Virginia Sets School Record in 400 Medley Relay at NCAA Championships
Results (Finals) | Finals (Prelims)
AUSTIN, Texas- The Virginia men’s swimming and diving team set a school record in the 400-yard medley relay on the second day of competition (March 28) at the NCAA Championships at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
The 400-yard medley relay team of junior Joe Clark (Worcester Park, Great Britain), sophomore Keefer Barnum (Louisville, Ky.), senior Bryce Keblish (Fairfield, Conn.) and junior Ryan Baker (Arlington, Va.) recorded a time of 3:04.72 to set a school record in the event as the four UVA swimmers topped their record swim of 3:04.90 from the morning prelims. The Cavaliers placed third in the consolation finals with the swim and 11th overall, earning honorable mention All-America honors in the event.
Redshirt senior Brendan Casey (Santa Monica, Calif.) also advanced to the finals, finishing 13th with a time of 4:14.39 in the 500-yard freestyle. He was the first male UVA swimmer to finish in the top 16 in the event at the NCAA Championships since 2011. Casey earned honorable mention All-America honors for the performance, the first All-America accolade of his career.
The Cavaliers finished the day in 13th place with 38 points. California is in first place with 212 points, while Texas is in second place with 188 points and Indiana is in third place with 155 points.
In addition to the team’s performance in the finals, senior Sam Magnan (Bethlehem, Pa.) and Baker recorded swims that rank in the top five all-time at UVA during the morning preliminary races. Magnan swam a time of 4:14.55 in the 500-yard freestyle to record the fourth-fastest time in program history and 17th-fastest time of the day. Baker recorded the second-fastest 50-yard freestyle time in program history, finishing with a time of 19.53. He finished the day 34th overall in the event.
“Another great showing today by our men, scoring in the 500 free with Brendan (Casey), an event he didn’t make the finals in last year, and a much improved 400 medley relay team that broke our school record twice today,” head coach Todd DeSorbo said. “The guys are battling hard and have already doubled the amount of points that we scored last year with two days left. This is a much-improved program and we are looking forward to another great day tomorrow.”
Virginia will return tomorrow at 11 a.m. to compete in the 400-yard individual medley, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard medley relay. The men’s 3m dive will begin at 1:15 p.m.