INDIANAPOLIS — Stanford men’s swimming took part in the inaugural College Swimming League Wild Card match on Thursday at the IU Natatorium, finishing third overall. The team’s finish did not score enough points to advance in the CSL playoffs, ending their first season in the new swimming league.
After winning CSL Match 3 at Avery Aquatics Center, Stanford finished fourth in CSL Match 5, which earned the program a spot in the Wild Card round. Despite beating California (314.5), who finished fourth in the Wild Card, Stanford (357.5) still trailed both Indiana and Louisville. By virtue of finishing first, Indiana (592) secured a spot in the CSL Championship on Friday.
While the men’s program didn’t score any winners on Thursday night, there were multiple second-place finishes that helped put the Cardinal above the Golden Bears. The first came from Ethan Ekk, who placed second in the 500 free with a time of 4:14.54, narrowly missing out on a victory. It was the fastest 500 free time swum this year by a Card by over four seconds, coming in his first 500 free swim of the year. Ekk also shone in the 200 free (1:34.29, third) and in the Skins competition, where Ekk finished second behind Miroslav Knedla of Indiana.
Gibson Holmes earned a pair of second-place finishes on Thursday night, the first of which came in the 200 fly. Holmes finished with a time of 1:42.12, 0.99 seconds faster than his previous best on the season. He backed that up with a time of 1:43.25 in the 200 IM, his first official swim in the event this year, coming within a second of his career-best swim.
The last second-place finish for Stanford on Thursday came in the 50 free, when Jonathan Tan was able to climb to second on the leaderboard with a time of 19.45, a season-best for the senior. Beyond that, Stanford earned third-place finishes in the 500 free (Sander Sorensen, 4:16.26), 100 back (Finn Harland, 46.49), 100 free (Nathan Foucu, 43.10), and 200 free (Ekk, 1:34.29).
Stanford will send its divers to the University of Texas for the Texas Diving Invite on Nov. 12-14, the next scheduled competition for the program. The swimmers will also head to the state of Texas but compete one week later in the SMU Invite, which takes place from Nov. 18-21. Those are the final competitions of the fall for the Cardinal until the season resumes in January.