{"id":582700,"date":"2024-03-29T16:26:33","date_gmt":"2024-03-29T23:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=582700"},"modified":"2024-03-29T19:30:05","modified_gmt":"2024-03-30T02:30:05","slug":"ncaa-mens-championships-brendan-burns-repeats-in-100-backstroke-with-outside-smoke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ncaa-mens-championships-brendan-burns-repeats-in-100-backstroke-with-outside-smoke\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA Men’s Championships: Brendan Burns Repeats in 100 Backstroke With Outside Smoke; ‘Why I Came Back’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Outside smoke in lane 1, Brendan Burns<\/strong> is an NCAA champion once again.<\/p>\n

The Indiana swimmer returned for his fifth year with some unfinished business and claimed the 100-yard backstroke title in 43.86 – a repeat title that was always possible but seemed unlikely with his lane placement.<\/p>\n

Burns jumped out of the pool and let loose a roar.<\/p>\n

“I was kind of caught up in the moment,” Burns said. “It was so awesome having our entire team there, our fans and my entire family. It was pure caught-up-in-the-moment. The swim was great. The year has been rocky personally, looking myself in the mirror and realizing my own journey in the sport is coming to an end a lot sooner than I would have liked. That has been very humbling, but to have moments like this with my teammates is a reminder of why I came back.”<\/p>\n

Burns broke Ryan Murphy<\/strong>‘s pool record in the event (43.99) and snagged another NCAA title with a late push from lane 1 and a stellar last push-off on the final 25.<\/p>\n

“If you have a lane, you have a chance,” Burns said. “It is something that all swimmers young and old can attest to. That is what I had in me. My prelims swim was pretty terrible and I just flushed that out, and I knew I had (that title swim) in me. I just wanted to get my hand on the wall for my team. Being in lane 1 helped me focus on my own race and not get caught up in what was going on. Some of those guys are going to win Olympic medals this summer, but from lane 1, I just wanted to focus on the race that I had.”<\/p>\n

NC State fifth-year Kacper Stokowski<\/strong> was second at 43.89, just three hundredths behind Burns.<\/p>\n

Florida senior Adam Chaney<\/strong> led at the halfway point and ended up third in 43.99.<\/p>\n

Arizona State sophomore Hubert Kos<\/strong> was fourth (44.13), followed by Cal senior Destin Lasco<\/strong> (44.22), who was the top seed coming into finals.<\/p>\n

Arizona State sophomore Owen McDonald<\/strong> was sixth (44.46), followed by Georgia sophomore Ruard Van Rene<\/strong>n (44.75) and Florida freshman Jonny Marshall<\/strong> (44.86).<\/p>\n

It was Burns’ third overall title after winning the 200 fly in 2022.<\/p>\n

Saturday he will do a grueling double with the 200 fly and 200 back.<\/p>\n

“I am definitely doing both 200s. I switched this year because one of my process-oriented goals was leaving no stone unturned. This was something I had never tried before and I just wanted to leave it out there for my team. We have a great opportunity to move up in the team standings and I have a really big responsibility to my teammates to make sure I do what I am capable of. I am really excited about that opportunity.”<\/p>\n