TEMPE, Ariz. – Stanford junior Liam Custer became the second-fastest freestyle swimmer over 1,000 yards in school history on Thursday when he won the event on the first day of a men's swimming and diving double dual against No. 1 Cal and No. 6 Arizona State at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.
Custer swam a personal record 8:49.08 to break his previous best of 8:51.37 and jump from No. 10 to No. 2 on Stanford’s all-time list. Only Grant Shoults, who swam 8:46.79 in 2022, is faster.
No. 9 Stanford trails Cal, 112-93, and trails Arizona State, 136-69, in the two-day competition. The Cardinal got two victories, with diver Jack Ryan earning the other in the 1-meter springboard.
Stanford swimmers achieved 10 NCAA ‘B’ standard times, five personal bests, and three additions or improvements to the school all-time top-15 lists.
The Card swimmer who hit all three categories in one race was freshman Go Nagaoka, who was fourth in the 100 breaststroke in 52.73, placing him No. 12 all-time at Stanford. Another freshman, Daniel Li in his collegiate debut, hit a ‘B’ standard of 53.16 in the same event.
Custer is no stranger to success against Cal. He won the 1,000 free in Stanford’s dual-meet victory over the Bears last season. Custer went on to advance to his first NCAA Championships, placing 30th in the 1,650 free.
One of the exciting individual rivalries going back to the schools’ time in the Pac-12 was between ASU’s Ilya Kharun and Stanford’s Andrei Minakov. Both are top-four finishers in the Olympics in the butterfly, with Kharun winning bronze for Canada in both butterfly events in Paris and Minakov placing fourth in the 100-meter butterfly in Tokyo for the Russian Olympic Committee.
On Thursday, Kharun won the 200-yard butterfly in 1:39.60, with Minakov second in a ‘B’ standard time of 1:40.86.
In 1-meter diving, Ryan, the 2024 Pac-12 Diver of the Year, scored 358.30 to place ahead of his freshman teammate Misha Andriyuk, who was making his collegiate debut.
Andriyuk scored 334.90. In the 3-meter, Ryan was fourth (321.15) and Andriyuk fifth (259.70).
Besides Andriyuk and Li, Finn Harland made his collegiate debut with the Cardinal, placing 10th in the 100 back in 48.60, a personal best at that distance.
An all-frosh team raced together in the 400 free relay as Stanford’s ‘C’ team. The order was: Harland, Li, Abram Mueller, and Nagaoka. They clocked 2:59.45 for ninth.
Competition continues on Friday with eight events, beginning with the 800 free relay at 10 a.m. PT.
Double dual
At Mona Plummer Aquatic Complex
Winners and all Stanford
Team scores (1st of 2 days) – California 112, Stanford 93; Arizona State 136, Stanford 69; Arizona State 127, California 78.
200-yard medley relay – 1, ASU 1:21.83; 3, Stanford A (Rafael Gu, Ron Polonsky, Andrei Minakov, Jonathan Tan) 1:24.52; Stanford B (Aaron Sequeira, Zhier Fan, Ethan Harrington, Avery Voss) 1:25.30.
1,000 freestyle – 1, Liam Custer (Stanford) 8:49.08 (PB; No. 2 Stanford AT); 5, Henry Morrissey (Stanford) 9:00.34 (PB; No. 15 Stanford AT); 7, Gabe Machado (Stanford) 9:01.75.
200 free – 1, Gabriel Jett (Cal) 1:32.21; 4, Henry McFadden (Stanford) 1:33.89 (B); 9, Ron Polonsky (Stanford) 1:36.06; 10, Andres Dupont Cabrera (Stanford) 1:36.16.
100 backstroke – 1, Lucien Vergnes (ASU) 45.32; 2, Aaron Sequeira (Stanford) 46.25 (B); 9, Hayden Kwan (Stanford) 47.97; 10, Finn Harland (Stanford) 48.60 (PB).
200 butterfly – 1, Ilya Kharun (ASU) 1:39.60; 2, Andrei Minakov (Stanford) 1:40.86 (B); 7, Josh Zuchowski (Stanford) 1:45.95 (PB); 8, Gibson Holmes (Stanford) 1:46.20.
3-meter diving – 1, Joshua Thai (Cal) 343.80; 4, Jack Ryan (Stanford) 321.15; 5, Misha Andriyuk (Stanford) 259.70; 9, Hunter Hollenbeck (Stanford) 181.15.
100 breaststroke – 1, Andy Dobrzanski (ASU) 51.92; 4, Go Nagaoka (Stanford) 52.73 (PB; B; No. 12 Stanford AT); 5, Zhier Fan (Stanford) 52.88 (B); 6, Ron Polonsky (Stanford) 52.97 (B); 10, Ethan Dang (Stanford) 54.01x. Unplaced: Daniel Li (Stanford) 53.16x (B); Abram Mueller (Stanford) 53.72x; Hayden Zheng (Stanford) 54.09x.
100 free – 1, Jack Alexy (Cal) 41.87; 5, Andres Dupont Cabrera (Stanford) 43.07 (B); 9, Rafael Gu (Stanford) 43.57; 10, Jonathan Tan (Stanford) 43.63; 11, Henry McFadden (Stanford) 43.99x. Unplaced: Avery Voss (Stanford) 44.03x; Ethan Harrington (Stanford) 44.34x.
400 individual medley – 1, Michael Hochwalt (ASU) 3:45.33; 4, Rick Mihm (Stanford) 3:49.79 (B); 6, Liam Custer (Stanford) 3:50.82; 7, Josh Zuchowski (Stanford) 3:51.34; 8, Gibson Holmes (Stanford) 3:54.42x.
1-meter diving – 1, Jack Ryan (Stanford) 358.30; 2, Misha Andriyuk (Stanford) 334.90; 8, Hunter Hollenbeck (Stanford) 214.50.
400 free relay – 1, ASU 2:46.68; 3, Stanford A (Andres Dupont Cabrera, Andrei Minakov, Henry McFadden, Rafael Gu) 2:50.06 (B); 8, Stanford B (Jonathan Tan, Aaron Sequeira, Ethan Harrington, Avery Voss) 2:56.93; 9, Stanford C (Finn Harland, Daniel Li, Abram Mueller, Go Nagaoka) 2:59.45x.
PB = personal best
B = NCAA ‘B’ standard
AT = all-time
Friday’s order (10 a.m. PT)
800 free relay
200 breast
200 back
50 free
500 free
100 fly
200 IM
200 free relay