Swimming

Florida Shreds NCAA Record in 200 Medley Relay with 1:20.15; Liendo Clocks 18.97 Fly Split

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By Spencer Penland on SwimSwam

2024 MEN’S NCAA SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

200 MEDLEY RELAY — TIMED FINAL

  • NCAA Record: 1:20.55 — Arizona State (J. Dolan, L. Marchand, I. Kharun, J. Kulow), 2024
  • Meet Record: 1:20.67 — NC State (K. Stokowski, M. Hunter, N. Korstanje, D. Curtiss), 2023
  • American Record: 1:21.66 — Florida (A. Chaney, J. Smith, S. Buff, M. McDuff), 2024
  • U.S. Open Record: 1:20.55 — Arizona State (J. Dolan, L. Marchand, I. Kharun, J. Kulow), 2024
  • 2023 Champion: 1:20.67 — NC State (K. Stokowski, M. Hunter, N. Korstanje, D. Curtiss), 2023

Top 8:

  1. Florida (A. Chaney, J. Smith, J. Liendo, M. McDuff) — 1:20.15 *NCAA, Meet, U.S. Open Record*
  2. Arizona State (J. Dolan, L. Marchand, I. Kharun, J. Kulow) — 1:20.55
  3. NC State (A. Hayes, S. Hoover, L. Miller, Q. McCarty) — 1:20.98
  4. Cal — 1:21.01
  5. Tennessee — 1:21.91
  6. Indiana — 1:22.10
  7. Stanford — 1:22.43
  8. Auburn — 1:22.57

Well, the 2024 Men’s NCAA Championships started off with a bang. Arizona State seemingly had all the energy coming into the meet, but that didn’t stop the Florida Gators from swooping in, winning the 200 medley relay, and shattering the weeks-old NCAA Record ASU set at Pac-12s.

The Gators got out to a fantastic start, seeing Adam Chaney put up a 20.29 on the backstroke leg. That was the 2nd-fastest back split in the event tonight. Julian Smith then clocked a phenomenal 22.55 on breast, which was the 2nd-fastest breast leg tonight. At that point it was Josh Liendo‘s turn, and he did some damage. Liendo threw down an 18.97 fly split for Florida, which was the fastest fly split in the field tonight by a wide margin, and the 2nd-fastest fly split in history. It was then up to Macguire McDuff to bring the Gators home, and he did his job marvelously, anchoring in 18.34.

Florida hit the wall in 1:20.15, taking 0.40 seconds off the NCAA Record Arizona State set at the beginning of the month at the Pac-12 Championships. Coincidentally, ASU tied their previous record time of 1:20.55 tonight. Given that, here is a split comparison between Florida tonight, as well as ASU’s relay from Pac-12s and their relay tonight:

Split Florida – 2024 NCAA Championships (NCAA Record) ASU – 2024 Pac-12 Championships (Previous NCAA Record) ASU – 2024 NCAA Championships
Backstroke Adam Chaney (20.29) Jack Dolan (20.30) Jack Dolan (20.55)
Breaststroke Julian Smith (22.55) Leon Marchand (22.71) Leon Marchand (22.59)
Butterfly Josh Liendo (18.97) Ilya Kharun (19.30) Ilya Kharun (19.47)
Freestyle Macguire McDuff (18.34) Jonny Kulow (18.24) Jonny Kulow (17.94)
FINAL TIME 1:20.15 1:20.55 1:20.55

As the table above shows, Florida was faster than ASU’s record-setting relay from Pac-12s on every leg except for freestyle. Liendo’s fly leg was the biggest difference, which doesn’t come as a huge shock, since it’s not every day you see someone splitting 18 on a 50 fly. Speaking of splits you don’t see every day, ASU’s Jonny Kulow blasted a 17.94 on their anchor tonight, which we believe is the 3rd-fastest 50 free relay split of all-time, but we’re still working on confirming that.

Moving ahead to the bigger picture, this is exactly the start Florida dreamed of in their preparation for this meet. They have a terrific sprint free group as well, so if this relay was an indication of things to come, Florida relays may reign supreme this week in Indy.

SwimSwam: Florida Shreds NCAA Record in 200 Medley Relay with 1:20.15; Liendo Clocks 18.97 Fly Split

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