March 26, 2015
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Auburn got scoring performances from two relays in championship finals and Kyle Darmody placed 10th overall in the 50 freestyle to highlight day one action at the 2015 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships at the Campus Wellness and Recreation Center Thursday.
Auburn's 200 freestyle relay squad of Arthur Mendes, Jacob Molacek, Michael Duderstadt and Kyle Darmody clocked a 1:16.04 to take third overall in the event and first team All-America honors. After Mendes led off with a 19.58, the Tigers got blistering sub-19 second splits from Molacek (18.78), Duderstadt (18.92) and Darmody (18.72) to close the race out and earn the bronze.
"We had some really strong performances today," head coach Brett Hawke said following Thursday's finals. "Our guys are swimming faster than their times from SECs and that's what we emphasized at this meet; be better than your seed time and guys are getting the job done. We've got a lot of good swims on our schedule tomorrow and I'm excited to see what the team can do Friday morning."
The Tigers closed out the night with a fifth-place finish in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:05.38. The time by Auburn's quartet of Joe Patching, Duderstadt, Hugo Morris and Darmody was the fastest mark by the Tigers in the event at the NCAA Championships since 2010.
Darmody was also the runner-up in the 50 free consolation final, touching in at 19.33 from lane one to score valuable points for the Tigers. The 10th-place finish overall was Darmody's highest finish in the event at the NCAA Championships in his career.
Auburn heads into Friday sitting in eighth with 67 points, but just 12 shy of fifth place. Texas leads the competition with 171 points followed by defending champion California in second at 119.
The second day of competition gets underway on Friday at 11 a.m. CT with preliminaries for the 200 medley relay, 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke along with 3-meter diving and timed finals of the 800 freestyle relay. Live results can be found on AuburnTigers.com and the prelim session will be streamed live on NCAA.com.
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Auburn Swimming & Diving Results
NCAA Men's Championships - Day 1 Finals
March 26, 2015
Campus Recreation and Wellness Center - Iowa City, Iowa
200 Freestyle Relay
3. Mendes, Molacek, Duderstadt, Darmody (1:16.04)
50 Freestyle
10. Kyle Darmody (19.33)
400 Medley Relay
5. Patching, Duderstadt, Morris, Darmody (3:05.38)
Auburn All-Americans (9)
Kyle Darmody - 200 FR, 50 free HM, 400 MR
Michael Duderstadt - 200 FR, 400 MR
Arthur Mendes - 200 FR
Jacob Molacek - 200 FR
Hugo Morris - 400 MR
Joe Patching - 400 MR
Team Scores (Top 10): 1. Texas 171, 2. California 119, 3. Florida 108, 4. Michigan 105, 5. Alabama 79, 6. USC 77, 7. Stanford 75, 8. Auburn 67, 9. Georgia 61, 10. Arizona 53
Auburn Notes
- Auburn's time in the 200 freestyle relay was its fastest mark at the NCAA Championships since the Tigers won the event back in 2011.
- Kyle Darmody's 19.33 in the 50 free consolation final tied his season-best mark in the event and is his best finish in the event of his career at the NCAA meet.
- Auburn's swim in the 400 medley relay was its fastest time at the NCAA Championships since 2010.
- Thursday night saw Auburn's 400 medley relay NCAA/U.S. Open record (3:09.31) broken by Texas, who posted a 3:01.23 to win the event.