Big Ten Men’s Championships, Day 4: Indiana Pulling Away as Owen McDonald Wins Third
The Indiana Hoosiers are on the way to securing the Big Ten title in men’s swimming and diving for the fourth consecutive season and seventh time in the last nine years. They entered the concluding session of the meet leading by 282.5 points over Michigan, with Ohio State sitting in third place, and Zalan Sarkany extended the lead with a win in the 1650 freestyle before Owen McDonald won his third individual title of the meet in the 200 backstroke.
Indiana had the top-seeded time out of Saturday morning’s prelims in three events and had 13 A-final swims plus three divers in the top heat of the platform event.
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 14 1. Indiana University 1067 2. Michigan, University of 784.5 3. Ohio State University 731 4. University of Southern Califor 588 5. University of Minnesota 512.5 6. Wisconsin, University of, Madi 498 7. Northwestern University 473 8. Purdue University 406.5 9. Pennsylvania State University 372.5
1650 Freestyle
An expected big final night for Indiana began with Zalan Sarkany going wire-to-wire in the 1650 freestyle. USC’s Krzysztof Chmielewski tried to push the reigning national champion in the early stages of the race, but Sarkany was far superior in the middle portion of the races as he opened a lead of more than six seconds by the 1000-yard mark.
Sarkany would pull away from there to finish in 14:38.01, a half-second behind his season-best time that ranks No. 8 in the country. With further sub-14:40 efforts at remaining conference meets unlikely, Sarkany will likely try to defend his national title from the fastest heat of the event at the NCAA Championships but in lane eight.
Ohio State’s Mason Edmund closed well to place second in 14:45.81, with Chmielewski fading to third in 14:46.87. Chmielewski’s race was the first of a busy session, with the 200 fly final to come later in the evening. Also under 14:50 were Minnesota’s Bar Soloveychik (14:48.67) and Ohio State’s Sam Campbell (14:49.25).
Event 15 Men 1650 Yard Freestyle
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B1G Meet: ! 14:29.25 2/25/2017 Felix O Auboeck, Michigan
POOL: $ 14:24.43 3/24/2018 Ipson, Anton, NC State
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
=========================================================================
1 Sarkany, Zalan JR Ind 14:37.49 14:38.01 32
r:+0.67 23.37 48.91 (25.54)
1:14.92 (26.01) 1:41.04 (26.12)
2:07.23 (26.19) 2:33.54 (26.31)
2:59.86 (26.32) 3:26.24 (26.38)
3:52.58 (26.34) 4:18.97 (26.39)
4:45.42 (26.45) 5:12.07 (26.65)
5:38.62 (26.55) 6:05.23 (26.61)
