College Swimming League Championship: Virginia Favored for Inaugural Title; Tennessee, N.C. State and Indiana Hunting (Live Recap)
By Brendan Oswald & Adam Denn
The inaugural season of the College Swimming League (CSL) has reached its conclusion, with Virginia, Tennessee, the North Carolina State and Indiana battling for the championship trophy on Friday night at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis. The title match is the eighth in what has been a highly successful campaign designed to bring together many of the top collegiate programs in the country, and to provide fans of the sport with an engaging and high-energy format.
Virginia (6-0) locked up the top seed for the final with an undefeated regular season and was joined as an automatic qualifier for the championship by Tennessee (5-1) and North Carolina State (5-1). Indiana secured the final spot in the championship by winning the wildcard match in dominant fashion on Thursday night. The Hoosiers overwhelmed Louisville, Stanford and Cal, and will try to maintain their momentum with the title on the line.
Here is an event-by-event recap of the action from the College Swimming League’s championship match:
Women’s 200 Backstroke
Claire Curzan started this meet off with a bang. The defending NCAA champion swam to a time of 1:46.56. With Curzan’s first-place finish and Teagan O’Dell’s sixth-place finish, Virginia picked up 15 total points. The favourites in this final start the meet off with a commanding lead. Charlotte Crush from Tennessee finished second in a time of 1:48.79. She led the race at the 50-yard mark. Leah Shackley finished in third with a time of 1:48.98. N.C State picked up 11 points.
Men’s 200 Backstroke
Miroslav Knedla built on a strong performance in the CSL’s Wild Card Match, to earn yet another win in the 200 backstroke. The Hoosier finished in 1:37.80, a CSL record. Between Knedla and David Kovacs, Indiana claimed 14 total points. N.C State’s Daniel Diehl finished in second with a time of 1:39.40, and Virginia’s David King in third with a time of 1:40.64.
Women’s 200 Breaststroke
Eneli Jefimova of N.C State took this race out fast and did not fade. The sophomore led wire to wire, winning in a time of 2:05.70. Jefimova took home nine points, and her teammate Morgan Cope scored three points. This gives N.C State the lead in the meet. Mackenzie Siroky gave Jefimova her toughest challenge. She finished in second place with a time of 2:06.02. Sophia Umstead came on too late, taking third in a time of 2:06.47.
Men’s 200 Breaststroke
Despite the absence of Indiana star breaststroker Josh Bey, the Hoosiers still got it done. Junior Toby Barnett finished in 1:52.21, earning his team nine points. Tennessee were perhaps the biggest winners, though, earning 13 total points from Gabe Nunziata(1:53.03) and Drew Eubanks(1:53.50) taking second and third. The Volunteers sit in second place in the meet.
Women’s 500 Freestyle
The Virginia women came up big once again. Katie Grimes finished first in a time of 4:34.85, and her teammate Cavan Gormsen finished second in a time of 4:35.15. Virginia scored 16 points, putting them back into first place in the team rankings. Ella Jansen of Tennessee finished third in a time of 4:37.43. Noticeably the N.C State swimmers finished in seventh and eighth, dropping their team from first to third.
Men’s 500 Freestyle
N.C. State’s Max Carlsen earned a comfortable win, finishing first in 4:13.25. It was the battle for second that became a thriller, as Tennessee’s Koby Bujak-Upton(4:15,02), Indiana’s Gabriel Manteufel(4:15.53), and the Wolfpack’s Mikolaj Filipiak(4:15.68) finished in second, third, and fourth. The 14 points earned by the Wolfpack helped them keep pace with the field, after dropping to third.
Women’s 200 Freestyle Relay
The 200 freestyle relay is always a must-win in the CSL because the winner gets to pick the skins. The Virginia women started off strong with Sara Curtis leading off in a time of 21.06, but it was Tennessee who dominated in the end. The team of Jillian Crooks, Camille Spink, Leah Tigert, and Charlotte Crush took the win in a time of 1:24.76. Tennessee scored a total of 24 points and has chosen breaststroke in the skins. This now gives them a five-point lead over N.C State for first place. With Virginia’s second and fourth place finishes, they also scored 24 total points in this event.
Men’s 200 Freestyle Relay
Women’s 200 Butterfly
Men’s 200 Butterfly
Women’s 100 IM
Men’s 100 IM
Women’s 100 Backstroke
Men’s 100 Backstroke
Women’s 100 Freestyle
Men’s 100 Freestyle
Women’s Skins
Men’s Skins
Women’s 200 IM
Men’s 200 IM
Women’s 100 Breaststroke
Men’s 100 Breaststroke
Women’s 50 Freestyle
Men’s 50 Freestyle
Women’s 100 Butterfly
Men’s 100 Butterfly
Women’s 200 Freestyle
Men’s 200 Freestyle
Women’s Super Skins
Men’s Super Skins
