Morozov Earns 50y Free Finals Berth At NCAAs
March 24, 2011 | Men's Swimming & Diving
March 24, 2011
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Freshman Vladimir Morozov earned Troy's first berth into an NCAA final in the 50y free in 20 years and also led USC's 200y free relay into the finals to pace the Trojans on the first day of the 2011 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in Minneapolis, Minn.
Morozov earned his trip to the final of the 50y free in tonight's final that starts at 7 p.m. (CT) after going 19.12 in prelims, fourth fastest in the morning session. Cal senior Nathan Adrian, who was first to Morozov's second in both the 50y and 100y free at the 2011 Pac-10s earlier this month, was the top seed (18.76) while Auburn senior Adam Brown was the only other swimmer below 19.00 at 18.91. Stanford senior Alex Coville went 19.01 to be seeded third. Morozov is the only underclassmen who made the `A' final heat and will race against four seniors and three juniors.
In the opening event of the meet, Morozov, senior Emmett Walling, senior Clement Lefert and junior Jeff Daniels earned an `A' berth in the 200y free relay with a school-record 1:17.30, good for sixth overall in prelims. USC last reached the championship final of the 200y free relay in 1997 (finishing eighth). The old record was 1:17.90, set in December.
Senior Richard Charlesworth earned a second swim in the 500y free, going 4:19.18 for 13th overall, 1.48 seconds out of the top 8. Lefert, an All-American in the event last year and the 2011 Pac-10 champion in the race, did not make it out of prelims, finishing 20th (4:20.29). Junior Patrick White was 43rd (4:26.92).
Freshman Dimitri Colupaev led USC swimmers in the 200y IM, taking 29th (1:45.89). Sophomore Alex Lendrum was 39th (1:47.02) and freshman Jack Wagner was 42nd (1:47.15). Colupaev's time was a season-best while Wagner registered a PR.
Daniels finished 28th in the 50y free prelims in 19.78 while Walling was 38th (19.92).
Troy closed the morning session with another relay record as Morozov, senior Dillon Connolly, White and Lefert swam the 400y medley relay in 3:09.42, which was good for 10th overall, 0.36 off a top 8 finish. The previous record was 3:09.60, set in 2006.
Junior diver Harrison Jones just missed a spot in the 1-meter springboard final, finishing prelims in ninth with 340.35 points, 2.1 points out of eighth. He moved up from 13th and scored his most points on his final dive (66.6%), an inward 2 ½ somersault tuck, but it was just short of the `A' final.
Players Mentioned