6:31.98 (26.75) 6:58.72 (26.74)
7:25.53 (26.81) 7:52.34 (26.81)
8:19.33 (26.99) 8:46.28 (26.95)
9:13.35 (27.07) 9:40.48 (27.13)
10:07.62 (27.14) 10:34.76 (27.14)
11:01.91 (27.15) 11:29.11 (27.20)
11:56.38 (27.27) 12:23.61 (27.23)
12:50.88 (27.27) 13:18.01 (27.13)
13:45.08 (27.07) 14:12.04 (26.96) 14:38.01 (25.97)
2 Edmund, Mason JR OSU 14:58.91 14:45.81 28
r:+0.76 24.34 50.93 (26.59)
1:17.76 (26.83) 1:44.81 (27.05)
2:11.86 (27.05) 2:39.02 (27.16)
3:06.03 (27.01) 3:33.11 (27.08)
4:00.33 (27.22) 4:27.43 (27.10)
4:54.36 (26.93) 5:21.63 (27.27)
5:48.82 (27.19) 6:16.00 (27.18)
6:43.12 (27.12) 7:10.10 (26.98)
7:36.96 (26.86) 8:03.80 (26.84)
8:30.64 (26.84) 8:57.52 (26.88)
9:24.20 (26.68) 9:51.00 (26.80)
10:17.86 (26.86) 10:44.87 (27.01)
11:11.93 (27.06) 11:39.03 (27.10)
12:06.21 (27.18) 12:33.38 (27.17)
13:00.45 (27.07) 13:27.52 (27.07)
13:54.39 (26.87) 14:21.19 (26.80) 14:45.81 (24.62)
3 Chmielewski, Krzyszto SO USC 14:53.61 14:46.87 27
r:+0.64 23.63 49.20 (25.57)
1:15.26 (26.06) 1:41.42 (26.16)
2:07.78 (26.36) 2:33.92 (26.14)
3:00.38 (26.46) 3:26.91 (26.53)
3:53.41 (26.50) 4:20.14 (26.73)
4:46.98 (26.84) 5:14.04 (27.06)
5:41.20 (27.16) 6:08.44 (27.24)
6:35.62 (27.18) 7:02.98 (27.36)
7:30.37 (27.39) 7:57.86 (27.49)
8:25.44 (27.58) 8:52.85 (27.41)
9:20.45 (27.60) 9:48.08 (27.63)
10:15.62 (27.54) 10:43.03 (27.41)
11:10.35 (27.32) 11:37.63 (27.28)
12:05.03 (27.40) 12:32.31 (27.28)
12:59.63 (27.32) 13:26.89 (27.26)
13:54.01 (27.12) 14:20.79 (26.78) 14:46.87 (26.08)
4 Soloveychik, Bar SR MINN 15:07.58 14:48.67 26
r:+0.73 24.79 51.64 (26.85)
1:18.75 (27.11) 1:46.07 (27.32)
2:13.37 (27.30) 2:40.71 (27.34)
3:07.89 (27.18) 3:35.07 (27.18)
4:02.21 (27.14) 4:29.42 (27.21)
4:56.54 (27.12) 5:23.54 (27.00)
5:50.85 (27.31) 6:18.01 (27.16)
6:45.16 (27.15) 7:12.28 (27.12)
7:39.34 (27.06) 8:06.28 (26.94)
8:33.39 (27.11) 9:00.16 (26.77)
9:27.01 (26.85) 9:53.84 (26.83)
10:20.66 (26.82) 10:47.61 (26.95)
11:14.52 (26.91) 11:41.41 (26.89)
12:08.43 (27.02) 12:35.45 (27.02)
13:02.48 (27.03) 13:29.60 (27.12)
13:56.41 (26.81) 14:23.23 (26.82) 14:48.67 (25.44)
5 Campbell, Samuel JR OSU 14:56.33 14:49.25 25
r:+0.74 23.86 49.58 (25.72)
1:16.01 (26.43) 1:42.83 (26.82)
2:09.82 (26.99) 2:36.79 (26.97)
3:03.79 (27.00) 3:30.82 (27.03)
3:58.02 (27.20) 4:25.06 (27.04)
4:52.14 (27.08) 5:19.26 (27.12)
5:46.40 (27.14) 6:13.52 (27.12)
6:40.83 (27.31) 7:07.89 (27.06)
7:35.14 (27.25) 8:02.46 (27.32)
8:29.78 (27.32) 8:56.93 (27.15)
9:24.05 (27.12) 9:50.97 (26.92)
10:17.98 (27.01) 10:45.30 (27.32)
11:12.65 (27.35) 11:39.87 (27.22)
12:07.26 (27.39) 12:34.49 (27.23)
13:01.74 (27.25) 13:29.18 (27.44)
13:56.64 (27.46) 14:23.59 (26.95) 14:49.25 (25.66)
