{"id":582708,"date":"2024-03-29T18:35:15","date_gmt":"2024-03-30T01:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=582708"},"modified":"2024-03-29T19:45:14","modified_gmt":"2024-03-30T02:45:14","slug":"ncaa-mens-championships-florida-medley-relay-dq-costly-as-arizona-state-extends-team-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ncaa-mens-championships-florida-medley-relay-dq-costly-as-arizona-state-extends-team-lead\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA Men’s Championships: Florida Medley Relay DQ Costly as Arizona State Extends Team Lead"},"content":{"rendered":"

NCAA Men’s Championships: Florida Medley Relay DQ Costly as Arizona State Extends Team Lead<\/strong><\/p>\n

Entering the 400 medley relay, the final event of day three at the NCAA Men’s Championships, Florida had cut Arizona State’s advantage to 30 points in the team competition. The Gators had qualified 12 swimmers to race individually in the evening session, and strong performances at night, including Josh Liendo’s<\/strong> win in the 100 butterfly<\/a>, had followed.<\/p>\n

In the 400 medley relay, Florida appeared to take second behind Arizona State, swimming eight tenths quicker than the NCAA record the Gators had set in 2023, and that would have meant that ASU only extended its lead by six points. However, Florida was disqualified, with\u00a0anchor swimmer\u00a0Macguire McDuff<\/strong> leaving five hundredths before Liendo had touched the wall at the conclusion of the butterfly leg.<\/p>\n

Liendo’s fly split of 42.56 was the fastest in history, but in the aftermath, the Canadian veteran took the full blame for his team instead of blaming his teammate.<\/p>\n

“I was probably out a little too fast. I probably should\u2019ve swam that a little smarter,” Liendo said. “I think that\u2019s why Mac left early because he\u2019s used to me accelerating on the last 25. I don\u2019t think I was accelerating on the last 25. I was kind of dying. He was beating himself up, but that\u2019s not on him.”<\/p>\n

Relay swimmers are allowed a cushion of three hundredths at the start of their legs, and that was highly beneficial for a pair of top teams as Arizona State’s\u00a0Jonny Kulow<\/strong> had a takeover time of -0.01, as did Cal breaststroker\u00a0Liam Bell<\/strong>, who helped propel the Golden Bears under the previous NCAA record as well. But McDuff’s overly-quick changeover cost Florida dearly, with 34 points lost as a result of the DQ.<\/p>\n

That meant that Arizona State will take a 56.5-point lead into the final day of the meet, with Cal moving into second with 286.5 points, followed by Florida at 273. All three teams will have plenty of scoring opportunities Saturday, but Arizona State has the most, meaning both Cal and Florida have lost any margin for error in their respective longshot comeback hopes.<\/p>\n

If the Gators end up finishing within 34 points of ASU, they will deeply regret the opportunity lost with this relay mistake, but that will not be the approach for head coach Anthony Nesty’s<\/strong> squad entering the final day.<\/p>\n

“We have another day tomorrow,” Liendo said. “I\u2019m not going to dwell on it. Obviously you can\u2019t help think what if. We\u2019re that competitive and we\u2019ve done so well in those relays. Obviously it\u2019s going to be a little tough, but at the same time, we still have work to do. We\u2019re not going to dwell on it and lose sleep over it.”<\/p>\n

Florida was not the only team to lose out thanks to an overly-ambitious relay exchange. Georgia, currently sitting in 10th place in the team contest, lost out when butterflyer Bradley Dunham<\/strong> had a -0.04 exchange, and SEC rival Auburn was also disqualified, with\u00a0breaststroker\u00a0Henry Bethel<\/strong> sitting at -0.13. Additionally, Arizona State, Cal, Tennessee and Penn State all benefitted from the -0.03 allowance, with ASU’s Kulow, Cal’s Bell, Tennessee breaststroker\u00a0Flynn Crisci<\/strong> and the Nittany Lions duo of\u00a0Mariano <\/strong>Lazzerini<\/strong> and\u00a0Lachlan Byrne<\/strong> all leaving as quickly as allowable.<\/p>\n