INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – After breaking his own American record in prelims, sophomore Kevin Cordes made history by breaking the NCAA, American and school records in the 100 breast to lead the Arizona men’s swimming and diving team on the second day of the NCAA Championships. The Cats climbed the team leaderboard to third with 234.5 points, up from seventh position going into the day.
Cordes, who broke his own American record at the AT&T Winter Nationals in December with a time of 51.10, shattered that time in the morning prelim session with a time of 50.93. Cordes backed up his prelim record by crushing the field with a stunning 50.74, eclipsing Damir Dugonjic's previous NCAA record of 50.86 set back in 2009 for California to own the fastest ever 100 breast time. Cordes also defended his title from last season, becoming just the 15th swimmer to win multiple titles in the event.
Meanwhile, teammate Kevin Steel posted a very impressive time of 51.69 to finish in second place. That moved Steel to sixth all-time in the event's history, with the time standing 15th ever. In addition, he beat his personal best by a half-second. Carl Mickelson had the fourth-best time overall with a 51.93 to win the consolation final.
Competing in his first NCAA Championship, freshman Michael Meyer recorded a sixth-place finish in the 400 IM with a time of 3:42.54. Meyer had a personal-best time of 3:42.21 in prelims earlier in the day.
Earning a spot in the 100 back, Mitchell Friedemann picked up a fifth-place finish with a time of 45.51.
Giles Smith, who owned the second-fastest time in prelims of the 100 fly with a 45.68, came away with a sixth-place finish in the finals with a time of 46.11.
The Cats opened the night with a third-place finish in the 200 medley relay, as Friedemann, Cordes, Smith and Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or clocked in with a time of 1:23.23, which was faster than their previous school-record and American-record time of 1:23.53 from last season’s NCAA Championships. Michigan broke the NCAA record to win the event in 1:22.27, with Cal coming in second with a time of 1:23.17.
To close the night, Arizona earned a sixth-place finish in the 800 free relay. The team of Matt Barber, Woody Joye, Shapira Bar-Or and Meyer turned in a time of 6:19.28. Florida won the event in 6:13.27.
Michigan leads in the overall standings with 336 points, followed by California (301.5) and Arizona. USC (212) and Florida (196.5) round out the top five.
