to these guys. Daniel Carr is a frequent flyer of these podiums. Bjorn has impacted our team right from the get-go, and of course, Ryan Hoffer, that was such an incredible swim.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Biondi is notably the first in his family to win an NCAA title in the 200 free relay due to this event being added to the lineup in 1989 after Matt Biondi finished his career.<\/p>\n

We asked the question earlier this year if Auburn’s 2009 record was in danger of ever falling<\/a>, and it was in danger for 150 yards as the Bears were ahead of pace by six tenths. Cal’s relay tonight is the fastest in textile but still not faster than Auburn’s 1:14.08.<\/p>\n

More than a full decade has passed since the shiny suits were outlawed in the sport of swimming, and only one NCAA record still stands from 2009 \u2013\u00a0 the men\u2019s 200 free relay.<\/em><\/p>\n

The record-setting swim was done by Auburn\u2019s quartet of\u00a0Jakob Andkjaer\u00a0<\/strong>(18.89),\u00a0Gideon Louw\u00a0<\/strong>(18.33),\u00a0Kohlton Norys\u00a0<\/strong>(18.67) and\u00a0Matt Targett\u00a0<\/strong>(18.19) of the legendary Auburn sprint program, who were coached by Hall of Fame coach\u00a0Richard Quick<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and sprint guru\u00a0Brett Hawke<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Alabama (1:15.62) and Georgia (1:15.70) placed third and fourth from the penultimate heat as the Tide’s team of\u00a0Matt King<\/strong> (18.99),\u00a0Sam Disette\u00a0<\/strong>(18.91),\u00a0Jonathan Berneburg\u00a0<\/strong>(18.79) and\u00a0Colton Stogner\u00a0<\/strong>(18.93) had a big drop from SECs. Georgia’s team of\u00a0Dillon Downing\u00a0<\/strong>(18.97),\u00a0Javier Acevedo\u00a0<\/strong>(18.61),\u00a0Jake Magahey<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(18.98) and\u00a0Luca Urlando\u00a0<\/strong>(19.14) finished in fourth place for the Bulldogs.<\/p>\n

Texas A&M (1:15.79), Texas (1:15.82), Virginia (1:16.01) and NC State (1:16.24) also placed in the top eight to pick up All-American honors.<\/p>\n

The quickest splits outside the top four came from Virginia’s August Lamb\u00a0<\/strong>(18.61), Purdue’s\u00a0Nikola Acin\u00a0<\/strong>(18.64), Penn State’s\u00a0Will Roberson\u00a0<\/strong>(18.78) and Texas’\u00a0Alvin Jiang\u00a0<\/strong>(18.78).<\/p>\n