FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – A podium sweep of the 1,650-yard freestyle and an all-around team effort paced Stanford to a second consecutive Pac-12 Conference Championship on Saturday night at the King County Aquatic Center.
"This was a very impressive group effort from all of our guys this week," said Goldman Family Director of Men's Swimming Ted Knapp. "So many stood out, especially True Sweetser and Grant Shoults winning their first conference titles. Sam Perry, Andrew Liang and Ryan Dudzinski all had a huge workload this week but they executed for us, and not enough can be said about Brad Zdroik's 100 fly on Friday night which really inspired our group."
The Cardinal entered the day with a substantial lead over top-ranked Cal, and a top-three sweep in the first event of the evening set the tone for a Stanford victory, the 64th such championship in program history.
True Sweetser (14:35.93) led a one-two-three finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle, setting a championship record in the process. Grant Shoults (14:50.06) backed him up in second place, and Liam Egan (14:57.47) rounded out the podium.
Another look at True Sweetser's win in the 1,650-yard freestyle, courtesy of @Pac12Network. #GoStanford #Pac12Swim pic.twitter.com/U1pqe1ScOY
— Stanford Swimming (@stanfordmswim) March 5, 2017
Patrick Conaton (1:41.01) led Stanford in the 200-yard backstroke, finishing fourth. Abrahm DeVine (1:42.08) was not far behind in fifth, while Jack Walsh (1:44.40) and Ryan Dudzinski (1:44.45) finished third and fourth in the B-final, respectively.
Sam Perry (42.30) was out touched in the 100-yard freestyle, settling for second after winning the event last season. Matt Anderson (1:54.53) was Stanford's lone representative in the 200-yard breaststroke final, taking fifth place. Maxwell Williamson (1:56.04) scored more points in the 200 breast B-final.
Stanford's strength in numbers continued in the 200-yard butterfly. Jimmy Yoder (1:42.48) led Stanford in fourth place with Tom Kremer (1:42.96) in fifth. In the B-final, Andrew Liang (1:44.48) scored more points in third place.
Stanford finished the meet with a fourth-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Perry, Kremer, Spencer DeShon and DeVine (2:52.52) represented the Cardinal.
A large chunk of Stanford's points came via diving, which took place last week in Federal Way. Bradley Christensen won the 1-meter for the second consecutive year, and Tarek Abdelghany won his first conference title on the platform. In all, Stanford earned six top-four finishes en route to scoring the most diving points of any team.
BACK-TO-BACK. ?????? #GoStanford #Pac12Swim pic.twitter.com/1vlokcjtvB
— Stanford Swimming (@stanfordmswim) March 5, 2017
"The quality and depth of our diving is unreal," added Knapp. "We're blessed with one of the best units any school could hope for."
Stanford finished the meet with 784 points, comfortably ahead of Cal (757) and USC (657). Arizona State (531), Arizona (360) and Utah (257) rounded out the field.
Stanford returns to action next week when the Cardinal divers travel to Flagstaff, Arizona, to compete in the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships, which determine who dives at the NCAA Championships. The NCAA Championships will be held March 23-25 in Indianapolis, marking the end of the 2016-17 season.