2011 NCAAs

So the biggest surprise last night was the upset of Conor Dwyer and not Dyer that Ande had pointed out to me the other day. What was most surprising is that he went 2 seconds slower than his SEC time and was about what he did at last year's meet. Matt McLean made up for his 2010 mishap and did what I thought he would do last year because I picked him to win the event. Last year he went 4:17.48 and he did not make the finals so this was a great comeback for him. In the 200 IM a comment was made that if you go out in 46.9 you are going to win a lot of 200 IM's unless you have a weak *** stroke and Austin Staab doesn't. He came back in 29.5/25.0 to take it at 1:41.57 and it has been mentioned that this time was slower than David Nolan's National HS Record time of 1:41.39 and I believe this is the first time that an NCAA Champion has not beaten the best HS time for that year since Jeff Kostoff 1983 500 Free time of 4:16.39 and the NCAA Champion that year, George DiCarlo went 4:16.93. Jeff Kostoff also broke the American Record with that swim by .01 and he was the last male swimmer to accomplish this as a HS swimmer. I believe Kate Ziegler was the last female swimmer to do this in this same event and her time would have won the NCAA's. The 50 Free was identical to last year if you take out the graduated Josh Schneider because the 2010 2nd, 3rd, and 4th swimmers finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Adrian's 18.66 breaks his American Record of 18.71 and that time was with a tech suit. The 200 Free Relay was a surprise and Cal might be the only team with 4 guys under 19 and they got 2nd but they made up for it in the 400 Medley Relay.

So the biggest surprise last night was the upset of Conor Dwyer and not Dyer that Ande had pointed out to me the other day. What was most surprising is that he went 2 seconds slower than his SEC time and was about what he did at last year's meet. Matt McLean made up for his 2010 mishap and did what I thought he would do last year because I picked him to win the event. Last year he went 4:17.48 and he did not make the finals so this was a great comeback for him. In the 200 IM a comment was made that if you go out in 46.9 you are going to win a lot of 200 IM's unless you have a weak *** stroke and Austin Staab doesn't. He came back in 29.5/25.0 to take it at 1:41.57 and it has been mentioned that this time was slower than David Nolan's National HS Record time of 1:41.39 and I believe this is the first time that an NCAA Champion has not beaten the best HS time for that year since Jeff Kostoff 1983 500 Free time of 4:16.39 and the NCAA Champion that year, George DiCarlo went 4:16.93. Jeff Kostoff also broke the American Record with that swim by .01 and he was the last male swimmer to accomplish this as a HS swimmer. I believe Kate Ziegler was the last female swimmer to do this in this same event and her time would have won the NCAA's. The 50 Free was identical to last year if you take out the graduated Josh Schneider because the 2010 2nd, 3rd, and 4th swimmers finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Adrian's 18.66 breaks his American Record of 18.71 and that time was with a tech suit. The 200 Free Relay was a surprise and Cal might be the only team with 4 guys under 19 and they got 2nd but they made up for it in the 400 Medley Relay.