6 Staples, Joshua FR NU 15:19.04 14:53.20 24
r:+0.72 24.32 50.70 (26.38)
1:17.56 (26.86) 1:44.49 (26.93)
2:11.26 (26.77) 2:38.05 (26.79)
3:04.85 (26.80) 3:31.59 (26.74)
3:58.33 (26.74) 4:25.10 (26.77)
4:51.97 (26.87) 5:18.85 (26.88)
5:45.71 (26.86) 6:13.11 (27.40)
6:40.35 (27.24) 7:07.65 (27.30)
7:35.11 (27.46) 8:02.32 (27.21)
8:29.57 (27.25) 8:56.92 (27.35)
9:24.67 (27.75) 9:52.12 (27.45)
10:20.23 (28.11) 10:47.87 (27.64)
11:15.12 (27.25) 11:42.63 (27.51)
12:10.38 (27.75) 12:36.29 (25.91)
13:04.71 (28.42) 13:33.12 (28.41)
14:01.21 (28.09) 14:28.45 (27.24) 14:53.20 (24.75)
7 Joentvedt, Jon MICH 14:48.20 14:53.99 23
r:+0.75 24.36 50.84 (26.48)
1:17.77 (26.93) 1:44.67 (26.90)
2:11.52 (26.85) 2:38.41 (26.89)
3:05.46 (27.05) 3:32.37 (26.91)
3:59.25 (26.88) 4:26.36 (27.11)
4:53.46 (27.10) 5:20.39 (26.93)
5:47.77 (27.38) 6:15.07 (27.30)
6:42.43 (27.36) 7:09.72 (27.29)
7:36.95 (27.23) 8:04.20 (27.25)
8:31.64 (27.44) 8:59.21 (27.57)
9:26.69 (27.48) 9:54.34 (27.65)
10:22.02 (27.68) 10:49.54 (27.52)
11:17.26 (27.72) 11:44.71 (27.45)
12:12.44 (27.73) 12:39.69 (27.25)
13:07.09 (27.40) 13:34.43 (27.34)
14:01.76 (27.33) 14:28.79 (27.03) 14:53.99 (25.20)
8 Brennan, Luke FR MINN 15:29.95 14:55.25 22
r:+0.72 24.86 51.67 (26.81)
1:18.45 (26.78) 1:45.42 (26.97)
2:12.54 (27.12) 2:39.54 (27.00)
3:06.65 (27.11) 3:33.81 (27.16)
4:00.80 (26.99) 4:27.83 (27.03)
4:55.01 (27.18) 5:22.17 (27.16)
5:49.37 (27.20) 6:16.55 (27.18)
6:43.71 (27.16) 7:10.98 (27.27)
7:38.23 (27.25) 8:05.49 (27.26)
8:32.71 (27.22) 9:00.14 (27.43)
9:27.37 (27.23) 9:54.88 (27.51)
10:22.43 (27.55) 10:49.78 (27.35)
11:17.47 (27.69) 11:44.79 (27.32)
12:12.35 (27.56) 12:39.85 (27.50)
13:07.23 (27.38) 13:34.58 (27.35)
14:01.95 (27.37) 14:29.28 (27.33) 14:55.25 (25.97)
200 Backstroke
The top swimmer of the meet has been Owen McDonald, who had already secured first-place finishes in the 200 IM and 100 back and guided Indiana to a dominant win in the 400 medley relay. Now, McDonald has completed the sweep of his individual races by getting to the wall first in the 200 back. He finished in 1:37.15, crushing the Big Ten meet record of 1:38.22 set by Hoosiers star Brendan Burns two years ago. McDonald now ranks No. 3 in the country in the event behind Florida’s Jonny Marshall and Texas’ Hubert Kos, who is the Olympic gold medalist in the 200-meter back and McDonald’s former teammate at Arizona State.
Indiana gained 28 more points in this final as freshman Miroslav Knedla captured second in 1:39.26. Knedla went out fast and held off a late charge from Ohio State’s Cornelius Jahn, who came in third at 1:39.50. Michigan’s Jack Wilkening ended up fourth in 1:40.34.
