NCAA Men’s Championships: Julian Smith Goes 49.5 Again for 100 Breast Title
Julian Smith put the nation on notice with his NCAA record at the SEC Championships. Notice received Friday night.
Smith went 49.55, another sub-50 swim for the Florida senior to win his first individual NCAA title. His time was just .04 off his NCAA record and .02 behind the meet record set by Liam Bell last year.
Louisville’s Denis Petrashov surged up to second in 50.27, .02 ahead of Nate Germonprez. Finn Brooks finished fourth for Indiana in 50.50, one of six Hoosiers swimming in the finals of the event.
One of the primary stories of the conference championships was the sudden profusion of sub-50-second times. Only three swimmers before this season had broken the 50-second mark in the 100 breast. The club acquired two new members when Smith went 49.51 at the SEC Championships to take down Bell’s 49.53 from NCAAs last year. Brooks followed along by going 49.94 at Big Tens.
(Leon Marchand, if you’re wondering, never swam a postseason 100-yard breaststroke; his best time, from Jan. 2023, is 51.01. Marchand split 48.73 on the 400 medley relay for Arizona State last year at NCAAs, for what that’s worth.)
Smith left little doubt Friday. He was out in 23.09, already .27 up on Germonprez. He had the fastest third 25 of the race and the second-fastest final 25.
Petrashov was fifth at the wall but closed hard in 26.70. Ron Polonsky got fifth in 50.60. Caspar Corbeau’s sixth place result helped Indiana solidify its grasp on third in the team standings.
Indiana’s breaststroking stable dominated the B final. Jassen Yep got his hand to the wall first in 50.89, .06 ahead of Josh Matheny and .10 up on Brian Benzing, last year’s silver medalist. Luke Barr was 15th overall. Aleksas Savickas was fourth in the B final.
Event 11 Men 100 Yard Breaststroke
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NCAA: N 49.51 2/21/2025 Julian Smith, Florida
Meet: M 49.53 3/29/2024 Liam Bell, California
American: A 49.51 2/21/2025 Julian Smith, Florida
U. S. Open: O 49.51 2/21/2025 Julian Smith, Florida
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
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=== Championship Final ===
1 Smith, Julian SR Florida 50.30 49.55 20
r:+0.63 10.43 23.09 (12.66)
36.06 (12.97) 49.55 (13.49)
2 Petrashov, Denis 5Y Louisville 50.57 50.27 17
r:+0.65 10.82 23.67 (12.85)
36.82 (13.15) 50.27 (13.45)
3 Germonprez, Nate SO Texas 50.46 50.29 16
r:+0.69 10.63 23.36 (12.73)
36.62 (13.26) 50.29 (13.67)
4 Brooks, Finn SR Indiana 50.28 50.50 15
r:+0.62 10.42 23.38 (12.96)
36.74 (13.36) 50.50 (13.76)
5 Polonsky, Ron SR Stanford 50.47 50.60 14
r:+0.67 10.82 23.70 (12.88)
36.92 (13.22) 50.60 (13.68)
6 Corbeau, Caspar 5Y Indiana 50.33 50.62 13
r:+0.65 10.48 23.73 (13.25)
37.04 (13.31) 50.62 (13.58)
7 Okadome, Yamato FR California 50.62 50.69 12
r:+0.61 10.86 23.87 (13.01)
37.02 (13.15) 50.69 (13.67)
8 Kelly, Jack SR Brown 50.64 50.77 11
r:+0.66 10.64 23.62 (12.98)
37.05 (13.43) 50.77 (13.72)
