March 22, 2018
Men's NCAAs - Thursday Prelims
MINNEAPOLIS - It was a very busy ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" and also very fast - day for Auburn's Zach Apple. The junior swam four 50 frees and went under 19 seconds each time as Auburn competed at the 2018 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships on Thursday at the University of Minnesota.
Apple earned Auburn's highest finish for the day, tying for fifth in the 50 free and leading the 200 freestyle relay to an 11th-place finish. Hugo Gonzalez finished 10th in the 200 IM and the 400 medley relay took 12th.
200 Freestyle Relay
For the third time in three swims on the day, Apple blasted a sub-19 second 50 free to lead off the 11th-place finishing 200 free relay team. The junior went a personal-best 18.82, lowing his previous best by .09 as Auburn took the lead after the first leg, this after leading off the relay with an 18.98 in prelims. Peter Holoda and Santiago Grassi also posted sub-19 legs, going 18.91 and 18.84, respectively, before Luis Martinez anchored in 19.85.
Auburn's finals time of 1:16.42 was an overall drop of 1.50 seconds from the seed time of 1:17.92, which was 21st coming in.
200 IM
Gonzalez finished 10th after posting a 1:42.21 in finals, shaving .57 seconds off his prelims time to earn the first All-America honors of his young career. His time ties Joe Patching for the fourth-fastest performance in school history and gives him the top four performances in school history.
Gonzalez's 10th-place finish is the highest for an Auburn swimmer in the event since Kyle Owens finished eighth at the 2012 NCAA Championships.
50 Freestyle
Apple finished in a tie for fifth, going 18.97 for the second time in the 50 free on Thursday. The swim was Apple's fourth sub-19 seconds 50 free of the day.
Apple now owns seven career sub-19 50 frees, which is the second-most in program history to Cesar Cielo, who posted 10 such swims from 2007-09, including the school record of 18.47 at the 2008 NCAA Championships at Federal Way, Wash.
As a program, Auburn has a collective 33 sub-19 second swims from eight individuals.
"This morning having both 50s lead off the relay and then the individual be under 19 (seconds) was nice confidence for tonight," Apple said. "Coming in I knew I could be a little bit faster. I was a little sloppy around the walls this morning. On the relay I wanted to be better than I was this morning. To be 18.8 is great to lead off with a best time, give the team the lead. Individual went not as well but I can't complain with a fifth-place finish."
Florida's Caeleb Dressel won the event in a NCAA, American and US Open record 17.63, winning by over a second with only the second sub-18 second 50 free in swimming history. His leadoff of the 200 free relay of 17.81 had set the record just a little over an hour earlier.
1-Meter Diving
Competing at the NCAAs for the second straight season but the first time on the 1-meter, senior Pete Turnham finished 40th with a 268.75. It took a 331.50 to make the consolation finals and a 370.75 to make the championship finals.
400 Medley Relay
Auburn closed out the meet by going 3:05.98 to finish fifth in the B Final, dropping .68 seconds from its prelims times and moving up two positions. Gonzalez led off in 46.91 on the back followed by Tommy Brewer on the breaststroke leg (52.90). After Santiago Grassi went 45.64 on the fly leg, Peter Holoda anchored in a blistering 41.53, which was the third-fastest anchor in the consolation finals and the seventh-fastest of the 16 teams competing at night.
Championship Overview
Auburn sits in 11th place with 40.5 points after 7 of 21 events have been contested. Indiana leads a tightly-packed team race with 169 points followed by NC State (165), Texas (159), Florida (154) and California (152.5). Louisville sits in 10th with 62 points.
"It's obvious we're at the fastest meet in the world with the fastest swimmers in the world," Auburn head coach Brett Hawke said. "Guys from every team are swimming incredibly fast and I got to witness some of the most amazing swims of my life here tonight, and we're a part of it.
"Our guys are competing and we're just outside the top 10," Hawke said. "We're in the rhythm of the meet now. We're settled in, now it's time to go out and perform like we know how to."
The championships continue on Friday with prelims and finals of the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, 200 medley relay and 3-meter diving. Prelims begin at 10:00 a.m. CT. Video and live scoring is available through gophersports.com.
2018 NCAA S&D Championships
NCAA Champions & Auburn Finishes
200 Freestyle Relay
1. Florida ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 1:14.39 (Dressel ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 17.81, Switkowski ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 18.52, Martinez-Scarpe ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 19.00, Scaranek ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 19.06)
11. Auburn ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 1:16.42 (Apple - 18.82 (PR), Holoda ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 18.91, Grassi ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 18.84, Martinez ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 19.85)
500 Freestyle
1. Townley Haas (TEX) ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 4:08.60
45. Josh Dannhauser ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 4:22.31
200 IM
1. Jan Switkowski (FLA) ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 1:41.23/1:39.54
10. Hugo Gonzalez ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 1:42.78/1:42.21
50 Freestyle
1. Caeleb Dressel (FLA) ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 18.11/17.63
T5. Zach Apple ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 18.97/18.97
35. Santiago Grassi ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 19.57 (PR)
37. Peter Holoda ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 19.59
44. Luis Martinez ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 19.89
1-Meter Diving
1. Michael Hixon (IND) ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 408.20/464.40
40. Pete Turnham ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 268.75
400 Medley Relay
1. Indiana ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 3:01.07 (Fantoni - 45.59, Finnerty ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 50.33, Lanza ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 44.53, Pieroni ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 40.62)
13. Auburn - 3:05.98 (Gonzalez ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 46.91, Brewer ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 51.90, Grassi ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 45.64, Holoda ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 41.53)
Team Standings
1. Indiana ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 169
2. NC State ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 165
3. Texas ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 159
4. Florida ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 154
5. California ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 152.5
11. Auburn ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 40.5
Auburn's All-American Honors (7 Individuals, 11 Honors)
Zach Apple ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 50 Free, 200 FR HM
Tommy Brewer ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 400 MR HM
Hugo Gonzalez ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 200 IM HM, 400 MR HM
Santiago Grassi ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 200 FR HM, 400 MR HM
Peter Holoda ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 200 FR HM, 400 MR HM
Luis Martinez ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 200 FR HM
Liam McCloskey ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 200 FR HM