Thursday 25 February 2021

2021 Men’s SEC Championships: Day 3 Finals Live Recap | SwimSwam

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

2021 SEC MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The penultimate night of finals from the Men’s SEC Championships in Columbia features five individual events plus the 400 medley relay, with several exciting races coupled with some intense team battles making for an intriguing session.

Kieran Smith and Jake Magahey are the two biggest favorites coming into tonight in their respective events after an epic battle last night in the 500 free, with Smith expected to repeat in the 400 IM. Magahey has a big race on his hands in the 200 free with Mark Theall and Brooks Curry, but after splitting his morning swim 46.1/47.3, the freshman appears to have more in the tank for tonight. Magahey has a shot at the UGA school record of 1:31.54 set by Matias Koski in 2016.

The other three individual are more wide open.

In the 100 fly, a historic three men went sub-45 this morning, and all have a shot at the title. Camden Murphy set a new Georgia school record in 44.77, Shaine Casas reset the Texas A&M program record in 44.92, and Luca Urlando put himself just .06 off of the 17-18 NAG in 44.97. There’s also last year’s champion Danny Kovac, who qualified fourth in 45.16.

Florida’s Dillon Hillis and Tennessee’s Michael Houlie are expected to duke it out in the 100 breast after respective showings of 51.27 and 51.38 in the prelims, while TAMU senior Tanner Olson ended up missing the ‘A’ final in 52.83 after going 51.39 earlier in the season.

The 100 back projects to be another three-man race with Georgia’s Javier Acevedo, Florida’s Adam Chaney and Alabama’s Matthew Menke separated by .13 in the heats. Acevedo was the 2018 champion, while Chaney is coming off his first individual conference title last night in the 50 free.

Given how close it was between the top four teams in the 200, no one stands out as a clear favorite in the 400 medley relay, though Florida and Georgia would have to be the frontrunners (the Gators will be swimming out of Heat 2, alongside only Auburn and Alabama).

TEAM SCORES (THRU DAY 2)

Reminder: The entire diving portion of the meet was contested last week.

  1. Florida, 571
  2. Kentucky, 454
  3. Georgia, 424.5
  4. Tennessee, 392
  5. Texas A&M, 382
  6. Missouri, 379
  7. Auburn, 320
  8. Alabama, 308
  9. LSU, 249.5
  10. South Carolina, 155

400 IM Finals

  • SEC Meet Record: 3:35.76, Hugo Gonzalez (AUB), 2018
  • NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:39.16
  • 2020 Winner: Kieran Smith (FLOR), 3:37.31
  1. Kieran Smith (Florida), 3:37.47
  2. Bobby Finke (Florida), 3:39.15
  3. Ian Grum (Georgia), 3:40.51

It was a three-man race at the halfway mark, but like he did in the prelims, Kieran Smith dropped the hammer on breaststroke as he pulled away from Florida teammate Bobby Finke and Georgia’s Ian Grum en route to the victory in 3:37.47.

Smith wins the title for the second consecutive year, posting a time just .16 shy of his PB set in last year’s final. Comparing his splits from those two swims, he was about a second slower on the front-half tonight but made it up on breast, splitting 1:01.44 compared to a 1:02.37 in 2020.

The Gator junior also moves into second in the NCAA for the season, trailing only Texas’ Carson Foster (3:35.27).

Finke turned dead even with Grum at the 250 wall, but made his move on the second 50 of breast as he came in for second in 3:39.15, marking his first time sub-3:40. Previously, Finke’s PB stood at 3:40.94 from the 2019 SECs.

Grum, a sophomore who won the ‘B’ final as a freshman, also established a best time in taking third, clocking 3:40.51 to take more than two seconds off his 3:42.73 from the heats.

Three swimmers in the consolation heats swam times that would’ve made the ‘A’ final had they been done in the morning.

First, Kentucky junior Kyle Barker unloaded a big best from the ‘C’ final in 3:46.52, and then his freshman teammate Zane Rosely (3:44.84) edged out Florida sophomore Tyler Watson (3:45.29) in the ‘B’ final.

Coming into the day, Rosely had never broken 3:50, while Watson chops almost a second from his previous PB of 3:46.20.

100 Fly Finals

  • SEC Meet Record: 44.21, Caeleb Dressel (FLOR), 2017
  • NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 45.05
  • 2020 Winner: Danny Kovac (MIZ), 45.29

200 Free Finals

  • SEC Meet Record: 1:29.48, Kieran Smith (FLOR), 2021
  • NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:32.05
  • 2020 Winner: Khader Baqlah (FLOR), 1:32.05

100 Breast Finals

  • SEC Meet Record: 50.03, Caeleb Dressel (FLOR), 2018
  • NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 51.67
  • 2020 Winner: Itay Goldfaden (GAME), 51.35

100 Back Finals

  • SEC Meet Record: 44.24, Zane Waddell (BAMA), 2020
  • NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 44.95
  • 2020 Winner: Zane Waddell (BAMA), 44.24

400 Medley Relay Timed Finals

  • SEC Meet Record: 3:02.17, Alabama, 2020
  • NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:05.95
  • 2020 Winner: Alabama, 3:02.17 (Waddell, Bell, Sesvold, Berneburg)

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2021 Men’s SEC Championships: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

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