Men’s swimming dominates Pacific in first meet of 2017

Jan. 6, 2017, 10:41 p.m.

No. 4 Stanford men’s swimming dominated Pacific 162-82 Friday morning at Avery Aquatic Center for their first meet of the new year, winning 10 events and sweeping the podium six times.

The Cardinal shined in the first event, the 400-yard medley relay. The team of Tom Kremer, Matt Anderson, Andrew Liang and Sam Perry won the race in 3:17.32, while the teams of Ben Ho, Curtis Ogren, Brad Zdroik and Cole Cogswell (3:20.40) and Jack Walsh, Justin Buck, Abrahm DeVine and Spencer DeShon 3:22.59 placed second and third, respectively. The first Tigers finishers placed fourth in 3:26:29.

Freshman True Sweetser handily won the 600-yard freestyle with a time of 5:23.47, while fellow freshman Will Macmillan finished second, coming in 16 seconds later.

Even in the events where the Cardinal did not dominate, they placed at least two swimmers on the podium. Stanford did not win the 150-yard freestyle, although Liam Egan (1:13.87) and Jimmy Yoder (1:14.63) completed the podium in second and third place. Patrick Conaton (22.92) took second place in the 50-yard backstroke, finishing right before third-place Jack Walsh (23.20). Ogren (26.38) came in second in the 50-yard breaststroke with Hank Poppe (26.75) finishing third.

After three first-place finishes by the Tigers, Yoder (1:17.98) gave the Cardinal a big win in the 150-yard butterfly when he outswam his opponents by more than three seconds, while Grant Shoults (1:21.07) and DeVine (1:22.06) took second and third.

After Pacific took the 50-yard freestyle in which Kremer (21.02) placed second, it was all Cardinal: Liang (45.46) and Ho (46.17) placed first and second in the 100-yard freestyle, and Stanford swept the podium in the 150-yard backstroke, led by Conaton (1:16.76), Kremer (1:18.10) and Ogren (1:18.91).

The Cardinal took the top four of the two following events, as Matt Anderson (1:29.66), Macmillan (1:30.03), Poppe (1:32.24) and Justin Buck (1:33.22) took the first four spots of the 150-yard, while Sweetser (2:33.32), DeVine (2:40.04), Shoults (2:44.42) and Egan (2:45.27) placed first through fourth in the 300-yard freestyle.

Defending Pac-12 50-yard freestyle champion Sam Perry (22.08) won the event, while Brad Zdroik (22.54) and Yoder (22.60) placed third and fourth.

Buck won the 200-yard individual medley in 1:53.56, with Williamson (1:53.75) and Walsh (1:54.37) completing the sweep.

Stanford concluded the meet by winning the 200-yard freestyle relay. Perry, Liang, Cogswell and Conaton topped the race in 1:21.57. Zdroik, Spencer DeShon, Ho and Poppe (1:24.32) finished third.

“It was a very challenging week of practice for these guys, and it was a real treat today to have Pacific come over and swim some great races,” said head coach Ted Knapp. “We have one more day before the quarter starts, and except for a couple minor illnesses, we are in such a better place than when we started up in September. We are really excited for this second half of the season.”

Stanford will be back in action on Jan. 20 at No. 17 Arizona State for its first season meet against a ranked opponent. The Cardinal will then face No. 11 Arizona the following day.

 

Contact Alexandre Bucquet at bucqueta ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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