Event 16 Men 200 Yard Backstroke
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B1G Meet: ! 1:38.22 2/25/2023 Brendan A Burns, Indiana
POOL: $ 1:35.87 3/25/2023 Lasco, Destin, California
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
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=== A - Final ===
1 McDonald, Owen JR Indiana 1:39.06 1:37.15! 32
r:+0.50 22.57 46.76 (24.19)
1:11.79 (25.03) 1:37.15 (25.36)
2 Knedla, Miroslav FR Indiana 1:39.59 1:39.26 28
r:+0.55 22.79 47.48 (24.69)
1:12.99 (25.51) 1:39.26 (26.27)
3 Jahn, Cornelius FR Ohio State 1:40.32 1:39.50 27
r:+0.64 23.48 48.47 (24.99)
1:13.99 (25.52) 1:39.50 (25.51)
4 Wilkening, Jack JR Michigan 1:40.96 1:40.34 26
r:+0.56 23.20 48.14 (24.94)
1:14.08 (25.94) 1:40.34 (26.26)
5 Gerchik, David SO Northwestern 1:41.50 1:41.31 25
r:+0.58 23.62 49.27 (25.65)
1:15.45 (26.18) 1:41.31 (25.86)
6 Rowe, Blake FR Purdue 1:42.46 1:42.54 24
r:+0.61 23.71 49.69 (25.98)
1:16.15 (26.46) 1:42.54 (26.39)
7 Danziger, Inbar FR Michigan 1:42.16 1:42.85 23
r:+0.54 23.64 49.15 (25.51)
1:15.56 (26.41) 1:42.85 (27.29)
8 Ben-Shitrit, Eitan JR Michigan 1:41.65 1:43.76 22
r:+0.59 24.06 49.65 (25.59)
1:16.43 (26.78) 1:43.76 (27.33)
100 Freestyle
Ohio State’s Tomas Navikonis broke the Big Ten meet record previously held by Blake Pieroni in the 200 free Friday evening, and now he has secured a second conference title in the 100-yard event, coming from behind with a 10.55 final length to take down U.S. Olympian Matt King. Navikonis came in at 41.55, entering his name into the national top-15 in the event while ending Indiana’s winning streak that began the session.
The Hoosiers did place 2-3, however, as King clocked 41.73 and Dylan Smiley came in at 41.85. Wisconsin’s Taiko Torepe-Ormsby also broke 42 (41.91) while Michigan’s Gal Groumi, who tied Smiley for the top qualifying mark in prelims, came in fifth (42.01).
Event 17 Men 100 Yard Freestyle
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B1G Meet: ! 41.38 2/25/2023 Ruslan Gaziev, Ohio St
POOL: $ 39.90 3/24/2018 Dressel, Caeleb, Florida
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Navikonis, Tomas JR Ohio State 42.13 41.55 32
r:+0.70 9.67 20.13 (10.46)
31.00 (10.87) 41.55 (10.55)
2 King, Matthew JR Indiana 42.12 41.73 28
r:+0.61 9.41 19.85 (10.44)
30.77 (10.92) 41.73 (10.96)
3 Smiley, Dylan SO Indiana 42.09 41.85 27
r:+0.64 9.63 20.14 (10.51)
31.25 (11.11) 41.85 (10.60)
4 Torepe-Ormsby, Taiko JR Wisconsin 42.22 41.91 26
r:+0.65 9.30 19.95 (10.65)
30.84 (10.89) 41.91 (11.07)
5 Groumi, Gal SR Michigan 42.09 42.01 24.5
r:+0.60 9.58 20.04 (10.46)
31.06 (11.02) 42.01 (10.95)
5 Samuels, Braden SR Purdue 42.34 42.01 24.5
r:+0.65 9.20 19.99 (10.79)
30.87 (10.88) 42.01 (11.14)
7 Lee, Mikkel Jun Jie SO Indiana 42.20 42.37 23
r:+0.62 9.37 20.09 (10.72)
31.25 (11.16) 42.37 (11.12)
8 Szabados, Bence 5Y Michigan 42.38 42.63 22
r:+0.64 9.44 20.07 (10.63)
31.43 (11.36) 42.63 (11.20)
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
Platform Diving
400 Freestyle Relay
