GREENSBORO, N.C. – All three of the Auburn men at this year's NCAA Championships swam in Friday's session, and two of the three set new lifetime bests.
Sophomore Nik Eberly, who finished tied for 24th in the 50 freestyle Thursday, earned another top-30 finish Friday in the 100 butterfly prelims. Eberly won his individual heat with a lifetime-best time of 46.63, half a second faster than what he swam at the SEC Championships, and placed 30th overall.
"A really solid performance yesterday in the 50 free, and he did some similar things really well again today," Auburn head coach Gary Taylor said. "He made some changes from the last time he did this event at SECs and put in a strong front 50 and found a way to finish well.
"I thought Nik, first time at NCAAs, put in two really solid swims. I'm proud of his effort. He's shown a lot of grit throughout the year and really persevered to finish out his season strong."
Like Eberly, freshman Mikkel Gadgaard put in another strong swim Friday in the 200 freestyle prelims, winning his heat and setting a new lifetime best. His time, 1:34.21, was good for 21st at NCAAs and also moved him up to ninth all-time time in Auburn history for the 200 free. The freshman finished 20th in the 500 freestyle on Thursday.
"He's another one who has really grown throughout the season and done a great job in practice on a daily basis and showed up in competitions," Taylor said. "He actually performed as well or better here at NCAAs than he did at SECs. That says a lot for him."
Junior Christian Sztolcman made his NCAA Championships debut in the same event, the 200 freestyle, and finished in 1:35.77 to take 38th overall.
QUOTABLE
Head coach Gary Taylor
On Mikkel Gadgaard's 200 freestyle swim…
"I thought Mikkel learned some things yesterday in his 500, and some of the things that maybe he faltered a little bit in yesterday, he comes back today and does them at a higher level. He was out fast but with some control and then really had a strong third and fourth 50 coming home to win his heat in the 200 freestyle and dropping about a half second off his lifetime-best performance at SECs."
UP NEXT
Sztolcman will be the lone swimmer for Auburn on Saturday as the Tigers wrap up the NCAA Men's Championships. The junior will compete in the 100 freestyle, an event where he set a lifetime best (43.12) at SECs in the 400 freestyle relay. Prelims begin at 9 a.m. CT, and finals will follow at 5 p.m. CT.
Day 4: Prelims | Finals
