FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – Sophomore Kevin Cordes won his second Pac-12 individual title in as many nights to lead the Arizona men’s swim team on the final day of the Pac-12 Championships on Wednesday at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.
After winning the 100 breast title the previous night, Cordes pulled away from the field in the 200 breast final with a time of 1:52.96. Cordes is the current American record holder in both the 100 breast and 200 breast. Carl Mickelson, the defending Pac-12 champion in the 200 breast, finished fourth with a time of 1:55.09.
Meanwhile, Arizona junior Giles Smith won an exciting swim-off earlier in the day to claim the final spot in the 100 free. Smith claimed eighth in the final with a time of 44.05.
The Wildcats closed out the event with a third-place finish in the finals of the 400 free relay. The group of Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or, Smith, Mitchell Friedemann and Woody Joye clocked in with a time of 2:53.92. Meanwhile, the Arizona “B” team took second place in the consolation final with a time of 2:58.56.
The Wildcats finished fourth in the team standings with 483 points. Cal won the team title with 825 points, followed by Stanford with 800 points and USC with 638.5. Utah (290.5), Arizona State (257), UC Santa Barbara (230) and Cal Poly (112) rounded out the team standings after three nights of competition.
In addition, the Wildcats earned two valuable Territorial Cup points by finishing ahead of Arizona State in both the men’s and women’s meets.
The Arizona divers will look to qualify at the Zone E Diving Qualification beginning on March 14 in Colorado Springs, Colo., while the swim teams close out the season at the NCAA Championships. The women’s meet begins on March 21 and the men’s meet starts on March 28. Both meets will be contested in Indianapolis.
