{"id":526226,"date":"2023-03-25T16:59:02","date_gmt":"2023-03-25T23:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=526226"},"modified":"2023-03-26T08:17:40","modified_gmt":"2023-03-26T15:17:40","slug":"ncaa-mens-championships-josh-liendo-sprints-to-100-free-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ncaa-mens-championships-josh-liendo-sprints-to-100-free-title\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA Men’s Championships: Josh Liendo Sprints to 100 Freestyle Title; Moves to No. 2 All-Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

NCAA Men’s Championships: Josh Liendo Sprints to 100 Free Title<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

The sprinters geared up for one more showdown, this time in the 100 freestyle on the final night of the 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships from Minneapolis.<\/p>\n

The final included the defending champion, a freshman phenom, a couple of stars on the rise, an NCAA title holder in another event and a few veterans.<\/p>\n

The win went to the freshman phenom as Florida’s Josh Liendo<\/strong> led at the turn and held off a pair of Cal veterans to win in 40.28.<\/p>\n

“I knew I could attack the 100 free, so that is exactly what I did,” Liendo said. “The only thing in my head was going out fast, because everything else wasn’t really working. It was a best time by a lot and I am looking forward to seeing how fast I can go. It works. I am going to try to go out faster every time.”<\/p>\n

He is the first freshman to win an individual title at this meet. He had finished second in the 50 free and 100 butterfly.<\/p>\n

“It definitely added more motivation (to be second). I definitely wanted to win and be on top,” he said. “I just wanted to go out there and know when I hit the wall that I gave it everything I had. I was locked in and my details were on point, but at a certain point, it was just get my head down, grit my teeth and get home. My level of focus has definitely gotten better. In this meet, there is no room for error. It can be the difference between 16th and fourth. Florida prepared me for moments like this.”<\/p>\n

Cal sophomore Jack Alexy<\/strong> took second in 40.92 and teammate Bjorn Seeliger<\/strong> was third in 40.83.<\/p>\n

Ohio State junior Ruslan Gaziev<\/strong> was fourth in 40.98, followed by Tennessee sophomore Jordan Crooks<\/strong> (41.03), the winner of the 50 free and defending champion Brooks Curry<\/strong> of LSU, who tied for fifth at 41.03.<\/p>\n

Indiana’s Van Mathias<\/strong> was seventh in 41.39 and Virginia Tech’s Youssef Ramadan<\/strong>, the 100 fly champion, was eighth (41.61).<\/p>\n

Tennessee’s Guilherme Santos<\/strong> won the B final with a 51.54.<\/p>\n