{"id":501461,"date":"2022-03-26T08:01:52","date_gmt":"2022-03-26T15:01:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=501461"},"modified":"2022-03-26T08:01:52","modified_gmt":"2022-03-26T15:01:52","slug":"2022-ncaa-mens-championship-penns-matt-fallon-charges-to-200-breaststroke-top-seed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/2022-ncaa-mens-championship-penns-matt-fallon-charges-to-200-breaststroke-top-seed\/","title":{"rendered":"2022 NCAA Men’s Championship: Penn’s Matt Fallon Charges to 200 Breaststroke Top Seed"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2022 NCAA Men\u2019s Division I Swimming and Diving Championships continued with the 200-yard breaststroke finals from McAuley Aquatic Center on the campus of Georgia Tech in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

Minnesota\u2019s Max McHugh<\/strong> is the defending champion in the event and was coming off of a 100-yard breaststroke championship on Friday.<\/p>\n

He is aiming to be the first to earn repeat titles in both breaststroke events since Kevin Cordes<\/strong> did so in 2013 and 2014. If he wins, McHugh would be the sixth swimmer in history to repeat in both breaststroke events.<\/p>\n

From 2001-04 Texas\u2019 Brendan Hansen<\/strong> swept all four titles in both breaststroke events. Stanford\u2019s John Moffe<\/strong>t won both in 1984 and 1985, while SMU\u2019s Steve<\/strong> Lundquist<\/strong> did the same in 1981 and 1982 and Stanford\u2019s Brian Job<\/strong> accomplished the feat in 1970-71.<\/p>\n

In the sixth prelims heat, Penn\u2019s Matt Fallon<\/strong> clicked into a higher gear on the back half of the race to pull away from the field and touch the wall in 1:49.03, ahead of Virginia Tech\u2019s Carles Coll Marti<\/strong> (1:51.19). It was an extremely strong move and it will be interesting to see how that plays out in the finals if he keeps the same race strategy.<\/p>\n

In the final prelims heat, McHugh led at the halfway point. Arizona State\u2019s Leon Marchand<\/strong> made a late move but McHugh touched in 1:50.31 and Marchand was just behind in 1:50.38.<\/p>\n

Cal\u2019s Reece Whitley<\/strong> won the fifth of seven heats in prelims, finishing in 1:50.71 to hold off Georgia Tech\u2019s Caio Pumputis<\/strong> (1:50.85) and Cal teammate Jason Louser<\/strong> (1:51.91).<\/p>\n

Cal\u2019s Liam Bell<\/strong> put together a strong swim from an early heat, touching the wall in 1:52.32, well ahead of the field until the circle-seeded final three heats and snuck into the B final, along with teammate Hugh Gonzalez<\/strong>, giving Cal one up and three down in the event.<\/p>\n

The NCAA Finalists<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Matt Fallon, Penn, 1:49.03
\n2. Max McHugh, Minnesota, 1:50.31
\n3. Leon Marchand, Arizona State, 1:50.38
\n4. Caspar Corbeau, Texas, 1:50.51
\n5. Reece Whitley, Cal, 1:50.71
\n6. Caio Pumputis, Georgia Tech, 1:50.85
\n7. Carles Coll Marti, Virginia Tech, 1:51.19
\n8. Daniel Roy, Stanford, 1:51.32<\/p>\n