Missouri men’s swimming and diving had a successful meet at the 2017 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Indianapolis, placing ninth overall and bringing back nine school records and five individual first-team All-American honors.
The meet began on Wednesday night, and in the evening’s lone event, Mizzou sophomores Mikel Schreuders and Sam Coffman and seniors Carter Griffin and Nick Davis recorded a 6:18.62 in the 800 freestyle relay. The finish was less than a second off of the program record in the event and earned the relay team honorable mention All-American honors.
“Our relay was just a hair off the school record,” Mizzou coach Greg Rhodenbaugh said in a press release. “We’re happy to be on the board for only the second time in school history in that relay.”
Senior Fabian Schwingenschlogl, the defending NCAA champion in the 100 breaststroke, was unable to reclaim his title, as he fell to Will Licon from Texas. Schwingenschlogl held the lead at the 75-yard mark, but Licon pulled ahead in the final 25 yards to earn the title. Schwingenschlogl finished the race with a time of 50.77, breaking his own Mizzou record.
Mizzou’s 200 medley relay team, comprised of freshmen Daniel Hein and Schwingenschlogl and seniors Andrew Sansoucie and Michael Chadwick, placed fourth in the race with a program record time of 1:22.48.
“It’s been an extremely fast meet on the relays,” Rhodenbaugh said in a press release. “We’re going as fast as I thought we possibly could, which just shows you how fast everyone else is. I saw us be two-tenths off the NCAA record and get fourth.”
In his final season with the Tigers, Sansoucie earned his first individual first-team All-American honor in the 100 butterfly. Last season, he finished 14th in the same event, but he redeemed his performance from last year, placing seventh in the championship final over the weekend with a time of 45.76.
Chadwick shined in his last meet as a Tiger.
On the final day of the meet, Chadwick earned second place in the 100 free to help Mizzou place ninth in the meet overall with 179.5 points. The ninth-place finish is the second highest ever for the program after last year’s eighth-place finish at NCAAs.
With his second-place finish, Chadwick became only the fourth swimmer in history to finish below 41 seconds with a time of 40.95 in the 100 meter free in an NCAA championship meet. This finish marked his third consecutive top-six finish in the event; Chadwick finished fifth his sophomore season and sixth last season as a junior.
“That [race] was almost a perfect storm,” Chadwick said in a press release. “It was almost like redemption for me with a year of not doing what I know I can. I finished, and I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know how to celebrate. The word I’d use is surreal. I didn’t even look at the clock. I looked right at my coaches, and I saw them cheering.”
Chadwick concludes his collegiate career as Missouri’s most accomplished swimmer. During his time at Mizzou, Chadwick earned 11 first-team All-American honors and 11 honorable mentions. Five of Chadwick’s first team honors awards were earned individually.
Griffin notched his first individual first-team All-American honor in the final meet of his career. He finished sixth in the 200 back in 1:40.20 after breaking his own school record with a time of 1:39.46 in the morning preliminaries.
To end the meet, the Tigers placed 10th in the 400 free relay, setting a new school record with a time of 2:48.95. The relay team consisted of Schreuders, Chadwick, Sansoucie and Coffman. The foursome dropped a second and a half off of their preliminary swim time.
Over the four-day meet, Mizzou earned five individual first-team All-American honors and one individual honorable mention. Three relay teams claimed first team selection, and two more earned honorable mentions. Additionally, the Tigers set nine school records.
_Edited by Eli Lederman | elederman@themaneater.com_