Swimming

Destin Lasco Cracks American Record in 200 IM, Wins NCAA Title with 1:37.91

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By Spencer Penland on SwimSwam

2024 MEN’S NCAA SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

200 YARD INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY — FINAL

Top 8:

  1. Destin Lasco (Cal) — 1:37.91 *American and Pool Record* 
  2. Owen McDonald (Arizona State) — 1:39.23
  3. Hubert Kos (Arizona State) — 1:39.66
  4. Arsenio Bustos (NC State) — 1:39.83
  5. Gal Cohen Groumi (Michigan) — 1:39.87
  6. David Schlicht (Arizona State) — 1:40.17
  7. Nate Germonprez (Texas) — 1:40.89
  8. Baylor Nelson (Texas A&M) — 1:41.54

Following Leon Marchand‘s awe-inspiring 4:02 in the 500 free, Cal senior Destin Lasco made history of his own, breaking his own American Record en route to winning the 200 IM. Lasco finished in 1:37.91, bettering his won AR of 1:38.10, which he had swum at last year’s NCAAs. In addition to the American Record, Lasco’s swim also marks a pool record at the legendary IUPUI Natatorium.

While Lasco didn’t move up in the all-time rankings (he’s still #2, behind Marchand), he did become only the 2nd swimmer ever to go under 1:38 in the event. The other is, of course, Marchand, who holds the NCAA Record with the 1:36.34 he swam at last year’s NCAAs. Lasco’s swim tonight also marks the 4th-fastest performance of all-time, behind a trio of Marchand swims. He bumped his 1:38.10 from last year for the #4 performance all-time.

Here is a split comparison between Lasco’s American Record tonight, his previous record swim from last year’s meet, and Marchand’s NCAA Record:

Splits Destin Lasco – 2024 NCAA Championships (American Record) Destin Lasco – 2023 NCAA Championships (Previous AR) Leon Marchand – 2023 NCAA Championships (NCAA Record)
50 21.42 21.53 21.09
100 45.60 (24.18) 45.97 (24.44) 44.07 (22.98)
150 1:14.35 (28.75) 1:14.79 (28.82) 1:11.73 (27.66)
200 1:37.91 (23.56) 1:38.10 (23.31) 1:36.34 (24.61)
FINAL TIME 1:37.91 1:38.10 1:36.34

Compared to last year, Lasco was a tick faster on fly, back, and breast, and a quarter-of-a-second slower on freestyle. If we compare Lasco to Marchand, whether it’s Lasco from tonight or from last year, Marchand has a significant edge on every 50 except for freestyle.

Shifting focus to the bigger picture this week, Lasco’s swim in this 200 IM tonight is very exciting. Coupling his American Record tonight with the 1:29.60 he split on the 800 free relay last night, Lasco appears to be at the absolute top of his game this week in Indy. Tonight was also the 1st of 3 showdowns between Lasco and Arizona State sophomore Hubert Kos. The pair happen to be racing the same 3 events this week (200 IM, 100 back, 200 back), and they happen to be among the favorites in all 3 events. Lasco is now 1-0 against Kos on the week, so we’ll see how he fares in the 100 back tomorrow, where Kos is the top seed with a 43.75.

Moreover, Lasco’s swim tonight has set up what ought to be an awesome 200 back on Saturday. Kos broke Ryan Murphy’s legendary NCAA Record in the event at Pac-12s but, even so, Lasco’s career best is only 0.18 seconds slower than Kos’.

SwimSwam: Destin Lasco Cracks American Record in 200 IM, Wins NCAA Title with 1:37.91

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