March 29, 2013
INDIANAPOLIS - Kristian Ipsen and David Nolan picked up their second national title in as many days and Tom Kremer broke a 26-year old record to highlight Stanford's day-two showing at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.
"Our youth has been a real highlight for us," Goldman Family Director of Men's Swimming Ted Knapp said. "David and Tom have stepped up in a big way these first two days with a chance to have special swims tomorrow. Kristian was another hero for us today. We are swimming much better than the scoreboard shows."
Stanford (169) is seventh but has missed out on a several dozen points due to a pair of relay disqualifications over the last two days. The Cardinal will be chasing sixth-place Texas (192) with Michigan (336) and Cal (301.5) atop the leaderboard at IU Natatorium.
Ipsen defended his 3-meter crown to give him a sweep of the springboard events while Nolan rebounded from his second-place finish in the 100 back last season to pick up the win Friday evening. Kremer went 1:33.07 and finished third in the 200 free to become the fastest 18-year old American swimmer ever in the event.
"It was a tough contest, and Kristian wasn't on top of his game but stayed tough," head diving coach Rick Schavone said. "He kept fighting and got the opening and won. I might be prouder of his toughness tonight than his excellence last night."
Ipsen (450.60) led after the prelims and was in the driver's seat during the finals until his fifth-round dive dropped him to second. The All-American nailed his final dive to give him 450.60 points to outlast Duke's Nick McCrory (440.40).
Taylor Sishc (338.60) and Connor Kuremsky (290.30) rounded out the top-16 for All-America honors off the 3-meter.
"I try to stay away from watching scores, but this time, before my last [dive], I came out at the wrong time and I saw the score on the last dive and I knew it was pretty close going into it," Ipsen said. "With my last dive, I felt really confident with it. That's why I have it last because if there is a situation like that, I can count on that one."
Ipsen will aim for the diving sweep with a platform victory when the three-day meet concludes Saturday. The evening finals will be streamed on ESPN3 with live results available at GoStanford.com.
Nolan was fourth in the prelims of the 100 back and qualified for the finals in 45.92. Matthew Swanston (46.46) was 15th in the prelims with Will Gunderson (47.96) taking 38th. Swanston went on post a 46.98 for 16th in the consolation heat and an All-America honor.
The runner-up in the event last season, Nolan (44.99) dropped almost a full second from his seed time and held off Cal's Tom Shields (45.21) for the win and his second NCAA title after winning the 200 IM on Thursday. Shields was the two-time defending champion in the discipline.
Nolan became the only Stanford swimmer to go under 45.00 in the 100 back, joining current volunteer assistant coach and school record holder Eugene Godsoe (44.93) for the distinction.
The swim pushed him to ninth all-time in the event as he became only the ninth swimmer to ever break 45 seconds. Nolan is the first swimmer with a pair of individual titles at this season's NCAA Championships.
The win gave Stanford its NCAA-leading 13th victory in the event's history.
Kremer, who does not turn 19 until August, went 1:33.07 in the 200 free to break a 26-year old National Age Group record. Kremer bested the 1:33.28 set by two-time Olympic gold medalist Troy Dalbey in 1987.
With a 1:33.44, Tom Kremer was third through the prelims of the 200 free and challenged for the title in the finals with a 1:33.07. Kremer's time was good for third overall and made him the second-fastest performer in program history. Only Austin Staab (1:32.71) went faster in 2009.
Stanford was the three seed in the 200 medley relay after going 1:24.64 in the prelims behind the efforts of Nolan, Andrew Saeta, Jack Lane and Aaron Wayne. The quartet was disqualified when Lane took off early in the finals, the Cardinal's second disqualification of the meet.
Drew Cosgarea (11th - 3:44.74) and Matt Thompson (16th - 3:45.67) went fast enough in the prelims to get into the consolation final of the 400 IM.
Cosgarea's 11th-place 3:43.91 in the finals made him the second-fastest Cardinal performer ever in the event behind only Markus Rogan. Rogan is the school record holder with a 3:42.76 swim in 2002.
Thompson (3:45.81) was 15th in the consolation final.
The 100 fly featured a 46.49 by Lane for 14th and Wayne's 46.33 12th-place swim in the prelims. Wayne came back to win the B-finals in 46.09 with Lane (47.16) taking 16th overall. Gray Umbach (46.78) finished just outside of the money by tying for 19th in the prelims.
Chris Pickard touched in 1:36.38 for 34th in the event.
Finishing the 800 free relay (6:23.34) for 12th was the quartet of Kremer, Thomas Stephens, Pickard and Umbach.
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