Prime Spot Claimed at SMU – Stanford Cardinal

DALLAS — The first four-day meet of the season wrapped up on Saturday in Dallas as No. 7 Stanford males’s swimming accomplished the SMU Invitational. Despite not having essentially the most swimmers within the discipline, Stanford completed first among the many seven groups within the discipline, due to an unimaginable week of winners and prime occasions.

Wednesday featured a pair of relays, with Stanford taking first in each. The 200 medley relay featured Ethan Harrington, Zhier Fan, Rafael Gu, and Jonathan Tan, and the Cardinal needed to come from behind. 100 yards in, Stanford trailed SMU’s A-Team, however a 20.16 cut up from Gu within the 50 fly portion put Stanford forward, after which Tan posted an 18.71 within the ultimate leg to safe the win with a time of 1:23.83. In the 800 free relay, Ethan Ekk, Andres Dupont Cabrera, Jason Zhao, and Henry McFadden led wire-to-wire with a time of 6:13.35, a near-three-second win for Stanford. The 800 free relay win cleared the NCAA qualifying mark by almost 2.5 seconds.

Things heated up on the second day, as Stanford dominated the sector. Gu set a brand new PR within the 100 fly to win the finals with a time of 44.83, the third-fastest time in Stanford historical past. That mark can be the fourth-fastest within the NCAA this season and simply one of the best within the ACC. It bought higher within the 400 IM when Ekk posted the second-fastest time within the NCAA this season, successful with a 3:42.01. That time is the seventh finest in Stanford historical past, and one more entry within the document guide for the freshman.

Later within the day, McFadden completed atop the leaderboard within the 200 free with a time of 1:33.33, and Fan received the 100 breast at 51.28. Fan’s time was notably spectacular; it’s the second-fastest time within the NCAA this season and ties his personal PR, which stands second all-time at Stanford. Day two closed with Stanford setting the ACC tempo within the 200 free relay with a 1:16.31 due to Harrington, Tan, Dupont Cabrera, and Gu. That is the primary NCAA qualifying normal within the 200 free relay for the Cardinal this yr.

Friday’s motion noticed Daniel Li rating his first win of the week within the 200 breast with a time of 1:51.88, simply shy of a PR. The present proprietor of the third-fastest 200 breast time in Stanford historical past now owns the fourth, as well as. Ekk continued his robust begin to his collegiate profession with a 4:11.10 within the 500 free, the second-best time in Stanford historical past. Ekk, who set the Stanford document within the 1000 free in October, got here simply over a second away from surpassing Grant Shoults, who set the mark in 2018.

Gu received twice on Friday: first within the 50 free with a 19.13 (a private finest), and he was on the third leg of Stanford’s 400 medley relay win that posted a 3:03.89. Finn Harland opened up the race within the first leg, with Fan, Gu, and Dupont Cabrera following.

Saturday’s ultimate day of competitors featured three extra particular person wins to go along with one other relay win, as Stanford swept the relays all week lengthy. A spotlight got here in Stanford’s first win as Omer Wiener scored his first collegiate win within the 200 IM with a time of 1:43.79 (NCAA qualifying mark), edging out Finn Winkler of Utah by 0.14 seconds. That win kick-started issues the remainder of the way in which for Stanford, because the Cardinal received all however one race from that time ahead.

Dupont Cabrera received subsequent, taking residence first within the 100 free with a time of 42.24, after which it was McFadden getting again into the win column with a time of 1:42.77 in he 200 fly. The ultimate victory was the final relay, as Dupont Cabrera, Harrington, Tan, and Gu received the 400 free with a time of two:48.01.

Despite incomes the win in 200 again on Saturday, Josh Zuchowski completed second with a time of 1:40.98, ok to earn a spot as an NCAA qualifier.

Stanford is not going to be in motion once more as a staff till January, when it returns to the pool in dual-meet motion towards UC San Diego on Jan. 16 and USC on Jan. 17.