NCAA Men’s Championships: Josh Liendo and Florida Take Bite Out Of NCAA Record in 400 Medley Relay; Leon Marchand Continues Show
Last month, a sub-3:00 showing at the Southeastern Conference Championships thrust the University of Florida into favorite status for the NCAA Champs in the 400-yard medley relay. And on Friday night, the Gators backed up the hype with an NCAA record that capped the third evening of what has been a stunning meet.
With Josh Liendo registering a butterfly split of 42.91, Florida delivered a performance of 2:58.32 to lead three squads under three minutes and better the former NCAA mark of 2:59.22, set by Texas during the 2017 season. The Gators’ effort was enough to fend off Indiana (2:59.09) and Arizona State (2:59.18). It was the second NCAA record in as many days for coach Anthony Nesty & Company, as Florida bettered the 200 freestyle relay standard on Thursday.
Adam Chaney supplied a 44.28 backstroke leadoff for the Gators, who then received a 50.23 split from Dillon Hillis on the breaststroke leg. At that point, Florida sat in third place, trailing Arizona State and Indiana. But Liendo shifted the dynamic of the race during his four lengths, as his sub-43 split on butterfly lifted the Gators into the lead. On the anchor leg, Maguire McDuff left no room for an opponent’s rally, as he clocked 40.90 for his freestyle duties.
Brendan Burns, coming off an individual title in the 100 backstroke earlier in the session, produced the fastest backstroke, going 43.82 to finish narrowly ahead of North Carolina State’s Kacper Stokowski (43.83). On the breaststroke leg, ASU’s Leon Marchand delivered a split of 49.23 put the Sun Devils in front, and to continue what might be the finest solo effort in NCAA history. Earlier in the night, Marchand bettered his NCAA record in the 400 individual medley by nearly three seconds.
For Indiana, Burns was joined by Josh Matheny, Tomer Frankel and Rafael Miroslaw. Meanwhile, Arizona State and Marchand benefited from the contributions of Jack Dolan, Max McCusker and Jonny Kulow.
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