The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Championships
Men's Swimming & Diving finishes second at NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving Championships
03.25.2012 | Men's Swimming and Diving
March 25, 2012
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - The Texas Men's Swimming & Diving team made its final push at the NCAA Championships Saturday night at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way, Wash. and ended up finishing in second place with 420 points.
"You would think second would be good enough but it is not," said head coach Eddie Reese. "We came in having a shot and Cal stepped up every time and had a great race. We let down a little bit this morning and they got up on us. We weren't as good as we needed to be and that is my fault."
The Longhorns have now finished in the top two of the National Championships five straight years and have claimed a spot in the top five in 32 of the last 33 seasons.
"I know everybody at home was watching this and wishing they were here and we aren't satisfied with how it went," said junior Dax Hill. "When we get back home we are going to work on getting everybody ready to come back next year."
"We have had a really long three days and a late night last night so even though it is good to want more you also need to reflect on what you accomplished and we accomplished a lot," said Feigen. "It was a great meet all around and couldn't be happier for it. We did the best we could and ultimately that is all you can ask for."
With second place secured going into the final event, Texas was able to close out the meet the best way possible. The Longhorns ended Saturday by winning the national championship in the 400 freestyle relay. The relay group of Hill, Clay Youngquist, Austin Surhoff and Jimmy Feigen combined to improve their prelims time by almost three seconds, going the fourth best time in school history with a 2:49.83.
"After that race last night (800 freestyle relay) we had confidence going into tonight," said Youngquist. "Then with the way Jimmy and Dax swam in the 100 free earlier I knew he had a good shot."
All four swimmers were under 43.00 in their splits with Feigen posting a blistering 41.32. When Feigen entered the pool for the final leg, Texas stood in fourth place. UT was 55/100 off the lead but Feigen was easily able to overcome the competition and touch the wall first, giving the Longhorns the championship.
"That was really a great cap to my senior year," said Feigen. "I haven't had a moment like that since high school with coming from behind to win. When I finally got a glimpse of the field coming off that last wall I saw I had half a body length. Once I saw we were ahead it was history because nobody is going to come back on me in the 100 free."
"We knew we weren't going to get the team title so we switched our focus on the relay title and wanted to give our fans something to be happy about for sticking with us the whole way," said Surhoff. "When I dove in the water I knew I just had to give Jimmy a chance on the anchor leg."
Jimmy Feigen was crowned national champion for the second time on the weekend. After winning the 50 freestyle on Thursday he added the 100 freestyle on Saturday. Feigen led start to finish, ending with a time of 41.95 for his second career national title.
"The 100 free this morning scared the daylights out of me because it was a really hard 100 free," said Feigen. "I was weary going into tonight and wanted to get off the blocks as fast as I could. When I saw that I was ahead I was a little shocked. It fueled my energy level and I pulled out the win."
It is the fifth national title in the 100 freestyle for Texas and first since Garrett Weber-Gale won in 2006 with a 42.11. Texas finished with five individual national titles on the weekend, the most since 2004 when UT won seven championships. It is the 11th time in school history the Longhorns have won five or more individual titles in one year.
Texas finished off a great weekend in the diving well. Senior Matt Cooper, competing in his first A final of the weekend scored 449.15 points for third overall. Fellow senior Drew Livingston wrapped up the weekend by finishing in the top four in all three diving events. He scored 427.05 points for fourth overall after winning the national title in the 1-meter and placing second in the 3-meter.
"It was great to see Matt Cooper step up in this final and dive like we know he can," said diving coach Matt Scoggin. "It was great to see him end his college career like he did. Drew had a really great weekend in the 1-meter, 3-meter and prelims on platform. In the finals for some reason it just didn't fall his way but he is such a team player and all he cared about was the team performance. He is a class act and had a great weekend."
For his overall weekend performance, Livingston was awarded the NCAA Championships Diver of the Meet. Diving coach Matt Scoggin was named the CSCAA Diving Coach of the Year.
"I couldn't be happier because this was my most complete meet in four years," said Livingston. "It just shows all the hard work I have put in at the forty acres these last four years. A team title would have been great but I couldn't have done this without all of my teammates and the fans. This is a family that goes beyond here and these guys will be my best friends for the rest of my life."
Dax Hill won his 100 freestyle race. Swimming in the consolation B final, Hill ran down Ohio State's Jason Schnur in the final 25 to win the heat and gain ninth place overall with a time of 42.63.
The night started with the final heat of the 1,650 freestyle. The defending national champion in the event, junior Michael McBroom, swam his fastest time of the year to claim eighth place and earn All-America status. Jackson Wilcox (19th) had a time of 15:05.06 and Jake Ritter (20th) was close behind with a 15:07.13.
Senior Neil Caskey tied for seventh in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:44.75. Caskey had the lead after the first 100 yards but could not hold on as the field made a big push at the end. Earlier in the day during prelims, Caskey broke the school record in the event with a 1:42.52.
Eric Friedland finished eighth in the 200 breaststroke one year after winning the event. He clocked a 1:55.32 to garner All-America status. Nick D'Innocenzo was in the consolation B final of the event and ended up 13th with a time of 1:55.38.
Three Longhorns were in the consolation B final of the 200 backstroke. Austin Surhoff posted the top time for UT at 1:43.05 to end up 12th overall. Kip Darmody touched the wall at nearly the same time for a 1:43.09 and 13th. Cole Cragin had a 1:44.71 for 16th.
Overall on the weekend 14 Texas swimmers garnered All-America or honorable mention All-America honors with their performances. Leading the way were Jimmy Feigen with seven and Neil Caskey with five. Eric Friedland, Dax Hill and Clay Youngquist each finished with four All-American honors. Cole Cragin collected three All-America honors and one honorable mention All-America honor while Drew Livingston is a three-time All-American. Kip Darmody added two All-America honors and one honorable mention while Michael McBroom is a two-time All-American in 2012. Both Matt Cooper and Nick D'Innocenzo had one All-America and two honorable mention All-America selections. Charlie Moore and Austin Surhoff each had one All-America award while Kyle McNeilis is an honorable mention All-American.
